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(Версия на русском языке). At the end of September 2024, a small town in the centre of Germany hosted its first Checkers Festival. Checkers tournaments have been held regularly in Korbach before. But only once a year were the two-days German Open championships. This time the biggest international competitions were held here for a whole week and the Festival programme included 6 Checkers-Draughts tournaments at once:

– International Draughts-100 Tournament
– Checkers German Open
– WCDF 3-moves Blitz World Championship
– WCDF 3-moves World Qualify Tournament
– WCDF 3-moves Women’s World Championship
– WCDF GAYP Youth World Championship

It is important to note that the German Draughts Federation (IGDD) does not have any financial support from the state or wealthy sponsors. It was not in the federation's plans to organise such large-scale tournaments. However, in December 2023 I received a call from Alex Moiseyev asking for help. The thing is that the deadline for submitting applications for the organisation of major Checkers tournaments for the next year was already coming to an end. At that moment Italian Draughts Federation FID was the only one who had submitted such a bid. Alex informed me that FID had unexpectedly withdrawn its bid and all the World Checkers Championships for the next year were in danger of being cancelled. I familiarised him with our situation and that the German Federation had no prize fund. Alex offered to take care of this problem. That was it. I contacted the President of our German Draughts Federation, Jan Zioltkovsky. On these terms he agreed to organise tournaments in Korbach.

It was a long time coming. Negotiations went on for a long time. Both sides put forward different ideas and discussed various details. In the course of the negotiations, Alex suggested holding the World Blitz Championship at the same time. So far, such competitions have never been held in the history of Checkers. There were no objections from the German side on condition that WCDF would take care of the money prizes. In turn, the organisers undertook to provide the winners of all tournaments with cups. Alex liked the constructive discussions and suggested to give a common name for the whole series of tournaments - FESTIVAL. We also discussed the possibility of ordering a separate bus to transport participants from the airport to Korbach. However, this option was only possible if they arrived at the same airport at approximately the same time.

Jan is an experienced international FMJD judge and organiser. He tried to do his best to make the Festival at the highest level and to make it memorable for the participants. The tournaments were held in the City Hall with a spacious playing hall and an additional room for games analysis and a buffet. Hot lunch, snacks and drinks were also available there inexpensively. Before each round all participants were given chocolates from the famous Lindt company. Touric - the best hotel in the city with a swimming pool was chosen as the official hotel of the Festival, Jan negotiated discount prices there.

The Festival was covered in detail in the local press and results were regularly and timely published on the official website of FMJD. Posters advertising the Festival were put up in the City Hall and in the city centre. By the way, I also proposed my poster project, which was rejected on the grounds that the audience could get the impression that Checkers is only a children's game. It was a pity, as I had put my heart and time into my project.

During the tournaments all the participants were given memorable gifts and posters advertising the tournaments. Original sheets were created to record the games.

The Festival started with a Draughts-100 tournament, Rapid (15 min + 3 sec). Here the first place was won by a young player Danylo Sokolov - a Ukrainian now living in Germany. Second - Michael Shabshai from Israel, third - Krzysztof Juszczak (Germany). Tournament table

Further the participants rotated - someone came and someone left according to their desires and possibilities. Only 5 participants - M.Shabshai, A.Glushko, Z.Aleksandrova, A.Holmes and J.Zioltkowski took part in the full programme of the Festival in all its stages.

Then the Checkers competitions started, at first - German Open, Rapid (T12 + 3‘’), 3-move. Here Crispin Odhiambo from Kenya won a confident victory with a big gap and winning all matches. The second place went to Melikaya Nonyukela from South Africa, and the 3rd place got Lorne Wells (Canada), who overtook Alex Holmes (USA) by coefficient. Among women the cup went to Anastasiia Glushko (Ukraine), and the youth cup got Nee Conor (Ireland). Although this time I didn't even make it to the top six in the tournament, I received another German title as the best German player. Cross-table

The first two tournaments served as a prelude to the main WCDF events of the year. In the evening after the German Open, the opening ceremony of the Festival took place to the fanfare of the orchestra. The mayor of the city gave a welcome speech to the participants. Festival organiser Jan Zioltkowski, President of the German Draughts Federation, thanked the participants from 14 countries who had made the long journey to Korbach. For a week Korbach became the Checkers capital of the World. In honour of the participants, a musical orchestra played several solemn melodies on wind and drum instruments. Video

The next day in the morning a 2-hour city tour was organised for the participants of the Festival. Korbach is a small cute town with a population of only about 25 thousand people. It is located in the centre of Germany. There are neither seas nor rivers there, but in the Middle Ages important trade routes passed through it and it played a serious political role. Korbach was a member of the Hanseatic League of trading and free cities of Northern and Western Europe. At that time, there was also intensive underground gold mining near the town. However, due to the depletion of the precious metal, gold mining ceased in the 19th century. The town still has the remains of medieval fortifications, Gothic church halls and half-timbered buildings. Korbach has a special charm.

In the afternoon, the first ever Checkers World Blitz Championship with time control of 3 min + 3 sec according to the 3-move version took place. All participants played in one common tournament. The draw of the first moves was interesting. There were only two of them for all participants in each round - one for players sitting at even-numbered tables and one for odd-numbered tables. So that the players could not watch the opening on the neighbouring tables. The results of the draw were displayed on a large screen using a projector. Before the last 11 rounds an unusual curiosity occurred - the DraughtsArbiter programme crashed on two referee computers at once. It was necessary to limit the number of game rounds of the championship to ten. The first World Blitz Champion was Matteo Bernini from Italy. The second place took Lukhanyo Daynibokwe (South Africa), and the third was Crispin Odhiambo (Kenya). Among women the title of the World Champion went to Nadiya Chyzhevska (Ukraine), among boys - Davide Gemma (Italy), and among girls - Valeriia Yezhova (Ukraine). Cross-table

The next day more players arrived from Barbados, Scotland, Ukraine and Ireland. The main Checkers competition of the year began. All participants were divided into three separate groups: men, women and youth. Among men the 3-move World Qualify Tournament (WQT) was held. According to the long-standing tradition, the World champion is determined each time in a match between the current World champion and the winner of the WQT, while for women and youth the winners of these tournaments become the World champions.

Having recently lost the last match (3-move) for the title of World Champion to Italian Sergio Scarpetta Alex Moiseyev decided that he will not become World Champion anymore and refused to participate in the Qualifying Tournament for the next biennial cycle, as well as in the whole Festival. It was a pity, as he could have graced all the tournaments with his participation, where he would undoubtedly have been among the main favourites to win. In his absence, only Italy's Matteo Bernini, the current GAYP World Champion, could offer worthy resistance to the dominance of African players in the men's Checkers.

Melikaya Nonyukela of South Africa won a well-deserved victory in the men's Qualifier with a solid 3-point margin. In doing so, he proved that it was no coincidence that he won the same GAYP Tournament last year. This year he lost the World title match to Matteo Bernini in one version (GAYP), and next year he will play a match against Sergio Scarpetta in the other version (3-move). Second place went to Matteo Bernini (Italy) and third to Lukhanyo Daynibokwe (South Africa). Crispin Odhiambo (Kenya) remained without a medal in 4th place - the three have equal points. Cross-table

The results of the Women's World Championship 2024 were almost identical to last year's results in Turkey, when the entire podium was taken by Ukrainian women in the same order. As well as in 2023 the first place was shared with the same result by two Ukrainians, now living in Germany and America. Nadiya Chyzhevska became the World champion title this time, again beating Tetiana Zaitseva by the coefficient. Bronze again went to Anastasiia Glushko. In my opinion, in case of a division, the World Champion should be determined in a match with shortened time control, and not by coefficient. However, this involves additional technical difficulties. This issue was also discussed at the WCDF General Assembly held in Korbach. Cross-table

In the GAYP World Youth Championship, a new Irish player made a welcome appearance and managed to wedge himself between two Italians. 1st place - Davide Gemma (Italy), 2 – Nee Conor (Ireland), 3 – Andrea Peirano (Italy). The title of World champion among girls went to Valeriia Yezhova (Ukraine). She was the only girl at the tournament and played together with the boys. It was not her fault that girls from other countries did not come. I have no doubt that she would have been first among them. However, at the GA in Korbach, it was decided to further award the World championship title only if there are at least three participants. Cross-table

The closing of the Festival was very solemn. An orchestra played, the anthems of South Africa, Ukraine and Italy rang out in honour of the winners of the tournaments. All participants received at least chocolate prizes.

The WCDF General Assembly was held in Korbach during the Festival. At the invitation of the main tournament organiser Jan Zioltkowski, the top Draughts authorities came here - FMJD President Jacek Pawlicki from Poland and EDC (European Draughts Confederation) President Carlo Bordini from Italy. Undoubtedly this raised the prestige of the Festival and gave it a special status. WCDF President Richard Beckwith read out his report for the past year. There were discussed urgent topical problems, put forward new ideas and proposals, which caused long discussions. A brief official report of the meeting is available here. And Jan Zioltkowski wrote the final report about the whole Festival. 

It was the first time I was involved in the organisation of a major international Draughts-Checkers competitions, where my knowledge of English, German and Russian came in handy. I participated in long negotiations between WCDF in America and IGDD - the German Draughts Federation, corresponded with players from different countries on various issues and even with the German embassy in Kenya to get a visa as quickly as possible. During the competition I assisted the chief referee. The organisers and referees spent a lot of effort and personal time working on their own enthusiasm and on a voluntary basis. However, instead of gratitude they had to hear and read a lot of negative statements, dissatisfaction and accusations from the participants, which discourages them from doing anything else. Against this background, it was especially pleasant to receive praise from across the ocean from WCDF Secretary Alex Moiseyev. From there he can see better, Great things can only be seen from a distance – report.

As for my performance, I had the worst result in my entire time playing Checkers. However, I had a mitigating circumstance - three surgeries in a row right before the start of the competition in Korbach. While bike touring with the German cycling club ADFC, I had a serious road accident due to a fall from my bike at high speed. In place of the radius bone of my elbow I was fitted with an artificial prosthesis made of titanium.… I played very unevenly and made too many gross mistakes. Nevertheless, I managed to play some interesting and nice games.

During the competition, Melikaya Nonyukela from South Africa and I shared a private appartment in the centre of Korbach. We got along well with each other and shared our responsibilities. I cooked the food daily and he washed the dishes regularly. After the Festival I spent two days in Frankfurt with Zina Alexandrova and Michael Shabshai. I know Zina from my youth competitions half a century ago, and I met Misha at the 1st WMSG in Beijing in 2008. What could be more pleasant than meeting old friends!

More pictures are in my photo album.

In conclusion, I would like to tell you about two cases that took place in my games with Melikaya Nonyukela. In Blitz, in a tie ending, I picked up a King and brought it over one square, then changed direction and wanted to put it on the other square. My opponent made me do the first option. I had to give up. I knew about this special rule in Checkers. In other types of Draughts, a move is only considered done when you release the piece from your hand. However, I can’t imagine how, in a dispute during a blitz, you can prove whether you moved your hand in a certain direction or not?

The second case happened in the main WQT, where 20 seconds were added after each move. I had a winning ending with an extra piece. There was still 4 minutes left on my clock, and my opponent had just under 3 minutes. My opponent stoped writing down moves, immediately responded, and gradually he had 6 minutes on his clock. It turns out that, according to the rules, he didn't need to record the game anymore while I was nervously fiddling with the recording of the moves. In the end, I let the win go. I didn't know about this rule. Now I realise that I should have just waited until I had less than 3 minutes on my clock and quietly continued the game without writing down the moves... By the way, right afterwards at the WCDF GA session it was decided that both sides are obliged to record moves until the end of the game, since enough time is added to record moves...

In my opinion the Festival was a success and was held at a high level. Life goes on and Alex Moiseyev is already making new interesting plans for the next year.

And finally, I will give a few games that I remember. First of all, probably the most interesting game of the tournament between the winner and the medalist of the championship, which allowed to determine the champion early. In a complicated ending, where each side had 2 Kings and 5 simple Men, White made a spectacular shot.