African Folklore: An Encyclopedia - Marshalls University

African folklore 200
untimely death, Baba Sy was proclaimed world champion of 1963, with the agreement of
the Russian federation.
The evident talent pool in West Africa, and also in Haiti and Surinam, became the
center of attention in the 1980s. The Confederation Africaine du Jeu de Dames was set
up, and the 1980 world championships were held in Bamako, Mali. In 1984, Dakar,
Senegal, and in 1988, Paramaribo, Surinam, took their turns as host city for the world
championship event, recognizing and supporting the local players organizations. By now,
a steady stream of draughts talents was entering the international tournaments, and these
players were establishing themselves as masters or grand masters. Although the
accomplishments of Baba Sy were never equaled in the twentieth century, Senegalese
players took third place in world championships, and grand masters are now found in
Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Surinam.
International draughts is played on a checkered board with one hundred squares. One
player owns twenty white pieces and the other, twenty black ones. White opens the game.
Pieces move diagonally, one square at a time, and may capture by jumping over an
adjacent opponent’s piece. A king is made upon reaching the other end of the board. A
king may move more than one square at a time and capture likewise. Capturing is
obligatory, and if there is a choice of capture, the player is obliged to choose the move
that takes the maximum number of pieces. This last rule differs from continental draughts
and is frequently omitted in West Africa.
Apart from the obligatory multiple capture, international draughts is strategically
similar to what is played in West Africa. Small differences, such as playing on the white
instead of the black fields, or a different position of the board between the players, may
also be present. In tournaments, players seem to play faster than average and show
particular resilience in tactical combinations. The playing style of West Africans has
often been characterized as that of the classic school, with defensive play making them
difficult opponents to beat. Their fast play and love for combinations in the game have
made them popular with the audience. Frequent contact with the international draughts
scene has increased their access to the draughts literature and exposure to clocks and
notation forms. They also participate in (mainly Dutch) draughts clubs, tournaments, and
exhibition games. Senegal is seen as the third most important country, after the former
Soviet Union and the Netherlands, in terms of playing strength and players numbers.
The Anglo-Saxon game, checkers, has traditionally been dominated by Scottish,
English, and, later, American players. In 1991, a Barbados player, Ronald King—better
known as Suki—took one of two available world titles. The frequent draws in the game
had developed a variation in which the first two—and later, the first three—moves of the
game were dictated to the players in order to avoid repetitive openings and subsequent
draws. Later, the “go-as-you-please” variation was reinstated, and two world
championship titles became available: three-move and go-as-you-please. Since 1991,
Ronald King has been world champion in go-as-you-please, the dominant version in
Barbados, and after 1994, he also held the three-move title, the first player to hold both
titles simultaneously.
The Anglo-Saxon-derived game differs from international draughts in the size of the
board and the number of pieces. The checkers are commonly referred to as red and white,
and red will start the game. The pieces can only move and capture forward, and a player