After obtaining his degree in civil engineering in 1912, he became a junior engineer in the New York subway construction.
Before the outbreak of World War I, Perkins applied for Army commission in March of 1917 and after his training he was assigned to the 303rd Engineers at Camp Dix, New Jersey.
He sailed for France in May of 1918 and was engaged in combat near Ypres where he helped prepare the defense for an anticipated attack. He also fought at Chateau Thierry. In September of 1918. Perkins was gassed, but recovered.
Perkins faced some pretty tough conditions and wrote that this time seemed like a nightmare. He was so weak he could hardly sit on his horse and they worked under shell fire day and night with no chance to get proper rations, just hard tack and bully-beef when they were lucky.
Soldiers were often given tins of beef along with hard tack, a rigid biscuit that looks like a large cracker that is made from flour, water, and sometimes a pinch of salt. It is known not only for its portability and shelf life but also its ability to chip teeth. Bully beef (corned beef) was often spread on the hard tack or eaten straight from the can.
Perkins was gassed a second time, but this time it was not serious enough to require hospital admission, but it was bad enough that it affected his stomach. When his outfit was ordered to march to the rear he was sent to the hospital where he was admitted and was in the hospital when the armistice was signed.
Few of Perkins’ games survive and in the mid-1930s he gave up chess for bridge. He wrote at least one book on it titled Vital Tricks at Contract Bridge which was published in 1953. He also published numerous articles on the game and was the founder of New England Bridge League.
A September, 1937 issue of Games Digest magazine article says: “Frank Perkins, another of our contributors on chess, directs his article to the attention of the average player. But Perkins is far above the average class. While he has retired from active competition, Frank was not so many years ago considered this country’s leading amateur chessplayer. His retirement, by the way, was not caused by old age, but by the fact that he now devotes most of his attention to contract bridge, at which he is an equally famous star. A native New Yorker, Frank is now settled in Boston.”
In the following game he handily defeats Abraham Kupchik (1892-1980) who was born in the Russian Empire in what is now now Belarus. His family emigrated to the US in 1903. A strong Master with a super-solid style, he won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship 10 times outright and once shared it with Isaac Kashdan (in 1935).
Frank Perkins–Abraham Kupchik1–0B40Metropolitan Chess League MatchNew York, NY1919Stockfish/Komodo
Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 Unlike the 2...d6 variations, black keeps the
a3-f8 diagonal open for the B on f8. The move ...Bb4 is often an option and ...
Bc5 is sometimes possible. 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 Thus move usually leads to
one of the variations after the more usual 4...Nc6 or 4...a6 variation, but it
contains a trap white must avoid. 5.c3 5.e5 a5+ 6.c3 xe5+ and black
has won a P. 5...b4 6.d3 c6 7.xc6 bxc6 8.0-0 d5 9.e5 xc3 Although
this doubles white's Ps it was a better idea not to part with the B. 10.bxc3± d7 11.g4 White clearly has the more active position. g6 12.g3 12.e1 was lso good. a5 13.f4 b8 14.d2 Coutinho,S (2106)-Domingos,J
(2041) Brasilia 2012 12...c5 13.a3 xd3 14.cxd3
Strategically black's game is lost owing to h\\the poor position of his K and
the weak dark squares all around it. Perkins now begins a process of placing
his pieces in their oprimal positions. a5 15.b4 c7 16.d6 a5 17.d4 a6 18.fe1 c4 Both players have gotten their Bs outside the P-chain, but
notice how much more effective white's is. 19.a3 19.g5 was also
effective. d8 20.h6 d3 21.g7 d7 22.xf7+ It's clear that white is
winning. 19...d8 The Q retreats to defend the dark squares. 20.e3
The R is going to be added to the assault. h5 21.h3 a6 22.f3 a7 23.f6
A small inaccuracy that should have alklowed black to stay ion the game. 23.b1 was even more effetive. h4 24.f4 There is no good answer to the
threat of Rb8 23...d7 23...b7 would have allowed him to keep fighting.
The best line would then be 24.h2 h4 25.g5 b2 26.g1 a5 27.e1 d3 28.f4 f5 29.c1 d7 30.e3 b7 31.c4 dxc4 32.xc4 b3 33.d2 An
intertesting position! It would appear thar white has not made any real
progress, but both Komodo and Stockfish give him a winning advantage of 2.5 to
4.0 Ps. Howevern in a Shootout usinf Stockfish white scored +3 -1 =1, so in
practical play let's just say the position is unclear! 24.b1 Now that
black has been neutralized on the b-file all is well for white. a8 24...b7 allow a clever finish... 25.xe6+ fxe6 26.xg6+ f7 27.xf7+ xf7 28.xb7+ g8 29.f3 29.b8+ g7 30.xh8 xh8 may not win for white. 29...h7 30.b8+ g7 31.f2 and the Ks entry into the action will decide the
ending in white's favor. 25.e1 Now 25.Rxe6 just loses a R. h7 This
move, leaving f8 unguarded, loses instantly. 25...h4 26.g5 d3 27.e3 e4 and black can still resist. 26.xg6! h8 Prevents Qg8+. 26...fxg6 27.f8# 27.g7 Black resigned because mate is unavoidable. 1–0
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