List of draughts players
Encyclopedia
List of draughts players is concerned with the leading or champion figures in the history of various forms of draughts
, commonly called checkers. The list should be limited to those who are notable in the game or its history.
Draughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
, commonly called checkers. The list should be limited to those who are notable in the game or its history.
Human players
- Al Barnett
- Aleksandr Getmanski
- Alex MoiseyevAlex MoiseyevAlex Moiseyev is a draughts player from Russia. He began playing Russian draughts at seven and by age fifteen he achieved a Master Rating. He had further success in Russian draughts, but switched to International draughts in 1979 or 1980 . In 1991 he left Russia and settled in the U.S....
- Alexander BaljakinAlexander BaljakinAlexander Baljakin is a Dutch draughts player born in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk. He is also a writer of books about draughts....
- Alexander DybmanAlexander DybmanAlexander Borisovich Dybman was a Soviet International draughts player, two-times World champion in 1986 and 1987 and four-times Soviet champion in International draughts....
- Alexander GeorgievAlexander GeorgievAlexander Sergeyevich Georgiev is a draughts player who won the world championship in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2011. He is considered to be among the best living players of the game.-External links:*...
- Alexander SchwarzmanAlexander SchwarzmanAlexander Schwarzman is an international grandmaster international draughts with Russian nationality. He is known for his creative playing style, especially his positional sacrifices and his high number of elegant games involving encirclements...
- Alexei ChizhovAlexei ChizhovAlexei Chizhov is a Russian who has been the ten-time world champion in international draughts. His first world champion title was in 1988 and his most recent was in 2005. He has won more world championships than any player since Isidore Weiss almost a century ago. In 2003 he headed the World...
- Alfred Dussaut
- Alfred Jordan
- Alfred MolimardAlfred MolimardAlfred Molimard was a draughts grandmaster from France.He joined a group devoted to the game in Lyon in 1907 and by 1909 was the champion of the town. He initially tended to lose against Isidore Weiss, but by 1912 he was the European champion in the game...
- Amangul DurdyyevaAmangul DurdyyevaAmangul Durdyev is an English draughts and International draughts champion from Turkmenistan. All five of her siblings, and her father, play the game at a professional level. She is currently women's world champion in Go-As-You-Please draughts. In 2007 she defeated Patricia Breen and was praised...
- Anatoli Gantvarg
- Andrew Anderson
- Andris AndreikoAndris AndreikoAndris Andreiko was a three time world champion and European champion in Draughts.-External links:**...
- Anoop Jethwa
- Asa LongAsa LongAsa Long was an important figure in English draughts generally called checkers in his native USA.- Checkers champion :Asa A. Long was born in Antwerp, Ohio in 1904. As a child he learned the game of checkers when the family moved to Toledo, Ohio. At 16 he won the state tournament and at 18 he...
- Auke Scholma
- Baba SyBaba SyBaba Sy was a Senegalese draughts player and the first world champion from Africa.He is said to have been "discovered" by a French player visiting Dakar. In 1959 Baba Sy won the French championship in Châtellerault. A dispute in 1963-64 World Championship was undecided by his death in a car...
- Bagtiyar Durdyev
- Barbara Graas
- Bauke Bies
- Benedictus Springer
- Bryan Wollaert
- Calvin Monroe
- Carl "Buster" Smith
- Charles WalkerCharles Walker (draughts player)Charles Clendell Walker is a former Mississippi state checkers champion and minister. He founded the International Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, Mississippi in 1979....
- Clarence Freeman
- Corey Modich
- Darya TkachenkoDarya TkachenkoDarya Tkachenko is a Ukrainian draughts player, FMJD Grand Master, multiple times World champion in international draughts and two-times European champion in international draughts ....
- Derek OldburyDerek OldburyDerek Oldbury was a British draughts champion from Devon. He was a rival of Marion Tinsley. Oldbury was interested in Go As You Please draughts, in which players are free to choose their own opening moves....
- Don LaffertyDon LaffertyDon Lafferty was a Grandmaster checkers player. In 1982 he defeated Derek Oldbury for the World GAYP championship with a score of 1-0-23. He was challenged for the championship in 1984 by Paul Davis, winning easily 5-0-15...
- Edwin HuntEdwin HuntEdwin Francis Hunt was an American draughts, or checkers, player who spent most of his life in Nashville....
- Elbert Lowder
- Elena Altsjoel
- Eric Riordan
- Eugène Leclercq
- George Miller
- Guntis ValnerisGuntis ValnerisGuntis Valneris is a Latvian draughts player. 1994 World champion in international draughts, two-times European champion , two-times World champion in fast draughts , three-times Junior World champion , multiple times Latvian national champion.- Career highlights :Guntis Valneris started playing...
- Harm WiersmaHarm WiersmaHarm Wiersma is a Dutch draughts player and former politician. He is a six-time world champion in draughts and former MP.- Biography :...
- Herman HooglandHerman HooglandHerman Hoogland was the first draughts world-champion from the Netherlands. He dominated the game for over a decade and became a leading student of it. He began playing the game seriously in 1908 at age seventeen. In 1912 he became world champion for the first time...
- Igor Keder
- Ion DoscaIon DoscaIon Dosca is a Moldavian Brazilian draughts player, international Grandmaster since 1996 and world champion in 1999. Dosca also plays other variants of draughts, such as Russian checkers and pool checkers and won numerous national championships in both variants.- Sports career :Ion Dosca played in...
- Iser KupermanIser KupermanIser Kuperman, sometimes spelled Koeperman, was an originally Ukrainian player of international draughts. He was born in Habne, today Poliske, Kiev Oblast, on April 21, 1922 and emigrated to the United States in 1978...
- Isidore WeissIsidore WeissIsidore Weiss was a Frenchman who became the first world champion in draughts. He won eight world championships from 1894 to 1909, a record not matched until Alexei Chizhov nearly a century later....
- Jack Francis
- James Ferrie
- James WyllieJames WyllieJames Wyllie was a Scottish draughts player who is important to the history of the game. He is often nicknamed "The Herd Laddie". For many years the date of his birth was uncertain. The day was thought to have been July 6 and 1818 and 1820 were both candidates for the year...
- Jan MortimerJan MortimerJan Mortimer is a draughts or checkers player who entered the game late in life. In 2002 she went to the United States to compete in the U.S. National Championship and won. She later competed at the world level facing Patricia Breen for the women's champion in 2003, then in 2004 won the World...
- Jannes van der WalJannes van der WalJannes van der Wal was a Dutch/Frisian draughts player and world champion in the game. He also played chess at a nearly competitive level....
- Jean Marc Ndjofang
- Jeroen van den Akker
- Joan Caws
- John Post
- Julian Janvier
- Karen van Lith
- Kees Thijssen
- Laurent Nicault
- Leroy Adams
- Lukas Valenta
- Macodou N'diaye
- Marcel DeslauriersMarcel DeslauriersMarcel Deslauriers was a Canadian/Québécois international draughts player. In 1956 he became the only North American, male or female, to win Draughts World Championship. A tournament in Canada was named in his honor.- References :...
- Marion TinsleyMarion TinsleyMarion Tinsley is considered the greatest checkers player who ever lived. He was world champion from 1955–1958 and 1975–1991. Tinsley never lost a World Championship match, and lost only seven games in his entire 45 year career...
- Has been called the greatest American checkersEnglish draughtsEnglish draughts or checkers , also called American checkers or straight checkers or in Israel damka, is a form of draughts board game. Unlike international draughts, it is played on an eight by eight squared board with twelve pieces on each side...
player ever. - Mariella Daniele
- Marius FabreMarius FabreMarius Fabre was off-and-on world champion in International draughts from 1926 to 1931. The move called "Coup Fabre" is named for him. He was French champion before that, having first won the French championship in 1921.- Web sources :...
- Mark Podolskij
- Maurice RaichenbachMaurice RaichenbachMaurice Raichenbach was a Polish-born French draughts champion...
- Mustafa Durdyev
- N'Diaga Samb
- Newell W. BanksNewell W. BanksNewell William Banks was an American checkers and chess player. Banks played his first game of blindfold checkers at age five years and six months at the Detroit Chess and Checker Club.In 1909, according to Frank Leslies's Weekly, he defeated Hugh Henderson for the national championship...
- Oleg Dashkov
- Olga Kamyshleeva
- Olga LevinaOlga Levina (draughts player)Olga Levina is a retired International draughts player and 4 times Women's World Champion in International draughts. Levina is a Kharkiv University alumnus...
- Patricia BreenPatricia Breen (draughts player)Patricia Breen is an Irish draughts player and among the leading women in the game. This is primarily in variants other than International draughts. She became Irish Women's Champion at 12 and at seventeen she defeated the women's world champion...
- Pierre GhestemPierre GhestemPierre Ghestem was a French bridge and checkers player. In 1947 he became the world champion in checkers...
- Piet RoozenburgPiet RoozenburgPiet Roozenburg was a draughts player from Rotterdam.He is an important figure in the game having been the world's draughts champion from 1948 to 1954, winning four times in all. He created the "Roozenburg system" of play and wrote on the game...
- Pieter Bergsma
- Rashid NezhmetdinovRashid NezhmetdinovRashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov was an eminent Soviet chess player, chess writer, and Checkers player.-Early life:Nezhmetdinov was born in Aktubinsk, Russian Empire, in what is now Aqtöbe, Kazakhstan, of Tatar ethnicity. His parents died when he was very young, leaving him and two other siblings...
- Rawle AllicockRawle AllicockRawle Allicock is a British player of chess, English draughts and other boardgames.He is a FIDE master, and as at January 2008 he was ranked 95= in England at chess, and number 15 in the world at draughts.-References:...
- Reinier Cornelis Keller
- Richard Hallett
- Rob Clerc
- Robert D. YatesRobert D. YatesRobert D. Yates was an American draughts champion and medical doctor. He was considered to be prodigious at draughts and was the only American to hold the title of world champion in the 19th century, which he won from James Wyllie in 1876 at age 18...
- Robert Martins
- Robert Stewart
- Ron KingRon KingRon "Suki" King is a checkers player from Saint George, Barbados. He has won United States titles and twelve World Championship Titles at the game and is considered one of the strongest players of the game. He has been honored by his homeland being named Barbados's Sportsman of the Year in both...
- Ryan Pronk
- Sam GonotskySam GonotskySamuel Gonotsky was a leading American checkers, or English draughts, player in "The Two-Move Era." He is considered to be possibly the best "crossboard player" and the best US player of the 1920s.-External links:****...
- Stanislas BizotStanislas BizotStanislas Bizot was a French draughts champion who debuted in 1901. He won the Draughts World Championship in 1925. In the following year he lost to Marius Fabre.-References:...
- Tamara TansykkuzhinaTamara TansykkuzhinaTamara Tansykkuzhina is an international draughts player. She has won the Women's World Championship three times and is among the 25 best players in Russia regardless of gender. She was an honored guest at a festival held in her native Bashkortostan.- Web sources :...
- Tanja Chub
- Tom Wiswell
- Ton SijbrandsTon SijbrandsTeunis Sijbrands is a famous Dutch player of international draughts who became world champion in 1972 and remained so in 1973 after he successfully defended his title against Andris Andreiko...
- Vadim VirnyVadim VirnyVadim Aleksandrovich Virny is a German International draughts player, an International Grandmaster. He was a European champion, World vice-champion and two-times World team champion in International draughts in 1980s....
- Viktoria Motrichko
- Vitalia Doumesh
- Vladimir Agafonov
- Vladimir KaplanVladimir KaplanVladimir Kaplan was a noted player of pool checkers from Russia. His wife worked as an accountant on Wall Street to support this. He apparently had some difficulties in international competitions because he was Jewish...
- Walter HellmanWalter HellmanWalter F. Hellman was the longest reigning world American checkers champion.-Background:Hellman was born in Gamla Nordsjö, Nordmaling, Sweden. His family moved to Gary, Indiana, United States, in 1926.-Career:...
- William F. RyanWilliam F. RyanWilliam F. Ryan aka The Bronx Comet was an American checkers player who won national titles in both 1939 and 1946. He counted Sam Gonotsky as a mentor and friend. He was known as a champ at "blindfold checkers" and wrote several books on the game. He also worked on a magazine concerning it and...
- Wjatsjeslav Sjtsjogoljev
- Ygal Koyfman
- Yulia Romanscaya
- Zoja GolubevaZoja GolubevaZoja Golubeva is a Belarussian/Latvian draughts player and current draughts Women's World Champion. She was Women's World Champion in 1986, 1988, 1990–1992, and 1994 to 2000. She became 12 time champion after winning the Championships again in 2010...
Non-human players
This section is for computer programs who are noted in the history of the game.- Chinook (draughts player)Chinook (draughts player)Chinook is a computer program that plays English draughts , developed around 1989 at the University of Alberta, led by Jonathan Schaeffer. Other developers are Rob Lake, Paul Lu, Martin Bryant, and Norman Treloar. In July 2007, Chinook's developers announced that the program has been improved to...
, a program developed at the University of AlbertaUniversity of AlbertaThe University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
(noteworthy match against Marion TinsleyMarion TinsleyMarion Tinsley is considered the greatest checkers player who ever lived. He was world champion from 1955–1958 and 1975–1991. Tinsley never lost a World Championship match, and lost only seven games in his entire 45 year career...
) - KingsRowKingsRowKingsRow is a strong checkers and draughts engine. It was released by Ed Gilbert in 2000.The checkers engine can be used with the CheckerBoard GUI. The engine available as freeware.-History:...
, a strong program by Ed Gilbert - Nemesis (draughts player)Nemesis (draughts player)Nemesis is an English draughts program by Murray Cash. Today Nemesis is no longer commercially available and developing has stopped years ago....
, world computer champion in 2002