Coach’s notes.

Notes from coaches and famous draughts players about draughts. Short literary notes.

Encircling Trap

24.03.2026

Artem Alyoshin

Which organized crime group are you from?
-Central Federal District. What about you?
-I’m from the Northwestern Federal District.
-Do you remember when we served ten years together in Yaroslavl?
-Yeah, those were the days.

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What should you do if everyone around you turns into a rhinoceros?

14.03.2026

People sometimes turn into rhinos very quickly. Too quickly. The desire to conform (commonly known as sycophancy or brown-nosing, the tendency to fawn or curry favor) will always distinguish the strong from the weak. The desire to distance oneself and think, “It’s none of my business, I know nothing,” often leads to sad and tragic events. Just like the lack of will to acknowledge the obvious. Although sooner or later, weak people will have to acknowledge the obvious.

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Girl’s memory, amnesia, and sclerosis? We treat it with draughts—no question about it.

12.02.2026

Artem Alyoshin

– Radio Retro, you’re on the air!
– The staff of Polyclinic No. 15 would like to request a song about amnesia and heart attacks.
– ???!!! We don’t know any such song!
– Well, how about… this one… “”позабыто всё на свете, сердце замерло в груди”.”

About ten years ago, I was at the annual draughts tournament in Yaroslavl. Everything was as usual, I played a lot of games, got a bunch of ideas, even wrote some things down. I came home and forgot everything, and I couldn’t make sense of what I had written down. I’m sure many people are familiar with this. But the most valuable episode at this tournament for me was the following story.

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