Odesa woman becomes world champion in women's checkers

International grandmaster from Odesa , Viktoriia Motrichko, has become the world champion in women's 100 checkers.

This was reported by the National Draughts Federation of Ukraine.

The championship was held in the city of Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. China's Saya Hansuhe took second place, and another Ukrainian, Yulia Makarenkova, won third.

"The start did not go well. Success craved silence. I managed to get to the first place in the end, defeating the current world champion Tkachenko in the 4th round. In the 6th round, she defeated the Chinese player who was in the lead and 2 points ahead of her, which was an important victory. And in the penultimate, 8th round, it was a key victory against the Mongolian, who was surprising at this championship and was impenetrable. The calculations in the last round dictated a risk-free game with the two-time world champion Sadovska. And that's exactly what happened. She is the 2025 World Champion!" commented Victoria Motrichko to the Odesa News.

Victoria Motrichko has been playing checkers since she was ten years old. Victoria achieved her first successes in the international arena at the age of 12, winning the European Mini-Chess Championship in 2001. Having succeeded in small-board checkers, Viktoriia Motrichko gradually moved up to the top in international checkers competitions. On April 1, 2023, she topped both world women's ranking lists in international draws: classic and blitz. Viktoriia has been at the top of the blitz rankings since January 1, 2020.

Кирило Бойко