Biographies
Below are the biographies of checker players from around the globe. Click on their links to learn more about each player.
Patricia Breen
| Patricia Breen, born April 23, 1976, is from Busherstown House, Bennekerry, Carlow, Ireland. She is one of a family of seven girls whose father, Patrick, introduced them to the mysteries of the draughts board. Her father and three sisters have all won national honors at the game of draughts. Patricia Breen began playing competitive draughts in the Community Games competition in the under-ten age group. The Community Games are a nationwide organisation in Ireland that promote competitions among youths under 17 years of age in a variety of events of which the game of draughts is one. Ms. Breen won a gold medal at the Community Games in the under-14 age group. She became Irish Women’s Champion in 1988 while just 12 years old and went on to draw a World Title Match with legendary Women’s World Champion Joan Caws of England while still only 13 years old. |
Patricia Breen accepted an invitation to play in a youth match in the USSR in 1990, where she finished with the best overall score in the event. Ms. Breen then won the Intermediate Section of the Irish Open Championship in 1990 against predominantly male opposition. In 1992, Ms. Breen was called upon to represent Ireland on the Senior Irish International Draughts Team in a series of matches against the national teams of Scotland, England, and Wales. Here, she astounded everyone with an incredible score of 12 wins and four draws in16 games, for which she was presented with a special trophy as the best player of the International Match series.
In 1993, Patricia Breen played a rematch with World Champion Joan Caws at the Sandringham Hotel in Weston-Super-Mare, England, while yet just 16 years old. Here, the experience and confidence she attained over the previous few years were to stand by her, and she emerged victorious by the score of 8-1 and five games drawn.
In 1995, Patricia Breen was called upon to defend her World Championship Title against a challenger whom she knew very well, her younger sister Karina Breen. Karina had followed Patricia’s footsteps by becoming Irish Matchplay Champion and then British and Irish Women’s Champion in 1994. This unique World Championship Match between these two sisters took place at Charles Walker‘s International Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, Mississippi. Here, Patricia successfully defended her World Title by the score of 5-1 and ten games drawn.
Patricia Breen continued to represent Ireland at international level with her participation in matches against England, Scotland, and Wales in 1996 and 2000. In 2001, she was called upon to represent Britain and Ireland in a Senior International Match against the United States of America, the first woman player to do so in the 100-year history of this match tradition. In June 2003, Patricia Breen entered the English Open Draughts Championship held at the Isle-of-Wight and finished as runner-up to English Champion Fred Buckby. She was one of just three women who were competing against no fewer than 21 male opponents!
At the International Festival of Draughts in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, Patricia Breen contested the Women’s World Title a record fourth time. Her opponent was the 2002 U.S. Women’s Three-Move National Tournament Champion, Jan Mortimer of New Zealand. Ms. Breen won three of the first four games of the match, and, despite a valiant comeback effort by Mrs. Mortimer in the second half, Patricia Breen retained her Women’s World Title by the score of 5-1 and ten draws.
Patricia Breen is known for having a natural aptitude for the game and for being able to visualise accurately in complex positions. She is also noted as an excellent endgame player whose skill has conjured up wins from seemingly even positions.
Ron King
| Ron (“Suki”) King was born in 1956 at St. George’s, Barbados, and learned to play the game among the backstreet clubs and rum shops of Barbados. Mr. King first travelled to the United States in 1986 to compete in his first major tournament where he shocked the established American checker players with his flamboyant style, almost winning their National Championship on his first attempt! Since then, he has won the U.S. Championship at both GAYP and Three-Move and has also gone on to win the World Championship Title at both styles of play. |
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| Jim Morrison (USA) in 1991 | William Edwards (Wales) in 1994 | ||||
| Derek Oldbury (England) in 1992 | Don Lafferty (USA) in 1996 | ||||
| Elbert Lowder (USA) in 1996 | Pat McCarthy (Ireland) in 1997 | ||||
| Jim Morrison (USA) in 1996 | Alex Moiseyev (USA) in 2003 | ||||
| Richard Hallett (USA) in 1998 | |||||
| Alex Moiseyev (USA) in 2000 | |||||
| Jack Francis (Barbados) in 2003 |
Ron King’s 2003 Three-Move World Title Match against Alex Moiseyev was his eleventh such match, a record that exceeds the achievements of any other player in the history of the game. Mr. King has travelled widely in promoting draughts, having contested matches in the USA, Barbados, Ireland, and England, and undertaking promotional tours in the Caribbean Islands, South Africa, and Ireland. In 1998, Ron King set a new Guinness World Record for simultaneous play at Houston, Texas, where he played 385 opponents at the same time, winning every single game!
Ron King has been honoured in his native Barbados and was awarded Sportsman of the Year in both 1991 and 1992. In 1992 he was awarded the Barbados Service Star, the highest national honor that can be bestowed on a citizen for outstanding service and achievement. He also received the Kiwanis Club National Award in 1995 and was honored at the Caricom Heads of Government meeting at St. Lucia in 1998 as one of the top 25 sports personalities from the region.
Mr. King has also achieved success in the following events:
- English Open Championship Winner: 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997
- Irish Open Championship Winner: 1994, 2001, and 2003
- British Open Championship Winner: 2002
Ron is married to Hazeldin. They have two daughters and one son.
Alex Moiseyev
| Alex Moiseyev was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1959. By the age of 15 years old, he had obtained a Master rating in Russian draughts. In 1979, Mr. Moiseyev switched from Russian draughts to International draughts. Two years later, he won the Moscow Championship in this style, earning the title of Grandmaster. Alex Moiseyev immigrated to the United States in 1991 with his wife and family to work in New York as a computer programmer. In 1996, Mr. Moiseyev won the U.S. Championships in International draughts and with it the right to play for the world championship at that style of play. However, following this victory, he retired from the International game and took up the Anglo-American game of draughts / checkers instead. He competed in the U.S. National Three-Move Championship in 1996 and finished fifth in the Master Division. Two years later, Alex was runner-up to Richard Hallett at the U.S. National Championship at Danville, Virginia. In 1999, Alex Moiseyev won the U.S. National GAYP Championship at Niagara Falls ahead of a strong field of players, five of whom had previously contested world championship matches. Mr. Moiseyev followed this up in 2000 by winning the U.S. Three-Move Championship at Toledo, Ohio, giving him ownership of both American tournament titles at the same time! |
In 2000, Alex Moiseyev challenged GAYP World Champion Ron King to a GAYP World Title Match. The match was played at the International Checker Hall Of Fame in Petal, Mississippi, and ended in a tie score – three wins each and 18 games drawn. Since that time, Alex Moiseyev has won the Canadian Open, won the World Championship Elimination Match against British Tournament Champion William Docherty (2001), finished as runner-up to Ron King in the U.S. GAYP Championship (2001), and finished as runner-up to Ron King in the British Open Championship (2002). Mr. Moiseyev played First Board for the U.S. against Britain and Ireland in the Seventh International Match in 2001, scoring 11 wins and nine draws in 20 games played.
Following an aborted Three-Move World Title Match in 2001 against Ron King, Mr. Moiseyev contested a Three-Move Title Match in 2002 against former American Champion and World Title Challenger Elbert Lowder (USA) for what the American Checker Federation (ACF) claimed was the Three-Move World Championship. This match was won by Mr. Moiseyev by the score of 12-0 and 17 draws. More recently, Alex Moiseyev contested the U.S. GAYP Championship held at Honea Path, South Carolina, during early August 2003, emerging victorious once again.
In October 2003, the long awaited Three-Move Title Match between Alex Moiseyev and Ron King occurred at the International Festival of Draughts in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Mr. Moiseyev won the match decidedly by the score of 8-2 and 25 draws, laying claim to the undisputed Three-Move World Championship Title.
Alex Moiseyev’s incredible record has earned him Grandmaster status in all three variations of the game (Russian, International, and English draughts)! His ability to adapt is unprecedented. Mr. Moiseyev already stands out as one of the great players in the history of the game.
Alex Moiseyev is married to Galina. They have two sons and one daughter.
Jan Mortimer
| Jan Mortimer was born at Balclutha on the South Island of New Zealand in 1952 and might be described as a relative newcomer to the world of competitive draughts. Although she played some games as a child, Mrs. Mortimer took up playing draughts in any serious way later in life. Her interest was sparked after acquiring a computer, through which she began playing on Internet gaming sites such as Vinco Online Games. The competitive games that Jan Mortimer contested online improved her skills to the extent that she decided to travel to the United States to compete in the U.S. National Championship in 2002. Here, Jan looked forward to the challenge of playing some tough games and to meet many of her Internet friends and adversaries. |
Jan Mortimer’s success as the highest placing woman player in the U.S. National Championship on her first attempt, edging out well-known American player Wilma Wolverton of Missouri, was truly remarkable. With her success, Mrs. Mortimer earned the right to challenge for the Women’s World Title. Through the encouragement of her many new friends, Jan decided to issue a challenge to Women’s World Champion Patricia Breen in 2003. Her challenge was endorsed by the American Checker Federation, and the match took place at the International Festival of Draughts in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in October 2003. Despite brilliant play in the second half of the match, Jan Mortimer lost to Patricia Breen by the score of 5-1 and ten draws. Her primary goal was realized, however – to increase awareness of women playing checkers.
Jan Mortimer is married with four children – one son and three daughters. She now lives in the central Otago region of New Zealand, which is famous for growing walnuts, fruit, and olives, as well as for its many sheep. She works in a family business where she runs a bed and breakfast guesthouse while also doing some part-time nursing at a local health centre. Jan Mortimer is known for her tenacity at the draughts board, and her recent success in America has demonstrated that she is very capable of playing at the highest level.
Before traveling to Northern Ireland in 2003, Jan Mortimer told match officials, “When I return from Ireland, I want to go into the schools here [New Zealand] and to also start a checker club in my area over the winter. My hope is to have more draughts played in New Zealand and also to get more women involved in the game. It’s a game you can play from home with no real cost.”