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Champions of the
20th Century
Don Morgan Lafferty
Edwin Hunt
Willie Ryan
Asa Long
Walter Hellman
William Edwards
Sam Levy
Sam Gonotsky
Dr. Marion Tinsley
Derek Oldbury
Elbert Lowder
Leo Levitt
Richard Hallett
African
Checker Champions
1st International Match
In Barbados
Checkers in The
West Indies
The International
Checkers Stage
“Men Only”
Checkers in The News
Checkers Pool
Checkers Champions
Of The Netherlands
Jannes van der Wal
Ton ‘Teunis’ Sijbrands
Checkers Champion
Harm Wiersma
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The International Checkers Stage
“Men Only”
In the arena of International Draughts, World Champions have been recorded since the Men’s World Cup Championship of 1885. From that year until 1947, the checkers champions from France were in dominance with only two years where the Dutch stepped in and took the title from the French players. In 1912, Herman Hoogland won the championship and in 1928 Benedictus Springer finished first for the world title.
The World Championship in checkers did not take place every year, and was not held during World War I and II, but during the years 1948, 1951-2, and 1954, Piet Roozenburg of the Netherlands became the dominant checkers player in the International circuit. Then in 1956 Marcel Deslauriers, a Canadian from Montreal, Quebec was the successful one-time winner of the coveted World title.
However, two years later Iser Koeperman from the Soviet Union stepped in and took the dominant role on the International checkers stage from 1958 until 1971, though Wjatsjeslav Sjtsjogoljev did defeat his countryman and win the title in 1960 and 1964, and the FMJD gave the World Championship title to Baba Sy of Senegal, posthumously, after Iser Koeperman failed to appear for the championship match in 1963.
From 1972 until 1984, the championship reins changed hands yet again, and the Dutch took control over the checkerboard. Ton Sijbrands, Jannes van der Wal, and Harm Wiersma from the Netherlands defeated the roster of ambitious players during this period with only the 1974 title going to Iser Koeperman, Soviet Union, and then Anatoli Gantwarg, Soviet Union, winning the 1978 and 1980 championships.
Then came a period of major dominance in the International checkers arena from 1984 until 2007 by the master players from the Soviet Union, and later, Russia, after the Soviet split. The notable Russian Grandmasters who contested the title across the checkerboard were Anatoli Gantwarg, Alexander Dybman, Alexei Tsjizjov, Aleksandr Georgiev, and Alexander Schwartzman, wherein the last three masters have carried the World Championship title successfully since 1988. Only in 1994 did Guntis Valneris from Latvia usurp the title from the Russians in a one time win.
The Russian Grandmasters have since dominated the International checkers scene and the men’s World Championship title through their checkerboard prowess, game strategies, and inherent endgame tactics and techniques.
Isidore Weiss
1867-1936
Isodore was born in France and was the first World Champion in draughts/checkers to win eight championships from 1894 until 1911. This record had never been matched by any French, Dutch, or Russian checkers player until almost a century later when Alexei Tsjizjov not only matched the record, but actually beat it with a total of ten World Championship titles to his name.
During his checkers reign, Weiss played a strong game at the checkerboard, both strategically and tactically. His technical skills and feel for the game were certainly a large part of his long term success as a World Champion in the checkers International arena.
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Two Player
