In 2007, the world championship featured an incredible lineup of top players. The 20-player round-robin tournament included the "big 4" —Georgiev, Schwarzman, Chizhov, and Valneris—who had dominated the draughts scene since 1988. There was also a strong contingent of Dutch players (Scholma, Thijssen, and Van den Akker), African players (Kouogueu, Ndjofang, and Samb), and numerous European top players like Amrillaev, Anikeev, Domchev, Lagoda, and Misans.
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.
