Barbados Draughts and Checkers

The year 2004 became a significant year for the game of Checkers and Draughts. On the heal of the formation of the new governing WCDF came the inauguration of a new system for deciding who had the right to challenge for the World Checkers title at both 3-Move Restriction and GAYP or Freestyle.

This system was created by the new World Checkers & Draughts Federation and involved the invitation of selected players from those countries affiliated with he WCDF to participate in a World Qualifying Tournament. The winner of the competition would then earn the right to challenge for the World Checkers Champion Title.

The first World Qualifying Tournament in 3-Move Restriction was held in Bridgetown, Barbados, at the Tom Adam's Financial Center. The event was part of the Randolph Fields International Draughts and Checkers Festival, which consisted of five checkers events to be held over a three-week duration beginning May 31, 2003.

Barbados - Bathsheba Cove	In Barbados - Bathsheba Rock
The Best of Barbados ~ sandy beaches, turquoise seas	The Best of Barbados ~ an Island ocean breeze
Relaxing Bajan Beach	Cave Bay in Barbados
Bathsheba and Bajan Tree	Hilltop Windmill in Barbados
Cherrytree Hill view in Barbados	Cattlewash Beach area in Barbados

Checkers Draughts 2004

The International GAYP checkers match between Team Barbados Draughts and Team USA checkers champions of 2004 was slated for May 31-June 4th 2004. The event began with an opening ceremony hosted by Erskine Bayne. Ron King, President of the Barbados Draughts and Checkers Federation, addressed the assemblage of players, amongst other speakers.

Owen Weeks, President of Barbados Draughts Association, Sandy Fields-Kellman, daughter of Randoph Fields, Erskine King (Director of National Sports Council), Alan Millhone (ACF President), Reginald Farley (Minister of Education, Youth Affairs & Sports), and David Clarke, P.R.O. Barbados Draughts & Checkers Federation all welcomed the International checkers players from the U.S. to the competition. The before games reception also recognized checkers/draughts was considered a minor sport in Barbados in comparison with the two most popular sports of cricket and soccer. Numerous sponsors backed the Barbados draughts festival, and the teams actually had spectators interested in the games.

In Richard Beckwith’s account of his stay in Barbados, he commented that during the reception Erskine Bayne had noted that they had three presidents and two Kings at the head table!

Following the opening ceremony and reception, the team challenge began. Unfortunately, Bajan Grandmaster, Jack Francis, was not part of the checkers champions of 2004 team play.

Each round of play consisted of two games so that both players had a chance to play with the Red and White checkers, since Red always made the first move. Time clocks were used and each player was required to make at least thirty of his own moves in an hour. If the minimum number of moves was not made, and if the time was up as signaled by a falling time clock flag, then the player had to forfeit the game. During this championship tournament, rotation of players was selected blindly. Checkers 2004 had random drawings for new opponents were used in each round.

This event promoted a high quality of play at the checkerboard, and the two top players at the board were Ron King for Barbados and Alex Moiseyev for the U.S. The whole tournament was a series of back and forth wins for each team, but the USA Team came out stronger overall and emerged victorious with a close score of 183 points to 177 or 30 wins, 27 losses, and 123 draws. Remarkable results for both teams.

The Barbados draughts and checkers open tournament followed the team play from June 6th-12th, and Ron king defeated his opponents in a win with 17 points. USA player, Michael Holmes, placed second with 16 points. During this Barbados Draughts festival, the World Checkers Qualifier Tournament for men was also held in Barbados and again, Ron King came out on top as the successful winner. Rawle Allicock, English draughts master, placed second and Hugh Devlin from Ireland ranked third in the competition.

Following these summer events, the Bajan checkers Grandmaster joined a small roster of players at the U.S. National GAYP Open Tournament held as a back to back championship competition with the 3-Move Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, from August 8-12. There were only six entrants in the GAYP competition, and Ron defeated Jim Morrison, Richard Hallett, and Elbert Lowder with 26 points to their 24 points.
In October 2004, King traveled once more to Cookstown, Northern Ireland, to participate in the All-Ireland Open Draughts Championships that ran from October 25 to 28. The tournament had attracted fifty-eight top checkers players from around the world and it was destined to be an exciting event.

Monday 25th 2004: The Masters Division was dominated by World GAYP Champion Ron ‘Suki’ King, who had taken the lead after the first day of checkerboard play and had gained maximum points from his first two rounds against fellow Barbadian, Jack Francis and Northern Ireland Champion, Myles Hannigan.
Tuesday 26th 2004: During the second day of play, Ron King dominated the Masters Division once more and opened up a seven point lead over his rivals after the GM won five of his six checkers games. At this point, ‘Suki’ now lead the score on 19 points. The real competition was now for the runner-up position, where Jack Francis (Barbados), Liam Stephens (Westmeath), and the Durdyev brothers, Mustafa, Parahat, and Bagtiyar (Turkmenistan) all had acquired twelve points each.

Thursday 28th 2004: The All-Ireland Open Championships concluded with the ninth round of checkers play and was followed by a presentation which incorporated the awarding of prizes for each of the divisions contested. The Masters Division checkers champions of 2004 was won by Ron King with a score of 28 points, Jack Francis placed second with 23 points and Parahat Durdyev ranked third with 22 points. There was a tie for 4th place between Mustafa Durdyev (Turkmenistan) and Sean O' Driscoll (Clare) with 21 accumulated points each, followed by Liam Stephens (Westmeath) with a score of 20 points, and checkers champion Bagtiyar Durdyev (Turkmenistan) ranking in seventh place with 19 points.

Checkers Game in the West Indies	The Bajan Checkers Team	Northern Ireland Checkers Draughts	2006 Checkers At Stonehaven Ron King
Checkers Champion Ricardo Pierre Haiti	Checkers Champion John (Jack) Francis	Barbados Draughts and Checkers	World Checkers Champion Alex Moiseyev Alan
Checkers Champion Shang Wong Louiceus	Checkers Champion Ronald “Suki” King	Checkers Game World Title Match	Irish Checkers Champion In Action
Checkers Champion Dickson Maughn	Checkers Game 3 Move Title	Checkers Champion 3 Move Tournament	Checkers Champion Kondlo

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