Constantin Tampiza, former minister of economy and of finance and former president of the Checkers Federation of Moldova, congratulated international master Ion Dosca on the winning of the title of world checkers champion among veterans and said that the master should be appreciated at home too.

“I have always supported Ion Dosca, since I became the president of the Checkers Federation. Now I supported him financially as he didn’t have money to go to the championship. He brought home titles of champion from a number of international organizations and is a value for Moldova. The Checkers Federation now pays little attention to this man who works hard and brings glory to our county. He lives very modestly and is always in search of a source of livelihood,” Constantin Tampiza stated for IPN.

He noted that he got acquitted with Ion Dosca when this was a teen, when he took part in the first checkers championship for adults. “The senior coach told me then:  “This boy is a value”. But the poor countries lay emphasis on the Olympic Games, while checkers is not an Olympic event. In the past, 20% of our population played checkers. This game develops personality and helps the children to develop. I earlier proposed that the chess and checkers should be introduced in schools, at least as optional subjects,” said Constantin Tampiza.

He also said that those who played checkers in Moldova were earlier very appreciated. “We had here perfect checkers schools in Chisinau, Tighina and Balti. Today there are practically no such checkers players. Our girls were once among the top checks players. But without support, our sportspersons cannot go on,” stated Constantin Tampiza.

The 60-year-old Ion Dosca won the title of world checkers champion among veterans at a championship held in Bulgaria between August 26 and September 3. In October, the master will compete in the World Checkers Championship. Two weeks ago, Ion Dosca became Moldova’s champion for the 17th time. For the first time in the history of the competition, Ion Dosca won the championship with full score as he suffered no defeat and had no tie, winning all the games.

Ion Dosca is the holder of the USSR Cup (1980 and 1990), a champion of the Soviet Union, Russian variant (1991), a world champion, universal variant (1999), and a champion of the U.S, the pool-checkers variant (2000).