International checkers grandmaster Ion Dosca has recently been crowned national champion of Moldova, for the 17th time in his career. However, this was his first full score win, meaning that he had no defeats or draws, but won all the games.
“Although I was young and had a series of titles in my cabinet, including a world champion medal, I had never won the national championship with a full score and I've finally done it. It's interesting that I did it at 60 years of age and I hope that my peers will be encouraged by this”, he told IPN.
Ion Dosca plans to compete in the World Championship, scheduled for October in Saint Petersburg. “I have serious intentions for this tournament, because this victory gave me a youthful boost and I want fight for the top spot”, said the champion.
However, before that, he hopes to participate in the World Championship for Seniors, which takes place in Bulgaria between August 24 and September 5. According to Dosca, this would be a perfect fit before the tournament in Russia, but doesn't know if he'll be able to participate. It seems that the Ministry of Youth and Sports says that the money alloted for the Checkers Federation have already been spent, but the champion hopes the authorities will solve this problem and he will be able to win new titles abroad.
Ion Dosca is the most decorated Moldovan player. He won the URSS Cup in 1980 and 1990, the URSS championship (Russian version) in 1991, is a laureate of World Championships (international version), world champion in 1999 (international), US champion in 2000 (pool-checkers) and multiple champion of Moldova (Russian checkers).
