Walinga wins fourth game too
It is starting to look rather alarming for challenger Folkert Groenveld in the match for the Frisian Draughts World Championships. The rest day comes two days too late for him. It will be difficult to square the score with a four point deficit. Nevertheless, the chances to win a Frisian game are substantial so Groenveld still has seven opportunities left.
During the first three games the challenger prevailed in the opening, however subsequent blunders in the middle and end game sealed his fate. This time, during the fourth game, Walinga had the advantage during the opening stage but again Groenveld made a poor move. This time on the 16th move with 47-41? Contrary to the previous games, Groenveld’s opening preparation failed to deliver on this occasion. Folkert continued to play despite being in a losing position, as often, even in such a case, it’s still possible to create a combination to turn the Frisian draughts game around.
Such a big score difference within a draughts match is unprecedented. Not in chess though. Bobby Fischer beat the top chess players, Mark Tajmanov and Bent Larsen, 6-0 in two challenger matches in 1970. Afterwards he beat former world champion Tigran Petrosjan 6½-2½.
After the match Marten Walinga mentioned that he had never played the perfect game yet. However, the computer programme analysis confirmed that Walinga had not made a single mistake in today’s game. Thus, it is quite possible that today Martin Walinga played the ultimate, flawless Frisian draughts game! Hopefully, for the sake of the match, Groenveld is able to pull himself together and can limit the damage from now on.
1. 32-27 19-24 2. 27-22 17x28 3. 33x22 18x27 4. 31x22 12x32 5. 38x27 11-17 6. 36-31 20-25 7. 27-22 17x28 8. 34-30 25x34 9. 40x27 24-29 10. 39x19 13x24 11. 41-36 14-20 12. 31-26 9-14 13. 44-39 20-25 14. 37-31 14-19 15. 39-33 10-14 16. 47-41 8-13 17. 33-29 24x33 18. 43x23 19x28 19. 27x29 16-21 20. 31x11 6x17 21. 29-23 13x33 22. 49-44 14-20 23. 44-40 20-24 24. 26-21 17x26 25. 36x16 5-10 26. 41-36 10-14 27. 36-31 14-20 28. 46-41 3-9 29. 31-26 9-14 30. 41-36 1-6 31. 36-31 7-12 32. 48-43 2-7 33. 43x23 24x22 34. 42-38 20-24 35. 38-33 14-20 36. 33-29 24x33 37. 35-30 25x34 38. 40x38 20-25 39. 50-44 15-20 40. 38-33 20-24 41. 44-40 24-30 42. 40x20 25x14 43. 45-40 14-19 44. 33-29 19x39 45. 40x38 4-9 46. 38-33 9-14 47. 33-29 14-20 48. 29-23 22x24 49. 31-27 20-25 50. 27-21 25-30 51. 21-17 7x27 52. 26x28 6x26
