Draughts on the Ground

Sometimes the numbers can reveal much more about the effectiveness of sports organizations’ events and activities than all the empty, flashy rhetoric spouted by talking heads and hollow leaders. We’ve already mentioned the psychological challenges organizers face when hosting most championships and tournaments, where the pursuit of profit causes the event to lose its prestige—and, as a rule, the sport itself suffers as a result. Quantity doesn’t always translate into quality or contribute to the development of sports as an attractive and commercially successful product.

The Polish Blitz and Rapid Draughts Championships are being held in the small Polish village of Rychlik. The competitions include both individual and team events. And very soon, the national women’s championship will also get underway. An interesting linguistic observation: the name of the Polish village Rychlik translates from Czech as “high-speed train.” A mysterious coincidence.

The traditional annual tournament is taking place in Hogeven. Once again, we witnessed a small miracle on the board, right in the first round. Alexander Shvartsman, in his own unique style, sacrificed a checker and continued playing without it, applying a bit of pressure on his opponent. We’ll post a link to the live stream of this tournament below.

The Xintai Open is an annual international draughts tournament held in Xintai, China. It has been held since 2019 as a single tournament featuring Open, Women’s, Boys’ Under-14, and Girls’ Under-14 divisions. It was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is considered a tournament with a large prize fund.

Starting in 2024, results from the “Xintai Open” will count toward the World Cup. The top draughts player in Asia, based on results from the “Xintai Open” and Xingqiu Cup stages in 2026, will be awarded an additional spot at the 2027 World Championship in Wageningen.

The 9-day European Youth Draughts Championship will come to a lively, powerful, unstoppable, and fast-paced conclusion today. Today’s events will feature the Blitz program. Continuing the topic raised in our previous article, we’ll start by posing a couple more questions to the organizers of such championships.

Let’s start by asking simple, logical questions about economics and business practices in the checkerboard space. Tell me, what makes the European Blitz and Rapid Chess Championship for boys and girls so attractive, prestigious, and exclusive? How does this tournament differ from any other blitz and rapid tournament, aside from the name? If you can bring anyone, anytime, and as many as you want to it, what, in the words of marketers, is the product’s unique selling point?

The final stretch is in sight at the European Youth Championships in Tallinn. Did our predictions—and those of the national team coaches—come true? Let’s analyze the events in each group and see how things have changed compared to the overall trends. As usual, at the end of the championship, we’ll provide statistics on each team’s performance based on the number of podium finishes.

The national federations reacted with wide-eyed astonishment and open-mouthed disbelief to the news about the cost of living at the European Championships in Tallinn. But whether they pouted or not, they sent their young men and women to stay, eat, and compete in the sporting events. We note with sadness that many organizational shortcomings in hosting Europe’s premier competitions have remained unresolved for years. Perhaps this year, at least, we won’t see podiums shaped like car wheels.

This year, the Nijmegen Open 2026 will be held for the 41st time, from Sunday, July 26, 2026, through Saturday, August 1, 2026. As was the case last year, the venue for the competition will be the De Boog sports hall in Nijmegen. The tried-and-true format of the summer tournament for players of all levels remains unchanged. As always, there will be 10 rounds over seven days with the standard time control of 80 minutes plus 1 minute per move.

Let’s take a brief look at the history of Mongolian literature: Mongolian literature is heavily influenced by its oral nomadic traditions. The “three pillars” of Mongolian literature are: The Secret History of the Mongols, Geser, and Jangar—all reflect the centuries-old traditions of the heroic epics of the Eurasian steppe. Mongolian literature has also served as a reflection of contemporary society, the level of political, economic, and social development, as well as leading intellectual trends.

I love returning to my city unexpectedly, as evening falls,
Pushing my way through crowds of familiar, solid clouds,
And descending onto the airfield, intoxicated by the reunion,
Drowning in the coolness of the salty Baltic winds.

I love returning to my city as a smoke-stained visitor,
Hopping into a taxi at the most cozy taxi stand there is,
And slowing down just a little on Architect Rossi Street
As I wait for the glint of epaulets flashing in the distance.

Alexander Rosenbaum

Back then, the Riga Championship was a unique competition held in the middle of summer, just before the European Junior Championships. The strongest players from across the regions would come to this tournament, and it was fully funded by the city budget. There was also a small—albeit laughable—prize pool consisting of everyday household items. Towels, badminton rackets, various kinds of napkins, and candles. It was funny.