War threatens Ukraine’s checkers champions
Ukraine has produced world champions in checkers for decades. Russia’s war is threatening the next generation.
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Editor’s Note:
For many Ukrainians, checkers have been a part of their lives since childhood. For some of The Counteroffensive’s members, the game took on new meaning during the winter blackouts, when a game of checkers on their phones helped them take their minds off the war and their daily struggles, if only for a little while.
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OUR LEAD STORY:
KYIV, Ukraine — When Yurii Anikeiev was a child, he spent hours in his family library, curiously flipping through a book about world champions of board games in his hometown, Kivsharivka, in the Kharkiv region. As a ten-year-old, he would head to his local checkers club and be the only one who stayed behind, even when it emptied out.
At that time he would always wonder how it felt to be etched in the pages of history as a champion. 33 years later, he found out, leading the Ukrainian team to a silver medal at the World Championship in international checkers this May.
Ukraine has maintained some of the top positions in international competitions for games such as chess and checkers since gaining independence in the 1990s. Affordable to play and access, classic board games became a popular leisure-time activity among Ukrainians through centuries, raising generations of world champions in mind sports.
However, the Russian war threatens to unravel what took decades to build.
During Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine felt a devastating blow on its intellectual sports community. According to official figures from Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Youth and Sports, more than 500 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by the Russian military. Among them were at least 21 chess players. Internal estimates within the chess community suggest that the total number of losses, including junior players, may be as high as 40-50.
Now, some of Ukraine’s top players have moved abroad because of the war and lack of governmental funding, while others, like Yurii himself, are serving in the armed forces. Without extra support, the country risks losing not only its long-established championship positions but also another platform for self-representation and international cooperation.
In January 2026, Yurii Anikeiev was mobilized to fight in the Ukrainian armed forces. Despite this, he remains involved in the sport, participating in championships, as Ukrainian law does not prohibit it for servicemen. Attending tournaments does, however, require a multi-stage bureaucratic process to obtain all the necessary permissions.
Yurii’s first invitation to take his checkers game international came in 2009, when he was invited by the Chinese Checkers Federation to Shanghai at the age of 26. Compared to other board games, checkers developed later in China, when The General Administration of Culture and Sports of China has integrated international draughts into the official list of disciplines for the first time. So they wanted to learn from the experience of skilled players from Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries.
Before this trip, Yurii had already achieved a series of significant victories, starting with wins in local tournaments in 1993. That was a time when Ukrainian chess and checkers were going through a difficult post-Soviet economic crisis as state funding was abolished, sports organizations declined, and leading coaches and athletes either moved abroad in large numbers or changed their profession. However, the remaining Soviet-era infrastructure and coaching expertise still allowed Ukrainian players to quickly enter the global intellectual community.
Checkers may have arrived in present-day Ukraine as early as the third and fourth centuries, as suggested by gaming pieces unearthed in Slavic graves in the Kyiv region. In the days of Kyivan Rus, the medieval state that flourished in present-day Ukraine, chess was a favored pastime of the nobility. Centuries later, under Soviet rule, Ukraine became one of the USSR’s leading hubs for chess and checkers.
“Kyiv and Kharkiv were the main hubs in checkers,” Yurii recalled.
These games united people of all ages, creating a form of intellectual recreation that fit neatly into the USSR’s effort to regulate every sphere of life, even leisure. Children actively participated in school tournaments, while seniors played checkers in the yard.
Even today, if one takes a stroll in central Kyiv, they could see old men with chessboards in the park, playing for hours on end.
After Ukraine gained independence, it continued to achieve victories in international board game tournaments, producing champions such as Ruslan Ponomariov, who became the 16th World Chess Champion in 2002, or Mariia Muzychuk, the World Checkers Champion in 2015. In individual adult World Championships, representatives of Ukraine have taken winning positions at least 10 times.
“I remember there were gifts [at the local tournaments] — little toy soldiers or similar toys. At that time, even small presents mattered a lot to children,” he recalled about his first success.
Yurii went on to place sixth and fulfill the requirements for the title of Master of Sport at the Ukrainian Men’s Championship, even though he was only 13 years old at the time. But the most important victories for Yurii were in the world championships on both the 64 and 100-square boards — the two most popular variants of the board game differ in board size, the number of pieces, and the rules. When he was just 16, Yurii had reached what many consider the absolute peak of achievement for any checkers player.
This May, the Ukrainian men’s national team, of which Yurii was a member, became the first to win a silver medal at the World Championship in France. It was a historic breakthrough for the country in the field of checkers, as previously Ukraine had only achieved fourth place at such tournaments in 1992 and 2000.
“I was very pleased with the result. Of course, it was not the first medal, but success in a team tournament, and especially under such circumstances, added even more joy to the successful performance,” Yurii said.
Yurii believes his skills with checkers even help him on the battlefield, where he serves in the 225th Separate Assault Regiment as a soldier. Checkers trains the mind to calculate cascading effects, chains of consequences triggered by a single move, under strict time pressure. In close combat or under shelling, this ability to quickly weigh risks and suppress panic.
“Everything that exists in sport also exists in the army,” Yurii said. “In sport, you impose limits on yourself — you say: I can’t do this. You get used to that discipline. Here [in the army], the restrictions are imposed on you from the outside, so in a way it feels easier to adjust,” Yurii said.
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Editor’s Note:
For many Ukrainians, checkers have been a part of their lives since childhood. For some of The Counteroffensive members, the game took on new meaning during the winter blackouts, when a game of checkers on their phones helped them take their minds off the war and their daily struggles, if only for a little while.
We’re always on the hunt for stories that might surprise you. If you’re interested in our work, subscribe so you don’t miss out on new content.
Ukraine has a large number of veterans from the war and will inevitably face the massive challenge of integrating millions of them back into civilian society.
The Arsenal, the sister publication of The Counteroffensive, conducted an interview with U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego at the Black Sea Security Forum about veterans and how they can be supported now and after the war.
THE LATEST NEWS AT THIS HOUR:
By Oleksandra Khelemendyk
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
RUSSIA’S LARGEST OIL REFINERIES ATTACKED: Satellite images provided by Radio Free Europe show that at least four or five fuel tanks at Grushovaya, Russia’s largest petroleum storage facility in the Caucasus, have been destroyed by a Ukrainian strike on June 8. This follows another attack on the same site in May. In total, 10-15 tanks have been damaged.
On Wednesday, President Zelenskyy also confirmed a strike of FP-5 Flamingo missiles on the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region. This is one of the key oil facilities in Russia located more than 900 km away from the frontline in Ukraine. Zelenskyy also announced that the attack hit a military plant which produces parts for drones and missiles used by Russia.
LOGISTICS IN CRIMEA DISRUPTED: The Chongar bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to the Kherson region, is damaged, according to Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the state Centre for Countering Disinformation. The Russian army used it to supply machinery and weapons to the frontline.
This comes as Russia’s maritime navigation capacity is limited by Ukrainian attacks. The Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a strike on the Russian shadow fleet tanker in the Black Sea and on the vessel Lady Augusta during the temporary power-cut in Mariupol port.
EU TO OPEN NEGOTIATIONS WITH UKRAINE IN JUNE: In the joint statement after a meeting in Tallinn on June 9, the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries supported opening all 6 negotiating clusters on Ukraine’s way to the EU. Each cluster includes the EU laws and regulations that Ukraine needs to implement before accession.
The first of them, with legislation on fundamental rights, effective state services and democratic institutions, is expected to open on June 15.
Meanwhile, the EU is preparing a new 21st sanctions package against Russia, which includes freezing the assets of about 90 banks, freezing the oil price cap for Russia, new sanctions against Russia’s companies and its shadow fleet, and a visa ban for current and former Russian soldiers.
POLAND WANTS A PART IN UKRAINE PEACE TALKS: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his country, one of Ukraine’s key allies and biggest spenders on defense in NATO, should take part in any potential peace negotiations for Ukraine.
This came after the June 7 meeting in London, where President Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and deep-strike capabilities. In a joint statement, they supported the idea of direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, with the U.S. and Europe involved.
DOG OF WAR:
Today’s dog of war, Kylie, ran up to greet Kateryna while her pet parents were ordering coffee.
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Anastasiia
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Thank you for your reporting. Ukraine is the bulwark against Russian aggression in Europe. The war could have been over if not for the well-meaning but overly cautious Biden and more importantly, the pro-authoritarian Trump Republican Party being in charge now.
🤔 I can quite see how "playing" strategic games under the pressure of tournaments would sharpen your military reflexes & capabilities ... Sad that no Ukrainian, champion or otherwise, is free from the reach of the illegal invasion into their lives. Reading articles of the increasing reach & success of the Ukraine drones & military tactics, I can't help but wonder about the backgrounds of the strategists & planners, because much of it mirrors that of chess & checkers etc 🫂👏💙💛