Janek Mäggi nominated for the position of President of the World Federation of Women's Play

Janek Mäggi

Estonian Draughts Association nominates Janek Mäggi as Presidential Candidate of World Draughts Federation

During the World Championship of international draughts from October 1-17 in Tallinn, the General Assembly of World Draughts Federation (FMJD) will take place on October 7, where representatives from 65 member countries will elect the new president for the federation. Estonian Draughts Association nominated Janek Mäggi as presidential candidate and Aare Harak as treasurer.

“We have been working together with Janek for ten years, since 2007, when he was elected President of European Draughts Confederation (EDC),” says Harry Otten, current President of the World Draughts Federation. “EDC is definitely the leading continental confederation and Janek has been re-elected as its president twice. As leader of European draughts, he has participated in the management of FMJD for a decade and he is ready to pick up the baton. I support Janek’s candidacy and wish to continue co-operation with him in the new Council of FMJD. My aim is to start working in the newly established position as manager of international relations, for whom one of the tasks will be to receive the official recognition from the International Olympic Committee.”

The second Estonian person, running for the position of Treasurer of FMJD, is Aare Harak, who has been Head of Financial Committee of FMJD until now. “Aare Harak has been professional and punctual as Head of the Financial Committee – the way it should be in the field of finance,” says Frank Teer, Secretary General of FMJD. “I believe the new council will work as an effective team, valuing previous experience and increasing the role of draughts in the world during the upcoming years.”

“Janek has been boosting Estonian, European and world draughts since 1999,” says Tarmo Tulva, President of Estonian Draughts Association. “Until now, for a total of 18 years, he is member of the board of Estonian Draughts Association, having been president until 2015. Since 2007, when Janek was elected President of EDC, the headquarters of the confederation has been in Tallinn. Thanks to this, at least one title competition has taken place in Tallinn each year. European Championships in 2008 and 2014 were most important, also the world title match in 2013. In case Janek is elected President of FMJD in autumn, Estonian capital city Tallinn, being currently European capital of draughts, will become world capital of draughts. We are confident that Tallinn has proved to the World Draughts Federation - we are worthy of this opportunity.”

Harry Otten has been President of FMJD since 2009, he has announced not to run for president after end of this term. In case Janek Mäggi will be elected president, he will resign from the position of EDC President and the headquarters of EDC will move away from Tallinn. FMJD headquarters will be allocated both in Tallinn and Amsterdam.

“On October 8, the next day after the general assembly of FMJD, the annual general meeting of EDC will also take place,” says Tarmo Tulva. “Janek has two years left as President of EDC, but in case he gets elected, he will resign from that position and a new president for EDC will be elected. We are working to find a dignified new president for EDC, in case this change will become necessary, so that the headquarters can move to a country which has good organizing capacity in draughts.”

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 1897 onwards, world champions had been proclaimed by France and the Netherlands, which gave rise to the desire by a number of countries to have more accurate competition and tournaments, which led to the establishment of an international organization. By today, the FMJD has grown to an organization with 70 participating national federations.

The FMJD has become a member of SportAccord, which unites all internationally renown sports federations and IMSA, the International Mind Sports Association where FMJD, FIDE (chess), WBF (bridge), Go and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) work together towards the integrations of mind sports.

European Draughts Confederation (www.europedraughts.org) was founded in 1998 in Tallinn by the federations of 12 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. EDC oganises 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:

Tarmo Tulva, President of Estonian Draughts Association

E-mail: tarmo.tulva@kabeliit.ee, tel +372 504 2024

Draughts World Championship - Estonia, 1 to 16 October 2017

Hotel Euroopa - Tallinn

Estonian Draughts Association, member of the World Draughts Federation (FMJD), is the organiser of the World Championship in international draughts this year. The competition will take place in Tallinn, Hotel Europe. 100 top players from almost 50 countries are expected to participate.

“Estonia is seen as a great innovator in the world, who, despite its small number of inhabitants, is the forerunner in various fields,” says Harry Otten, President of FMJD. “Preparations for the upcoming competitions are going very well and I am sure that all participants will be satisfied with the hosts.”

„This is definitely a great honor and opportunity for the Estonian Draughts Association to show Estonia as a top player on the world arena,” says Tarmo Tulva, President of the Estonian Draughts Association. “Also for Estonian draughts players, it is a unique opportunity to participate in such an event. Previously, the European Championships have been held in Tallinn twice (in 2008 and 2014), and also several other title tournaments have been here, but it is the first time for the Estonian Draughts Association, that we were trusted to organize an event of such scale.”

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. As the top countries, the Netherlands and Russia have divided the organizing rights during the past twenty years. World’s top draughts players are also expected from Canada, Ukraine, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Latvia, Congo, etc.

The World Championship in international draughts to be held in October this year, takes place in Estonia for the first time. Earlier, the Youth Championship has been organized in Estonia, but for the first time, the right to find out the absolute world leader in draughts was given to the Estonian Draughts Association. “We got credit during the world title match, which was successfully held in Tallinn in 2013, where the world champion A.Georgiev won from the 2009 champion A. Shvartsman,” says Janek Mäggi, President of the European Draughts Confederation.

„The right to organise championships is mostly given to the big sports countries, therefore this is a great honor for Estonia,“ says Janek Mäggi. “The volume of organising such competitions is vast, the total budget is up to several hundred thousand euros. Good co-operation with the Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment, the Gambling Tax Council and sponsors is essential for organizing such an event.”

World Championships in draughts take place every two years. Contestants are expected from almost 50 different countries. The competition will be held according to the rules of international draughts, which is played on a 10x10 game board, differing from Russian draughts, which is also popular in Estonia. Compared to the rules of Russian draughts, there are a few modifications.

The first world champions in international draughts were selected in the end of the 19^th century. During the last decades, the top players have been mostly Russian draughts players, who have won the world champion titles since 1984, with one exception – in 1994, when the Latvian draughts player Guntis Valneris won the tournament. Until 1990, the country of origin of Russian draughts players was named USSR. The current world champion is the young Dutch player Roel Boomstra.

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 1897 onwards, world champions had been proclaimed by France and the Netherlands, which gave rise to the desire by a number of countries to have more accurate competition and tournaments, which led to the establishment of an international organization. By today, the FMJD has grown to an organization with close to seventy participating national federations.

The FMJD has become a member of Sportaccord, which unites all internationally renown sports federations. As such, the FMJD membership (and that of the FIDE and WBF (bridge) 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 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. EDC oganises 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:

Tarmo Tulva, President of Estonian Draughts Association

E-mail: tarmo.tulva@kabeliit.ee, tel +372 504 20 24

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