In the even year following the tournament, the World Title match takes place.
[1] The men's championship began in 1885 in France and since 1948 has been organised by the World Draughts Federation (FMJD).
The men's championship has had winners from the Netherlands, Canada, the Soviet Union, Senegal, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine.
Since 1998, there is also a Draughts World Championship held with the blitz time control (5 minutes plus an increment of 5 seconds per move), and since 2014 also with the rapid time control (15 min + 5 sec per move).
If the former champion retains his title in the World Championship tournament, the runner-up earns the right to challenge him.