(This page is copied from the site of the championship as it was published there in English)
1. Alexei Tsjizjov (Russia)
World champion juniors in 1983
World champion seniors in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2000. Recently in a match dethroned as world champion by Georgiev. Member of the Dutch club Apeldoorn.
2. Alexander Georgiev (Russia)
Since a month the reigning world champion, after a match with Tsjizjov.
World champion juniors in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
Champion of Europe in 1999. World champion “rapid� in 1999. Winner of the Challenge Mondial 2002.
3. Alexander Schwarzman (Russia)
World champion “64-Russian draughts� before he started to play on 100 squares.
Winner of the Challenge Mondial 1997. World champion in 1998 after a match with Tsjizjov.
Plays in the Netherlands in the team of Maas van ‘t Hoog (Hengelo).
4. Alexander Getmanski (Russia)
World champion juniors in 1995 and 1996.
Second in the Challenge Mondial 2002, which gave him the right to participate in this WDC *
Getmanski (25 years) is the junior of this tournament.
5. Vladimir Milshin (Russia)
Player (representing Ukraine) in the WDC 1994. Member of the winning Russian team on the Olympiad 2002 in London. Qualified for this tournament with a fourth place in the Challenge Mondial 2002.
6. Anatoli Gantwarg (Belarussia)
World champion in 1978, 1980, 1984 and 1985.
Qualified for this tournament with a fifth place in the European Championship 2002.
In the Netherlands he is a member of the club Van Stigt Thans (Schiedam).
7. Guntis Valneris (Latvia)
World champion juniors in 1984, 1985 and 1986.
World champion (seniors) in 1994. Second places in the WDC’s 1990 and 2000.
Qualification for this tournament with a fourth place in the European Championship 2002.
Member of the Dutch club Heijting Huissen in the Netherlands.
8. Eduard Boezinski (Lithuania)
Player in the WDC’s 1992 and 1996.
Qualification for this tournament with a sixth place in the European Championship 2002.
Well-known as trainer of youngsters and as an author of draughts books.
9. Dul Erdenebileg (Mongolia)
Participated in the Challenge Mondial 1997. Player in the WDC 2000. Qualification for this tournament by winning the Asian championship.
10. Vladimir Veytsman (USA)
The senior of the players. Before emigration from Russia to the USA several times participant in the Soviet championship. Participant in the WDC 1989.
Qualification for this tournament as the champion of the Pan-American championship.
11. Ygal Koyfman (Israel)
Record holder of junior titles: from 1987 to 1990, playing for Russia. Emigrated to Israel in the nineties. Second places in the Challenge Mondial 1997 and 2002, with qualification for this tournament.
12. Kelvin Andall (Grenada)
Debutant in a WDC. Champion of the Open championship of the Dominican Republic in 2001. Qualification for this tournament with a second place in the Pan-American championship.
13. Bassirou Ba (Senegal)
Participant of the WDC in 1980, 1994, 1996 and 2000. Participated in several Dutch summer tournaments. Succeeded to win the recently played African championship, without loosing any game. Member of the Dutch club CEMA/ De Vaste Zet (Geleen).
14. Leopold Kouogueu (Cameroon)
Though they are rather unknown outside their continent, Cameroon has a lot of very strong players. Kouogueu was second in the African championship 2003 and thus he qualified for this tournament.
15. N- Diaga Samb (Senegal)
Has lived in the Netherlands for some years. Participated in almost all summer tournaments, with great success. Participant in the WDC 1992 and the Challenge Mondial 1997. Plays in the Netherlands in the team of Wolter & Dros (Amersfoort). Samb was second in the African championship 2003.
16. Massigna Damien Aligna (Cameroon)
Aligna is one of the rather anonymous strong African players. He qualified for this tournament with a fourth place in the recently played African championship.
17. Gérard Jansen (Netherlands)
Participant in the WDC’s 1986, 1988 and 1992. Winner of the European title in 1987. Qualified for this tournament with a third place in the European Championship 2002. Player of the club Heijting Huissen.
18. Rob Clerc (Netherlands)
The most consistent player: participated in all world championship tournaments from 1976 to 2003. Best results: second places in 1982, 1984, 1992 and 1996. Lost the match with Gantwarg in 1985. Qualified for this tournament with a first place in the qualification tournament in Cannes (2003)
19. Kees Thijssen (Netherlands)
Debutant in a WDC. Participated in the Challenge Mondial 1997. Winner of the Bijlmer tournament in 1999 and 2001. Recently qualified for this tournament by winning the championship of the Netherlands 2003.
20. Ton Sijbrands (Netherlands)
Could be persuaded to accept the “sponsor place� in this tournament. Occupies the first position in the recent FMJD rating list. Stopped playing WDC’s in 1992.
World champion in 1972 and 1973. Then he stopped until WDC 1988, when he was second.
Could not dethrone Tsjizjov in the match of 1989.
Holder of the world record blind simultaneous draughts playing (22 opponents). Generally estimated to be the most erudite draughts player, because of his contribution to the game’s theory by writing a series of draughts books and columns with thorough analyses.
