The Draughts World Championship is the world championship in

international draughts International draughts (also called international checkers or Polish draughts) is a Abstract strategy, strategy board game for two players, one of the variants of draughts. The gameboard comprises 10×10 squares in alternating dark and light co ...

and is held every two years. In the even year following the tournament, the World Title match takes place. The men's championship began in 1885 in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and since 1948 it's organised by the

World Draughts Federation The Fédération Mondiale du Jeu de Dames (FMJD, World Draughts Federation) is the international body uniting national draughts federations. It was founded in 1947 by four Federations: France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland. Members C ...

(FMJD). The men's championship has had winners from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The current men's champion is

Roel Boomstra Roel Boomstra (born 9 March 1993) is a Dutch draughts player and current world champion. He won the Draughts World Championship match in 2016, 2018 and 2022. In 2014 Boomstra won the Draughts European Championship. He also won the Dutch champio ...

. Since 1998, there is also a Draughts World Championship held with the blitz

time control A time control is a mechanism in the tournament play of almost all two-player board games so that each round of the match can finish in a timely way and the tournament can proceed. Time controls are typically enforced by means of a game clock, ...

(5 minutes plus an increment of 5 seconds per move), and since 2014 also with the rapid time control (15 min + 5 sec per move).

World title match

The championship is held every two years, in the odd years. The world title match takes place in the even year following the world championship tournament. The former champion and the new champion qualify for the world title match. If the former champion retains his title in the World Championship tournament, the runner-up earns the right to challenge him. Unofficial champions (which are not listed here) were awarded retroactively; the first champion being Anatole Dussaut in 1885. A full list of winners can be found here.

Classic

Rapid

Blitz

References

External links