New and young talent at Frisian Draughts World Championships
At the start of the third WC Frisian Draughts in Harlingen, there are of course many returning names, but also many new ones. They have proven themselves worthy during tournaments leading up to the WC. These players are part of a group of 16 participants who will play 7 rounds according to the Swiss system. After these 7 rounds, the top 4 will play a final until finally one remains. The first round took place on Saturday, 16 August.
The players were welcomed during a speech by alderman Hendrik Sijtsma, who then made the first move.
Playing in the beautiful port city of Harlingen, the participants fought valiantly for their victories for 4 hours. And with many new faces, more interesting games can be expected over the next 2 weeks.
One of those new faces is 18-year-old Siward Walinga, son of Marten Walinga, who qualified during one of the online tournaments and has studied the game intensively over the past few years. He beat strong players like Folkert Groenveld to qualify. In his game against Willem Schaap, he came out of the opening with a slight advantage, but gave it away on the 13th move. After this, Schaap was able to slowly demolish his position. Once he had gained one king, the game was soon over.
Another newcomer, German Malte Schulz, who qualified in an online tournament, also made a valiant effort, but to no avail against Groninger Fedde Kramer, who has shown himself to be a strong player during the Fryslân Open. Fedde played a flawless game against Malte, in which he slowly but surely built a small advantage into a win.
Ties Slagter from Den Bosch is a player who has been a guest several times at the Fryslân Open in Franeker and, more importantly, online. After a difficult game against Dicky van der Meer, a blunder was eventually made by Dicky van der Meer. Ties did not hesitate to cash in on this one, costing Dicky the game.
Pole Łukasz Kosobudzki is participating in the Frisian draughts for the first time this year and qualified during the Fryslân Open. His game against newcomer Porter Richardson was equal until blunders from both sides eventually gave Kosobudzki the win.
Aleksej Domčev, known for his Dutch draughts performances, has dedicated himself to Frisian draughts in recent years and has been regularly competing in the Fryslân Open for 7 years! Unfortunately for him, he was up against grandmaster Jelle Wiersma, who is a strong contender for the title of this tournament. After slowly gaining a better position, Wiersma won.
The match between Folkert Groenveld and Hein de Vries was certainly a nail-biter, as the previous challenger for the world title struggled against Hein de Vries. Almost no advantage was lost or gained during the game. At some point, the computer indicated a win for Groenveld, but in the complex endgame he was unable to find it. So this game ended in a draw.
Reigning world champion Marten Walinga needs no introduction and he proved that during his game against Czech Petra Dušková, although Dušková is a very strong player and gets better every time we see her. Walinga built up an advantage, but gave it away twice. However, due to time pressure Dušková could not make the most of it, and so Walinga won the game anyway.
Last but certainly not least, the match between Auke Zijlstra and Teake Kooistra, both qualified during the Fryslân Open and very much rivals. After a frustrating game for Auke, Teake took the win, beating Auke in the middle game.
With this, the results of the first round of the world championship can be followed live on twitch at www.twitch.tv/frisiandraughts or at www.youtube.com/@WarcabyTV. Spectators can also visit the Willem Barentsz visitor centre at Nieuwe Willemshaven in Harlingen.
Results first round:
Kosobudzki - Richardson 1-0
Schaap - Siward Walinga 1-0
Kooistra - Zijlstra 1-0
Van der Meer - Slagter 0-1
Marten Walinga - Dušková 1-0
Domčev - Wiersma 0-1
Schulz - Kramer 0-1
De Vries - Groenveld camp
pairing second round:
Marten Walinga - Kooistra
Wiersma - Kosobudzki
Kramer - Schaap
Slagter - De Vries
Groenveld - Domčev
Zijlstra - Dušková
Richardson - Van der Meer
Siward Walinga - Schulz
picture 1: alderman Hendrik Sijtsma of the municipality of Harlingen makes the first move on Aleksej Domčev's board
picture 2: Fedde Kramer (l) against Malte Schulz
