2926 British 3-Move Open Championship
Hosted at The Town Hall, Stonehaven, Scotland 9/9-12/2026
Classic 64-Checkers, Manual, T45 Minutes per opponent per Game (3 hours per
Round)
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On September 18, a series of mixed tournaments in checkers (3-moves) concluded in Stonehenge. The tournament saw the match for the world title won by Lubabalo Kondlo (South Africa). Tatyana Zaytseva (Ukraine) became the women's world champion. Matteo Bernini (Italy) became the world blitz champion. Crispin Odhiambo (Kenya) won the British Open 2026. Lorenzo Damiano Lodato (Italy) became the GAYP youth world champion.
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Tables: British Open 2026 https://results.fmjd.org/.../tournament_table_acc_places... |
Matteo Bermini - The Grand Master, a Livornese from Coteto,
triumphs in Scotland by defeating 28 opponents from the five continents. For
Bernini, it is the third irradiated title in the
specialty and the fifth overall: a new achievement that confirms the great
tradition of the Livornese lady. Livorno is the city, in the world, most titled
in this "sport of the mind"
Once again the Livorno of the checkers, intended as a game, on
Everest! In fact, Grand Master
Matteo Bernini,
from Livorno in Coteto, won his fifth world title! Also this time, the third, in
the game called
blitz,
that is, the one in which players are given a very short time of reflection.
Matteo prevailed, in Stonehaven (Scotland), over a large batch of opponents, as
many as 28, from the 5 continents. Matteo was among the favorites of this
championship but, as we know, the predictions are not always respected. But with
Matteo, a great champion of whom the Livorno people must be proud, he rarely
disappoints expectations. Matteo must be proud, he rarely disappoints
expectations. Matteo also holds two world titles in "long-time" games, those
where the prolonged reflection and skills of each individual player allow you to
make the best moves. Matteo Bernini is, in a sense, the heir of another great
Livorno native, Grand Master Michele Borghetti, who remains, as confirmed by the
results, the greatest player in the history of checkers. Michele has climbed the
absolute Everest of checkers 5 times; also twice among young people.
In detail:
four times as Absolute World Champion and 3 times as world recordman of
blindfolded play. The first twice, back in 1991, as a youth world record holder
and the third as an absolute
record on 64 boxes. In fact, on August 18, 2003, in Varazze, he met 23 opponents
simultaneously, going from one to the next up to the 23rd, and then starting
again from the first. With a not insignificant detail: Borghetti did not see any
of the 23 checkers. How it worked: he was told the opponent's move, through two
numbers (starting and finishing square). He, without seeing, visualized in his
mind the position of each piece on the board and communicated his answer to the
Referee. In the same way; the Referee made the move on the board that had been
told to him. A performance at the limit of human possibilities, as evidenced by
the fact that for over 23 years no one has managed to beat that fantastic
record. Checkers, as is well known, is a game that requires extensive reflection
as every move can be decisive for the final outcome of the game. Since at
checkers, when you advance with a checker, you can no longer bring it back, you
must know how to assess what will happen to that checker. Will it be a strength
or weakness and, therefore, a strong one for the opponent? This is why the best
manage to emerge as they are able, with a great capacity for mnemonic analysis,
to evaluate, in fact, the outcome of each move.
But Livorno does not only have these two great champions:
it also has 2 other Masters, the highest category of play, winners of numerous
Italian Championships: Franco Manetti who holds a record that, it is presumed,
does not exist in any other sport: he won 16 Italian team titles but, here is
the incredible, he won the first in 1964, at 16 years old and the last, better
to say last "for now", in 2025, 61 years later! The other Master is Gianfranco
Borghetti, a well-known International Referee (he started his activity as a
Referee in 1961!) and also capable, in the relative few participations, of
winning 8 Italian Championships as a player! But the Livorno checkers does not
end here, on the contrary! For some years now, Grand Master Michele Borghetti
has created a thriving "school of checkers". Well, his students, in this very
short time, have already won 8 national titles: 7 with the juniors and one
absolute team title: Of these seven, 3 with little Giulio Damari (just 9 years
old!) who won his first title at just 6 years old. One with his sister Clara
Damari, even Italian Absolute Women's Champion; therefore first among the 30
million Italian women, not even 13 years old! Another Italian junior title with
the other Damari, Anna, and finally 3 titles with Andrea Palumbo, including 2
juniors and one Absolute with the Livorno team!