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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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Checkers Champion Amangul Durdyev 3
During the past five years, Tkatsjenko developed strong endgame techniques that she has certainly used to her advantage. Darja contested against checkers opponents in Den Haag (The Hague) International Open in 2004 gaining some good competitive checkers experience, but her great checkerboard triumph came later that same year in Mlava at the Slovenia Bovec Tournament, where she defeated numerous players with a final score of 13 points to win the tournament. As a result, Darja became the Women’s European Draughts (Checkers) Champion at the age of twenty.
Darja at
The Hague tournament
2004 |
Darja at
The Hague tournament
2004 2 |
2004
Women’s European Draughts Championship Bovec
Tournament 1 |
2004
Women’s European Draughts Championship Bovec Tournament 2 |
2004
Women’s European Draughts Championship Bovec
Tournament 3 |
Darja Tkatsjenko
vs
Tamara Tansikkuzhyna
In 2005, Darja Tkatsjenko continued her winning streak as she contested the draughts/checkers game in the Ladies World Cup in Prague and played against a field of top level female players from the European checkers arena. Once again this young competitor displayed her strong analytical skills and checkerboard expertise by winning the championship golden cup.
Darja with the Championship Golden Cup, Prague 2005
However, the real coup in checkers for this young game master was her first place win of the Women’s World Championship tournament in International Draughts in Latronico, Italy. Darja defeated Tamara Tansykkuzhina, who was the defending Women’s World Champion and became the new 2005 World Champion.
Then in 2006, she faced experienced opponents across the tournament checkerboard in various national and international checkers tournaments such as competing against GM Guntis Valneris at the Nijmegen Open. Each opponent pitted analytical skills and intuition against the other, but years of experience behind Valneris defeated the young Ukraine’s crossboard game.
This young World Champion also participated in the 9th International Salou Open in Salou, Spain, in 2006 and once again Darja competed against a roster of experienced Masters and Grandmasters at the tournament checkerboard. Though she played strong, intuitive games, the Ukrainian champion finished in 6th place. However, Darja was perhaps saving her skill and endgame techniques for the major women’s event of the year.
In the Women’s World Championships in Valpollino, Italy, Darja defended her World Title in International Draughts against a field of master checkers players that included Tamara Tansykkuzhina, Olga Kamychleeva, Zoja Golubeva and Nina Hoekman, as well as a host of other experienced players. Darja was once again successful in her game play, but did not secure the title until the 11th and final round. She won first place and the Women’s World Championship title for 2006 with an end score of 17 points, though second and third place were close behind.
Darja vs Tamara
 
Darja Tkatsjenko Women’s World Champion 2006
The Women’s World Cup Championship in International Draughts/Checkers was held in Yakutsk, Russia, in 2007. Yet again, a field of female checkers players contested at the checkerboard during the course of the tournament seeking to win this coveted world title.
Darja Tkatskjenko faced her opponents with the same confidence that had led her through numerous competitions during the past few years. She was here to defend her Women’s World Title and played with her usual expertise and finesse. Unfortunately, Darja could not pull off a win this time. Tamara Tansykkuzhina played a stronger game than Darja in their final round. From the beginning of this match, it would seem that Darja made the wrong choice of game to play, which did not lead the World Champion to a win.
After the last game between the two champions, Tamara won back the World title in a final draw against Darja. Tamara concluded the match with a score of 21 points, while Darja tied with Danilova at 20 points, but Darja finished with silver in 2nd place and Marfa Danilova placed 3rd with fewer wins than Tkatsjenko.
In future years, the International Draughts/Checkers circuit will likely see the skill across the checkerboard of these champions yet again. In 2008, the FMJD rated each of the top five world GMIF players very closely in total points.
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2369 |
2366 |
2365 |
2360 |
Checkers Champion
Tatjana (Tanja) Chub |
Checkers Champion Tamara Tansykkuzhina |
Checkers Champion Olga Kamychleeva |
Checkers Champion Darja Tkatsjenko |
Checkers Champion
Zoja Golubeva |
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CHECKERS CHEST
Two Player