World Championship of International Draughts will start in Tallinn on Sunday

On Sunday, 1 October the World Championship of International Draughts will start in Tallinn and for the first time in Estonia, which will last until 16 October. Competitions will take place in Hotel Euroopa (Paadi 5, 1-3 October) and in Tallinn Chess House (Vene 29, 3-16 October). Competitions can be viewed on the spot and in the web. In Tallinn, 84 best men and 16 best women of the world will be competing, altogether from 50 different countries.

„Estonian Draughts Association has joined top class in the world as an organizer of mind sports competitions,” said the Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas. „Also the head office of the European Draughts Confederation has been located in Tallinn for last ten years. Every year one or two European title tournaments have been organized in Tallinn, including the world title match in 2013. This is consistency worth recognition.”

„The honour and right of organizing the World Championship is extraordinary in any sports,” said the Minister of Culture Indrek Saar. „In result of hard work of more than ten years, the Estonian Draughts Association has become an organizer of mind sports competitions on international level. For Estonia, this proves the ability of small countries to be a strong and successful player on the world arena.”

„For Tallinn, title tournaments of any sports mean many guests, which is useful for sport as well as the economy,” said the Mayor of Tallinn Taavi Aas. „Organization of the World Championship in draughts is important, because it is great honour and recognition to the Estonian Draughts Association as well as the City of Tallinn for organizing dozens European title tournaments in recent decade, during which Tallinn has been the city of location of the European Draughts Confederation.”

„Due to international work, the popularity of draughts has increased in Estonia,“ said Vice Mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kõlvart. „It is also worth mentioning that Estonian competitors have had the possibility to compete at home, and thanks to the organizing rights their competition opportunities have been much broader. I believe than mind sports deserve more attention, in order to develop various skills and abilities of children and young people.”

„We are grateful to all supporters, who have helped us to make organization of the World Championship in Tallinn possible,” said Tarmo Tulva, President of the Estonian Draughts Association. „This year’s World Championship is the top event in Estonian draughts history. A tournament with such a high level has never been organized in Estonia before. I believe that this will add enthusiasm to us, and in coming years there will be also other top tournaments in Tallinn.”

From the organizing country, 2 female and at least 3 male players can participate in the competitions. The previous World Championship took place in 2015 in the city of Emmen in the Netherlands.

Sponsors of the World Championship of International Draughts are: AS Nordecon Betoon, AS K-Projekt, Enterprise Estonia, Estonian Olympic Committee, the Council of the Gambling Tax, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Ministry of Culture, Port of Pärnu, the City of Tallinn.

World Draughts Federation (FMJD, www.fmjd.org) was founded in 1947 by four federations, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. Its main purpose was to regulate the competition on the world championship. From 1947 onwards, world champions had been proclaimed only by France and the Netherlands, which gave rise to the desire by a number of countries to have more accurate competition and tournaments, and led to the establishment of an international organization. By today, the FMJD has grown to an organization with 84 participating national federations. 

The FMJD has become a member of Sportaccord, which unites all internationally renowned sports federations. As such, the FMJD membership (and that of FIDE and WBF) is part of a more general movement towards integration of mind sports in the regular sports arenas.

European Draughts Confederation (www.europedraughts.org) was founded in 1998 in Tallinn by the federations of 12 European countries. Today, the confederation has 26 member countries. The first president of EDC was Jacek Pawlicki from Poland and until the end of 2007 the head office of EDC was located in Poland. The current president of EDC is Janek Mäggi and the head office of EDC is the Chess House in Tallinn. European Draughts Confederation organizes European championships in draughts and its task is to promote draughts as sports in Europe as well as attract new member countries.

Estonian Draughts Association (www.kabeliit.ee) is an umbrella organization of Estonian draughts clubs and is also member of the Estonian Olympic Committee. The association is also member of The World Draughts Federation and the founding member of the European Draughts Confederation (EDC, www.europedraughts.org). 

Additional information:

Janek Mäggi, President of the European Draughts Confederation
E-mail: janek.maggi@powerhouse.ee, tel +372 507 29 89

Tarmo Tulva, President of Estonian Draughts Association
E-mail: tarmo.tulva@kabeliit.ee, tel +372 504 20 24