The great family of draughts has little to do with feminity (dames in french also means "lady"), if we refer to its etymology (dames) that is close to German and Holland's dam which means blocking or barrier (like in Amsterdam). Incidentally, its after having crossed the opponent's barrier that the draughtsman becomes a king and see its powers increased.
Draughts is often referred to all games played on a board divided into squares and on which every piece has the same value. Games of that type have been found in the pyramids.
Though its origin is not precisely known, the game of checkers is one of the most widely spread in the world; but is played in various ways and rules. The first book on the game (64 squares) was published in 1547 in Valencia by Anton Torquemada.
The most popular form is no doubt the international game which has 100 squares (10 by 10) and opposes 20 pieces on each side. The first book on the international game was published in 1650 by Juan Garcia Canagelas of Grenade. Also called pool checkers, the international game appeared in France during the 17th Century and became the main game due to the famous book published by Manoury in 1770. Napoleon Bonaparte was a good player and a stroke even wears his name as he took it during one of his games: the coup Napoleon.
The first recognized World champion is France's Isidore Weiss (in 1899). The French incidentally dominated up to 1947, followed by players from Holland and then the Soviets. The Federation Mondiale du Jeu de Dames (FMJD), the World Body for Draughts was founded in 1947.
International draughts in Canada:The francophones of North America were playing almost exclusively the Canadian game (144 squares). They obtained news from Europe through newspapers and magazines specialized on draughts, and knew the international game but no competitions were held here for that game. In Octobre 1905, here's what Roma Lavallee's archives mentioned: <<L.-O. Maillé who had issued a challenge to any player in the world, on both boards, is waiting for an answer from I. Weiss, Europe champion, until the end of the month, or otherwise will self-proclaim himself champion of the universw.>>. November 1905, L.-O. Maillé proclaims himself ... World champion (nothing less!). It was not the only occasion where Canadians tried to prove their mettle against the champions of the 100 squares. In 1914, the World War prevented France's Marcel Bonnard and Holland's Herman Hoogland (then World Champion) to come to Montreal and play against our champions.
The first meeting between the two worlds finally occurred in October 1923. William Beauregard, then Champion of America, had the honor to play against the Europe champion (international draughts), Holland's Benedictus SPRINGER. The latter accepted a match for the World Title in 10 games, 5 on Canadian checkers and 5 on international checkers. Beauregard, a residant of Holyoke (Massachusetts) confirmed the high caliber of the North American players by decisively beating Springer with 3 wins and 2 draws on his favorite board, while drawing Springer on the 100 squares board. The World Title (not recognized by the European Federations, as Hoogland was the champion at the time) was continued on the Canadian board through challenges issued to the champion.
Following Beauregard's success, the Europeans didn't have much news about our Canadian players (or Franco-Americans), until the percussive visit of Raoul Dagenais and Marcel Deslauriers in Europe. Dagenais took second place at the 1952 World Championships (on 100 squares) but defeated champion Piet Roozenburg in their encounter. Deslauriers had to settle for 9th place but went back 4 years later to capture this prestigious World title. Remarkable exploits if we consider the fact that these two players had little time to adjust to the international game (100 squares).
The contacts and success of our best Canadian players motivated the creation, in the 1950s here, of the Association Internationale des Damistes d'Amerique (AIDA). This association organized the first Canadian championships on 100 squares in order to, among other things, determine our representatives to the World Championships. The AIDA transferred its powers in 1974 to the Association quebecoise des joueurs de dames that had just been created. The Canadian International Checkers Federation was started in 1984. In order to exchange with players that play the same game in more than 40 Countries, the Association quebecoise des joueurs de dames promotes mainly the international games (100 squares), but greets and regroups every player of any type of checkers game. Marcel Deslauriers, after having lost his World Title in 1958 against the Soviet Iser Kouperman (2 wins, 4 losses, 14 draws), represented Canada at the World Championships also in 1960, 1964, and 1972, besides the Brinta tournaments of 1965 and 1967 in Holland. Other players have represented Canada in international competitions: Gaetan Gagnon (in Holland in 1970, but also at the World Challenge 1974 in Tbilissi, Georgia, and also the Panamerican championships), Gerard Lefebvre (in Holland in 1973), Anatoly Veltman (at the Panamerican championships), Eddy Volel (in France ca 1984), Romain Tchicaya (World Championship 1990). We hope some of our players will soon be back on the international scene.
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