Dramas at the top and advancing youth
Sunday afternoon 18 August saw dramatic developments at the top of the standings of the third official World Frisian Draughts Championship in Harlingen. Groningen's Fedde Kramer, who until then had always surprised with his strong play, blundered against Ties Slagter from Den Bosch. The latter thus obtained a shared second place, while Kramer dropped to ninth position. Jelle Wiersma consolidated his spot at the top, sending Folkert Groenveld back to sixth place. Willem Schaap and Auke Zijlstra were also pushed off the board and saw their chances of a final spot evaporate through victories by Teake Kooistra and the Pole Łukasz Kosobudzki. In contrast, the young participants played surprisingly strong. Porter Richardson (15 years old) even managed to win against Czech champion Petra Dušková. Malte Schulz (17) made things difficult for Dicky van der Meer for a long time and could even have taken the win at some point. Siward Walinga (18) also held out for a long time against Lithuanian champion Aleksej Domčev, although he eventually had to bite the sand.
Standings after round 5
Jelle Wiersma 4.5 p.
Marten Walinga, Ties Slagter, Taeke Kooistra 3.5 p.
Willem Schaap, Folkert Groenveld, Łukasz Kosobudzki, Petra Dušková 3 p.
Fedde Kramer, Dicky van der Meer 2.5 p.
Hein de Vries, Auke Zijlstra 2 p.
Aleksej Domčev, Porter Richardson 1.5 p.
Malte Schulz 1 p.
Siward Walinga 0 p.
All in all, at the start of the fourth day of play, 12 of the 16 players still had a theoretical chance of a place in the final. After the end of the sixth round, there were still 10. Marten Walinga made a mistake, helping Jelle Wiersma to a provisional total of 5.5 points. Wiersma is now one point ahead of Taeke Kooistra, who slowly but surely managed to corner Ties Slagter. They are closely followed by Kosobudzki and Groenveld. Pole Kosobudzki defeated Willem Schaap with a fine combination, nota bene in a game type in which Schaap is well versed, and Groenveld won from Dušková. Porter Richardson, the youngest participant, surprised friend and foe by wiping Auke Zijlstra off the board with good play, concluded with a fine shot.
Standings after round 6
Jelle Wiersma 5.5 p.
Taeke Kooistra 4.5 p.
Folkert Groenveld, Łukasz Kosobudzki 4 p.
Marten Walinga, Ties Slagter, Fedde Kramer 3.5 p.
Willem Schaap, Petra Dušková 3 p.
Dicky van der Meer, Porter Richardson, Aleksej Domčev 2.5 p.
Hein de Vries, Auke Zijlstra 2 p.
Malte Schulz 1 p.
Siward Walinga 0 p.
Pairing round 7
Jelle Wiersma – Taeke Kooistra
Marten Walinga – Łukasz Kosobudzki
Folkert Groenveld – Fedde Kramer
Ties Slagter – Siward Walinga
Hein de Vries – Aleksej Domchev
Dicky van der Meer - Petra Dušková
Porter Richardson – Willem Schaap
Malte Schulz – Auke Zijlstra
