Hurt notched up many victories in local events during his tournament career which began circa 1934. He was an eleven time Memphis City Champion and won the West Virginia State Championship in 1939, 1948, 1952 and 1955, the Mississippi State Championship in 1962 and the Tennessee State Champion 1965 and 1973.
He retired from the Pitney-Bowes Company, a technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and passed away om February 7, 1992 after a long illness.
His opponent in this games was L. Hunter Weaks, (1925-1973, 48 years old). He won the Mississippi Open Champion in 1967. like his opponent, Weaks was a major figure in in Memphis from the mid 1950's.
Weaks learned to play chess when he was ten years old. He attended one of Tennessee’s finest prep schools of the time and left Vanderbilt University in the middle of World War II to serve in the Army.
After leaving the Army, chess and poetry and philosophy became his interests. His apartment in Memphis and later his home became the local chess meeting places.
This game illustrates Nimzovich’s observation, “In the middlegame, the king is merely an extra, but in the endgame, he is one of the star actors."
[Event "Memphis City Championship"]
[Site "]
[Date "1961.05.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "L. Hunter Weaks"]
[Black "John F.Hurt, Jr."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D06"]
[WhiteElo "2033"]
[BlackElo "1961"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "1961.??.??"]
[Source "Tennessee Chess "]
{D06:QGD} 1. d4 d5 {In my opening database white wins almost half the games
while black does poorly only sscoring 20%.} 2. c4 c5 {The Symmetrical Defense,
or Austrian Defense. Most opening theoreticians believe that white should gain
the advantage and at best black is playing for a draw.[1]} 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bg4
{As is often the case this move does not serve black well. Best is 4...e6} 5.
Be2 dxc4 6. Na3 {[%mdl 32]} cxd4 7. exd4 e6 8. Nxc4 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3 Qd5
11. Nce5 Bd6 {It's hard to call this a tactical miscue because of black's
reply, but oy does lead to interesting complications that favor white/} (11...
Nxe5 {was a bit better.} 12. dxe5 (12. Nxe5 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 O-O {White has few
attacking chances and black has the better long range prespects in the ending.}
) 12... Qxd1 13. Raxd1 Nd5 {with complere equality.}) 12. Nxf7 Bxh2+ {A clever
reply.} (12... Kxf7 13. Ng5+ Ke7 14. Bxg4 h6 15. Nh3 Nxg4 16. Qxg4 Kf7 {
Black is far from lost, but white is better.}) 13. Nxh2 (13. Kxh2 Qh5+ 14. Kg1
Qxf7 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Nd5 {The position has fizzled out to
equality.}) 13... Bxe2 $11 14. Qxe2 Kxf7 15. Nf3 {This position is evaluated
as equal, yet it seems as though the long term prospects are in black's favore.
} Rhf8 16. Rfc1 h6 17. Rc5 Qe4 18. Ne5+ (18. Qb5 {would have presented black
with more problems.} Rab8 19. Re1 Qg4 20. Ne5+ Nxe5 21. Rxe5 Rfd8 22. Qb3 {
with an active position.}) 18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 {With this move white has
eliminated his weak d-Pawn, but at the same time he has shielded black's weak
e-Pawn and black's Q anf N are actively positioned. White would have had a
more active position had he taken with the R.} Nd5 20. Qf3+ {Otherwise he
loses the e-Pawn, but that was his best option because going going into the
ending offers black even better chances.} (20. Rc4 Qxe5 21. Re1 Rac8 22. Rxc8
Rxc8 23. Qd1 Qd6) 20... Qxf3 21. gxf3 b6 22. Rc4 Rac8 23. Rac1 Rxc4 24. Rxc4 {
[%mdl 4096] The exchanges have left black with a much better endgame.} g5 {
Black should have activated his K immediately with 24.Kg6!} (24... Kg6 25. Kg2
Kf5 26. Kg3 g5 {with an excellent position.} (26... Kxe5 27. f4+ (27. Bd4+ Kf5
28. Bxg7 Rg8) 27... Kf5 28. Kf3 e5 29. fxe5 Kxe5+ 30. Ke2 Nxe3 {Black has good
winning chances in this ending/ In Shootouts black scored 5-0.})) 25. Ra4 a5
26. Rc4 Kg6 27. Rc6 Kf5 28. Bxb6 Kxe5 29. Bxa5 Rxf3 30. b4 {White has manages
to regain his P and kos Q-side Ps look very dangerous. Black's active K is the
equalizing factor.} Ra3 31. Rc2 Kf4 {After this his pieces are tied up and
black gets a free hand on the K-side.} 32. Rb2 (32. Bc7+ Nxc7 33. Rxc7 Rxa2 {
with what should be a drawn R+P ending.}) 32... h5 $17 33. Bd8 Ra8 34. Ba5 h4
35. Rc2 Kf3 {White should now try to get his Q-side Ps moving with 36.Rb2
Instead he wastes a move placing his K out of play.} 36. Kh2 g4 37. Rb2 {
It's a move too late for this to be any help.} Rc8 38. b5 {White apparently
lost on time, but black is winning in any case.} (38. b5 g3+ 39. Kh3 gxf2 40.
Rb1 Rg8 41. Kh2 Rg2+ 42. Kh1 Rg3 43. Bc7 Rh3+ 44. Bh2 Nc3 45. Rf1 Ne2 46. b6
Ng3#) 0-1
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