Penza, 4 August 2016. PenzaNews. The Russian champion in checkers among people with locomotor disabilities from Penza Irina Karaeva is planning to find a coach in the nearest future, she announced at the open meeting of the regional federation for disabled athletes “Povolzhye” on Thursday, August 4.

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“I hope to find him and improve further. People are training, after all,” she explained.

Along with that, Irina Karaeva shared her experience of the Russian tournament, particularly the second-to-last stage that left the biggest impression on her.

“I met a very strong opponent there – a Candidate for Masters of Sports. To put it bluntly, he made a mistake. My heart was beating from excitement, I nearly began to shake,” she said.

There were no weak players at the competition of full-fledged and candidate masters of sports, the Russian checkers champion noted.

“We were neck-to-neck to the last tour, and the tour was decisive,” Irina Karaeva said.

According to her, she needed just a single draw at the final stage of the tournament to win by points.

“I reached my first draw, and finally could breathe free. The second game was also a draw, so I was ahead by half a point,” she explained.

Overall, the countrywide checkers tournament, which was hosted in Kabardino-Balkaria, left a nice impression on her, Irina Karaeva added.

“It was wonderful there – the nature was beautiful. The weather left a bit more to be desired – it was raining, but the final days of my stay there were warm, and I even had a moment to go for a walk and visit Mount Elbrus,” she summed up.