Mark Podolski (most left person with cup in hand) and Aleksey Domchev receive the beauty prize for their game in the 2007 World Championship. Photo: Geb Kos
Podolski-Domchev
![Podolski-Domchev](/_astro/featured.BRk5aHId_dOrP6.webp)
A complete game of draughts
Author: Mark Podolski
17-07-2024
Personally, the 2007 world championship was a big deal for me as it was my first time making it to the final round after not qualifying in 2005. I was keen to compete against such strong opponents and ready to show what I could do. Winning the championship was my clear goal, and I was prepared to give it all.
The tournament kicked off with some surprising results. Chizhov beat Valneris in Round 1 and then took down Schwarzman in Round 4 (you should definitely check out those games!). This made Chizhov the early favorite. But world championships are long and unpredictable—Georgiev defeated Chizhov in a complex game in Round 7, shaking things up again.
After 16 rounds and several twists and turns, Chizhov, Schwarzman, and I were at the top of the leaderboard, each with a score of +4. I had a slightly easier schedule for the last three rounds, facing Domchev, Otgonbayar, and Valneris. To have a good shot at the overall victory, I needed to win two out of three. As history showed, that wasn’t enough, as Schwarzman managed to defeat both Van den Akker and Thijssen in consecutive rounds.
In this context, the game against Domchev in Round 17 was crucial. Known for being tough to beat, I had to approach the game very carefully. While this game won the beauty prize in the World Championship 2007, I want to focus on the psychological aspects and how they influenced my decisions.
The move 7. 32-28?! was discussed in this book along with the potential black responses, so I knew Domchev was familiar with it. What he didn't know was an extremely sharp sideline I analyzed in detail in the early 2000s.
I recall the shock on my opponent’s face when he encountered this position. He had to spend a lot of time figuring out what was going on.
Let’s highlight the obvious:
plans to play 14. 32-28 and 15. 42-37 with a better position. To prevent this, black plays:
Let's highlight some variations:
In the position after 29...14-20, the first move that comes to mind is 30.39-33 30x39 31.29-23 18x29 32.33x24 20x29 33.44x24 35x44 34.50x39 13-19 35.24x13 8x19, but white's position isn't better due to a weak right flank and no option of playing 36.28-22. How to solve this problem? After some time, I came up with the unexpected:
But at this stage, my brain was busy with emerging variations after 30. 36-31.
This is what I call a complete game of draughts, filled with twists and turns, precise calculations, and perfect execution of the game plan.
Have you seen a (spelling) mistake? Mail to [email protected].