Patricia Breen – A Women Champ Draughts Player

In the world of draughts, which has traditionally been dominated by male players, Patricia Breen stands out as one of the game’s best players in the world. She was born on April 23, 1976 in Bennekerry, Carlow, Ireland, and despite her relatively young age (especially when compared to the more well known grandmasters of draughts), she has managed to secure a spot as one of the leading players of the game.

Breen has been awarded the top-rank for the women’s division in International Draughts by the World Draughts Federation, making her one of the shining stars of Irish Draughts, as well as an inspiration to women’s draughts players all over the world. With the signing on of Breen to the Women's World Title Match, which she played against Jan Mortimer, she served to encourage even more women to take up and excel in the game. The match was later shown on closed circuit television on the premises, which gave viewers a unique insight into the strategies and techniques of this exceptional draughts player.

Patricia Breen has had a long and illustrious career in the field of draughts–mostly in variations of the game other than the International version–beginning in her securing the title of Irish Women's Champion at the very young age of 12. She would later go on to defeat the then women's world champion when she was still only 17 years old.

In 2001, Breen became the first woman player to represent Britain and Ireland in the Senior International Match, which was played against several strong draughts contenders from the United States. Throughout her impressive draughts career, she has made a bid for the Women's World Title a total of four times and as a result, she is currently holds the title of Women's Draughts Champion of the world. Numerous reports have claimed her as the highest ranked female draughts player of all time, and the World Checkers/Draughts Federation currently ranks her as the highest rated female draughts player.

Patricia Breen is the oldest of three Breen sisters, and the draughts Grandmaster currently lives in Ireland. She has won the World Women's Championship a total of two times: in 1994 and in 1995. In 1995, Breen also managed to win the 3rd place position in the prestigious English Draughts Open tournament.