Our Cup has gained new champions in 2023!
The second Draughts League tournament was held in Budapest in a friendly fight. The schedule turned out to be stressful for the teams, but they confidently coped with it and demonstrated a good game throughout the tournament.
Looking at the final table you have to remember again from an old suitcase the following hackneyed phrase: ‘You can’t drink your skill and you won’t lose in cards!’. And you can also remember that ‘veterans do not grow old in their souls’.
Two teams from Israel, where every name is a legend, showed their younger teams, how to win and navigate theoretical positions. Having had a great tournament and having won two important victories over Latvian teams, the ‘Terra Israel’ team became the champion! In its composition: Yacov Schaus (founder of the Lithuanian draughts school; as a coach Schaus educated three champions of the USSR – Lyubov Travina, Zhivile Sakalauskaite, Romuald Vitkauskaite -, also among his students grandmaster Eduard Buzhinsky), Mark Strugach (editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘Draughts of Israel’, master of sports), Yuri Kirillov (who does not know Yuri Viktorovich and TOSHechka, champion in Russian draughts), Markiel Fazylov (Three-time USSR champion in Russian draughts (1980, 1981, 1990)) and Olga Chausovskaya (Master of Sports of the USSR in Russian and international draughts, 2-time champion of Russia).
The second place was taken by the young Latvian team of the professional draughts club ‘Chameleon’. They had reliable players on the small board: the multiple-time Latvian champion and luminary Guntars Purvins and the young 7-time world champion among young men Mark Kamynin, who ensured the success of the draughts club in many ways. Guntars Purvins managed to beat his coach from Germany, Gennady Shapiro, and also finished the game with Vitaly Shafir with a beautiful etude ending. Mark scored the maximum number of points, losing only to the grandee Markiel Fazylov. It is also worth noting the reliable game of the founders of the team – Vsevolod Teterin and Anna Krapivina, as well as the victories of the talented student of the club Alexander Petrov, who did not flinch in the adult tournament. And, of course, a successful game would not have been so successful without the help and support of Vitaly Kamynin.
The third place went to the RNA team. Last year they took the second place and this year they really wanted to win! The team consisted of two reliable and very strong players: Zoya Golubeva (a 16-time World champion) and Yakov Levin (the 2023 world champion among veterans in the Rapid program). But in the second round, the RNA team unexpectedly lost to the future champions, and in the third round they had to “hold the punch” after losing to the ‘Hameleons’ team, and yet.. the team showed character and played the last games with maximum concentration and dedication. Also played for the team: Arkady Bersons (founder and sponsor of the team), Oleg Malyugin and Jelizaveta Zaharova (Latvian junior champion).
That’s how the first three teams turned out. But it is worth noting other teams also:
The ‘Arayot Israel’ team fought hard for prizes and selflessly challenged the leaders, but at some point luck was not on their side. On the first board, as it should be, played the captain and president of the Israeli Draughts Federation Yuri Goldstein, on the second board – Mikhail Shabshai, on the third board – Zinaida Alexandrova (USSR champion), as well as Vitaly Shafir and the legendary Olga Levina (four-time World Champion (1981, 1987, 1989, 1993), including in 1989 — with 100% result (won all the games in the round-robin tournament), three-time champion of the USSR (1981, 1984, 1987)).
The ‘Moldova’ team, led by its leader Denis Dudko, despite the ‘lack of arrival’ of one player, was able to compete with the rest of the teams and beat some of them. Everyone will especially remember Denis Dudko’s beautiful win over Yakov Schaus in the last round and Vitaly Bratan’s bright victory over Zinaida Alexandrova. We hope that in the future the Moldovan Federation will support its team and it will compete for the championship title in the next tournament.
Two very young teams:
The ‘Hungary’ team was the ‘host’ of the tournament. Young and ambicious. It was very difficult for them. After all, quite recently, thanks to the efforts of their coach Ica Egri, draughts began to develop in Hungary. They already have experience in international competitions, we have seen them in Turkey, in Bulgaria. But this is the first time the Hungarian team has gained such an experience in team fights. They played their games till the end trying as much as possible to complicate the opponents’ chances of winning. We are very happy for the Hungarian team and hope that they will improve their results and surprise us more than once. In the team played: Bálint Ambrózy, Pétev Uzonyi, Barnabás Köllner, Dóra Köllner, Kitti Meszesan, Anna Vecsei, Jozsef Molner.
The tournament has taken place and will continue to develop!
The games will appear soon and we will publish the most interesting fragments of them. Also on our Youtube-channel you can watch the broadcasts of the games. Also in the near future we will publish photos from our tournaments and you will be able to see the playing hall and the atmosphere that was warm and joyful. Follow our news.
