Strong start for Jelle Wiersma, Ties Slagter lagging behind
The first day of the finals in Harlingen clearly pointed to a certain outcome. Ties Slagter, who had played very well in the preliminary rounds and the play-offs, could not find a way to win against Jelle Wiersma. Wiersma seemed to win the first game easily and took the second with a nice combination to take two points.
Marten Walinga and Teake Kooistra had already met in the second round of the qualifying tournament, where Walinga had won. This time, Kooistra managed a draw in the first round, but had to bite the dust in the second round as Walinga gradually built up a better final position.
Standings: Wiersma 2 points, Walinga 1.5 points, Kooistra 0.5 points, Slagter 0 points. The third and fourth rounds will be played on Friday 22 August.
While the finals were being played in the Town Hall, 4 international teams of 5 players each played a tournament of FRYSK! (Frisian Draughts with only 5 pieces per player) in the Willem Barentsz Shipyard. The Frisian team won with 21.5 points from 8 rounds; the combined Polish-Lithuanian-Czech-Dutch-Frisian team came second after a play-off against another international team captained by the Canadian Alix Bouffard (both 21 points; play-off 3.5-1.5).
The best individual players were Łukasz Kosobudzki (6 points) and Folkert Groenveld (5.5 points).
