Banner Analysis Wiersma - Presman

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Wiersma - Presman
Alexander Presman (on the right) has just surprised Harm Wiersma with 49...18-23!
Photograph: Gennadi Shapiro

Wiersma - Presman

Three clashes against Harm Wiersma

Author: Alexander Presman
01-04-2025

In February this year, I played against Harm Wiersma. This was my fourth encounter with him. Only one was uninteresting, but the other three certainly were. I should therefore title this article: Three Clashes Against Harm Wiersma."

This aligns with two pieces I once wanted to write: "Three Winning Combinations Against Raimondas Berchis" and "Three Winning Endgames Against Alexander Baljakin."

Unfortunately, after my sudden departure to the Netherlands, I left all my draughts materials at home. One of the guests temporarily staying there found them worthless and threw everything away—priceless items: games, draughts compositions, analyses, letters, magazines, medals, trophies, and diplomas belonging to me and my wife.

It has been twenty years since then, but the pain of this loss still lingers. Among the vanished notations was my game from the 1988 Belarus Championship against Baljakin— one of my finest games ever. Sadly, I can only recall the broad strokes of that game, so my idea for that article remains on ice. All my attempts to recover this game have so far been unsuccessful.

But back to the games against Wiersma. While the games against Wiersma from 1992 and 1995 were brimming with variations and calculations, the one from 2025 involved much more psychology and reasoning.

Actually, readers always prefer to see rich play and beautiful combinations.

So, I have no choice, and in order to cater to readers who enjoy variations, I present here three games instead of one . 


Table of Contents

1992 Presman-Wiersma, Brunssum Main Group (shown below)
1995 Wiersma-Presman (Belarus-Netherlands)
2025 Wiersma-Presman (National Club Championship, Ereklasse)


This fascinating game below was played in the GMI group of the international tournament in Brunssum. (Young readers might not even know such a thing existed. In fact, they might not even know that invitation round-robin tournaments existed. A quiz for the readers: when and where was the last such tournament held?)

When asked after the game if I wasn’t afraid to play so boldly against the great Wiersma, I replied: “If your youthful dream was to play draughts against Wiersma, you wouldn’t—when it finally happens—start exchanging pieces to secure a draw.”

Not that I want to act like the wise mentor, but that was my approach. It led to painful defeats, but also to victories that adorn your career. (With a wink to the younger generation.)

But this game also deserves a small non-draughts-related introduction. A few days after this tournament, we (Gantvarg, Vatutin and I) were to depart for Italy as the Belarus team for the Olympiad (the World Team Championship). The Soviet Union had just collapsed, and there was still much chaos. Institutions (including sports) were suddenly promoted from regional to national status and were not yet accustomed to functioning that way. In short, we were in Brunssum without transit visas and without money, and we shouldn’t have been able to get to Italy at all.

I won’t delve into the details of this adventure—that alone could fill a small book. But I just want to recall that, partly thanks to Wiersma’s help, we managed to arrange our trip. Wiersma was the coach of the Dutch team, and by helping us, he was also aiding one of his own competitors. This sporting gesture is without a doubt worthy of a Fair Play award, and I am still sincerely grateful to him for it.

There in Italy, we became world champions as the Belarus team. This remains the most important and honourable trophy in my long draughts career.

Now, let’s move on to the technical part.


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Alexander Presman - Harm Wiersma (12-08-1992)

1.32-2817-212.31-2611-173.38-3218-224.43-3813-185.49-439-136.37-3121-277.32x2116x278.41-3719-239.28x1914x2310.47-416-1111.33-2911-1612.37-3220-2513.32x2116x27
When I looked back at this game and checked who played it and how this position had been played, one game stood out to me: Ainur Shaibakov - Arjan van den Berg.
Presumably, the opening was the result of homework—something that doesn’t happen often in international draughts. Yet, the opening theory isn't very developed. It probably has to do with the fact that in games like chess or draughts on 64 squares, opening theory is crucial—one wrong move and you’re already in trouble from the opening. On 100 squares, you can essentially escape from any opening, and only in some very closed positions can it directly cause problems. I’m not talking about blunders or tactical twists, but simply deviating into unstudied positions.
With these thoughts, I looked into Getmansky’s recent book "50 Openings on 100 Squares". And well, chapter 40 even has a long title: "The Idea of Ainur Shaibakov in the System of Piet Roozenburg in the Opening of Louis Rafael". That’s what it’s called. And indeed, it was about that game Shaibakov - Van den Berg, and this game Presman - Wiersma was mentioned there as a side variation (a mirror effect, so to speak). I won’t post the entire chapter here, but this game is certainly worth studying and analyzing.
Ainur Shaibakov - Arjan van den Berg

14.39-337-1115.42-3711-1616.37-3216-21
Those were fun times, weren’t they?
During the 1994 World Championship, Wiersma won in the same opening against the strong Mustafa Durdyev, which led to several games with this opening being played at the National Top Training in December 1994. These games were also included in the book 'National Top Training 1994' written by Alexander Baljakin and Harm Wiersma.
Mustafa Durdyev - Harm Wiersma.
17.35-3010-1418.44-3913-1919.50-448-1320.41-373-821.48-42?...Better is 21.40-35and after 21....4-1022.30-2419x3023.35x24
The explosive continuation could be 23....22-2824.31x1114-2025.26x1712x2126.33x2218x2727.29x9.
21....5-10I realize that if I analyze this game in detail, this section will take longer, and it’s still a recent game. So, I’ll leave it to the readers to analyze it further themselves. It was truly an exciting duel where I had to give my all to save the game. And that was necessary because Wiersma played brilliantly. 22.46-4123-2823.32x2319x28
24.29-2328x1925.33-2822x3326.31x111-727.26x177x1628.38x2912x21
29.37-324-930.43-3818-2331.29x1813x2232.32-2822x3333.38x298-1334.40-35...
34....19-2335.29x1813x2236.44-4021-2737.42-3816-2138.39-3321-2639.41-372-840.30-248-13
41.35-3014-2042.37-3220x2943.32x2126x1744.34x2325x3445.40x2910-1446.29-24...
46....15-2047.24x1513-1948.33-2919x2849.29-24...And a draw was agreed upon.
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