Damkunst

Wiersma-Presman 2025

Author: Alexander Presman

26-03-2025

And then, thirty years later. Yes, the image is about this last game. Time flies, and the path from draughts deer to draughts dinosaur is already behind me.

This game was played in the final round of the regular league match between DIOS Achterhoek and DC Friesland. Friesland had already qualified for the playoffs. For DIOS, this was the last chance to escape the relegation playoffs.

Nevertheless, Friesland came practically at full strength, including Guntis Valneris. And so, at the start of the game: Friesland (and thus Wiersma) had nothing to lose but also nothing to gain. DIOS also had nothing to lose, but something to gain.

These details are important because team competition leaves its mark on how players approach the game, and it can be very different from individual competition.

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Harm Wiersma - Alexander Presman (08-02-2025)

1.33-2817-212.39-3321-263.44-3911-174.31-27...

Early in the opening, Black must make the first critical decisions. 4....17-22A well-known line of play is 4...6-115.50-441-6, and now White can set a trap with 6.28-2319x287.32x2318x298.34x2320-249.40-3414-2010.23-19!24-29?Black players are often alert in time and play 10...24-30instead, leading to a passive but playable position. 11.34x2313x2412.23-1812x2313.27-2116x2714.37-3126x3715.41x1+-According to Turbo Dambase, only Paul de Heus has fallen victim to this. He lost to Paul Teer this way in the Dutch Veterans Championship 2023. 5.28x1712x21I didn’t consider 6-11, only 17-22 and 19-23. Interestingly, by playing 17-22, I had already decided on the strategy that would shape this game: aiming for a tempo advantage and trying to keep piece 36 in place. It’s not very common for a strategy to be chosen this early and consistently followed through—at least not in my games. 6.33-287-127.38-336-118.43-38...

In my youthful romantic years, I occasionally responded to the exchange 27-22, 28-23, and 33x31 in an unorthodox manner. My most successful attempt was in a remarkable game against Anatoli Gantwarg at the International Invitational Tournament in Minsk 1986—see also Anatoli Gantwarg - Alexander Presman. 8....19-239.28x1914x23Of course, I don’t allow 27-22 and 28-23. After the exchange I initiated, I am four tempos ahead. 10.33-28...

Here, I had to spend a bit more time. Naturally, in such a position, you can’t calculate much concrete yet. Still, the course of the game is already largely determined here. 10....1-6You’d rather not play piece 1. But I found 10...9-1411.28x1914x23as an alternative even less appealing. 12.38-33

12....13-19??13.37-3126x2814.33x2421x3215.42-3720x2916.37x19is not a trap. However, the fact that Black cannot play 13-19 here or later essentially determines everything in this type of position. This allows White to continue playing on the short flank for a long time, and this strategy is often successful. No, not always. But you need strong nerves to allow your opponent such play. Especially when your opponent is Harm Wiersma, whom I’ve seen win hundreds of games in this type of position.
Moreover, as long as square 19 remains open, White always has the option to exchange with 32-28. If, after prolonged play on the short flank, White gains some advantage there, this plan can also prove effective. 11.28x1913x24All in all, +6 tempi. 12.38-3310-1413.34-30...

13....5-10Black can already stir things up here, but it’s less than what happened in the game. Both in terms of fewer tempi, and also White can prevent Black from occupying square 25, so Black can gain even more tempi. Black can already stir things up here: 13...24-2914.33x2420x2915.49-438-1316.50-442-817.39-34, and Black is forced to play a move like 4-10, which I prefer to avoid. The conditions for immediately moving to square 29 are therefore less favorable than in the game. There, I first gain additional tempi. Also, White can prevent Black from occupying square 25, whereas in the game, I exchange the edge piece to gain even more tempi. 14.30x1914x23We keep counting. +8. 15.35-30...Both players kept an eye on such tactical details as 15.49-4310-14

16.37-3126x2817.33x138x1918.36-3121x3219.43-3832x3420.40x72-821.7-19-13=But these lead to a quick draw, which neither player wants. 15....23-29!Now is the right moment. 16.33x2420x2917.30-25...If you know the result of the game, you also know that something went wrong for the player who lost. Although it feels different during the game. But perhaps it’s still a wrong choice. White knows they can always play 36-31 and 39-33 to regain tempi. But:
a) these exchanges don’t gain much, leaving White behind in development.
b) they create a piece on 28, which, with a tempo disadvantage, leads to play around that piece (e.g., a semi-classical style), or even more tempi if Black decides to exchange this piece.
I think Wiersma realized this would eventually happen. But passively exchanging and ending up with a worse position? That certainly doesn’t fit the character of a multiple world champion. And he tries not to prevent it but to delay it. The following plan also doesn't work: 17.50-4410-1418.40-3529-34

19.32-28?21x2320.42-3834x3221.37x109-1422.10x194-10-+17....10-1418.40-358-1319.35-302-8

20.49-44...A somewhat unusual choice, in my opinion. Not that 20.45-40changes anything drastically, but it feels a bit more harmonious. There could follow: 20....14-2021.25x149x2022.30-2429-3323.39x2820x2924.42-3829-3425.40x2926-3126.37x1711x24with passive play for White. 20....14-2021.25x149x20We don’t forget to count: +12! 22.30-254-923.25x149x20

+16! You don’t often see that with the board still full of pieces. 24.45-403-925.36-31...How disappointing, but White now opts for plan B. Although it's a sensible choice, I think Wiersma must have regretted not doing it earlier. 25....9-1426.39-3329x3827.32x4321x3228.37x2826x3729.41x32...

The position has opened up. But Black still has a 10-tempo advantage. The absence of the 9-13-18 column makes the play around piece 28 less promising. And so Black decides to grab 2 more tempi.
The number of pieces on the board decreases, and objectively, it’s naturally a draw. But, how utterly against Harm Wiersma’s character it is to have to defend a passive position for a long time, only to walk away with a draw as the main prize. Soon, he will make a few moves that surprised the commentators. But these come from the same mindset—he wants some semblance of counterplay, not to sit with his hands over his face in deep defense.
By the way, the clock was already starting to add extra pressure at this point. And besides the tempo advantage, Black was gaining more and more time advantage.
29....18-2230.28x1711x2231.46-41...

This game is useful for understanding why you can’t always base the value of a position on computer evaluation. Despite everything I’ve written, the position is not even a hundredth better for Black according to the computer.
Why? Because in a draw, both players get 1 point.
And for the computer, a 9 against 9 position is just a draw. And so, what a human perceives as "a big advantage" is simply irrelevant to Kingsrow. 31....12-17This move raised questions on Toernooibase. People thought 6-11 was nicer. My comment on this was: "Regarding 12-17, it’s a matter of taste and playing style. My consideration was that with a tempo advantage, control over the center is no longer the most important thing—Black already had that control. The question is what you do with that control next. My idea was that if I were to launch an attack via 21-27 at some point, piece 11 would be a crucial defender."
I’ll just add that the threat is stronger than the danger. When you’re under pressure (especially from the ticking clock at some point), an attack via 27 can seem more promising than it actually is. 32.41-378-12

33.32-27?...Although the draw threshold is still far from being crossed, I’ll still mark this move with a question mark. A few fewer pieces and a few more tempi—a rim piece on 26 and definitely no real counterplay—aren’t worth it. 33....22x3134.37x266-1135.42-3717-2236.47-4111-1737.43-3814-1938.41-3613-1839.37-3119-23

40.48-43...Black uses his tempo advantage and quickly brings more pieces to the center. Moves like 38-32 or 31-27, 36x27 are met with standard responses: 22-28 or 17-22, pushing White back. However, we’re still within the draw margins. 40....20-2441.44-39...I think Wiersma thought he had calculated a forced draw here and simply overlooked Black’s poisonous 49th move.
41....23-28

42.31-27...The Black pieces are highly consolidated, and White must operate on the thin line between losing and drawing, which is certainly not something Wiersma is accustomed to. White can also opt for: 42.40-3415-2043.31-2722x3144.26x3717-2245.50-4412-1746.38-32

46....24-29Also, 46...28-3347.39x2822x33is a possibility, although it too leads to a draw: 48.43-3918-2249.39x2822x3350.34-2933-3851.32x4324x3352.36-3116-2153.43-3833x4254.37x4817-2255.31-2621-2756.44-3920-2457.48-4222-28

58.42-37!24-2959.37-3127x3660.26-2136-4161.21-1741-4662.39-33=47.32x2129x3848.37-3238x2749.21x3222-2750.32x2116x2751.39-3320-2452.33-2824-2953.36-3127x3654.28-22=42....22x3143.26x3717-22!44.37-3112-1745.40-3415-2046.50-44...

46....16-21!See the comment on the 41st move. Wiersma must have thought that Black would play 46...28-3347.38x2924x3348.39x2822x33He would then have forced a draw in the following manner: 49.31-2720-2550.36-3118-2351.31-2623-2852.44-4033-3953.40-3539x4854.27-2248x3055.22x1116x756.35x24=If I have to praise myself in this game, it’s that I:
- Was aware that my opponent was aiming for this draw variation.
- Prepared a surprise.
- Started playing faster at some point to add extra pressure with the clock. 47.31-2721x3248.38x2722x3149.36x2718-23!

There it is. The surprise hits hard, with just a few minutes left on the clock. Suddenly, White is forced to sacrifice a piece. 50.34-30!...50.27-22?23-29!51.34x3217x37-+50.43-38?17-22!51.27x2924x42-+50.44-40?17-22!51.27x2924x3552.43-3835-40!53.34x4520-2454.45-4024-29-+50.34-29?24x3351.27-2217-21!zugzwang. 50....24x3551.27-22?...Now it's over, though there are still some pitfalls ahead. A draw is 51.43-38!28-32, and now: A)52.27-21!32x3453.21x1234-4054.44-3940-4555.12-8White uses piece 20, which must move to the safe side: 55....20-2556.8-345-5057.39-3423-28Both Wiersma and I thought during the game that this endgame was lost for White. And that’s correct when evaluated generally. However, White has a narrow escape if they take immediate action: 58.34-29!and Black can do nothing against this advance 28-3259.29-2450-3360.3-21=B)The stick move is not good: 52.27-22?32x3453.22x1123-2854.11-728-3355.7-2

55.7-134-39-+33-3956.44x3334-3957.33x4420-2458.2x3035x24With a win by opposition. 51....17-2152.22x3321-2753.43-3827-3154.38-3231-36

55.39-34...After 55.33-28, Black wins as follows: A)55....23-29!56.28-2236-4157.22-1741-4658.32-2746-1959.27-2220-24!60.17-1229-3461.39x3019-1062.30x1910x8-+B)The following is not good: 55...36-41?56.28x1941-46

57.32-27!And not 57.39-34?46x4958.19-13because of 58....49-27!59.13-827-13!60.8x1920-2461.19x3035x24-+46x1458.27-2214-2359.22-1723-760.39-34!7x4961.17-12=55....36-41

White resigned. What's important is that Black, after 56.33-2935-40!plays. This prevents a multiple and majority capture that would lead to a draw. 57.29x1840x4958.32-28...

Black can now win, for example, as follows: 58....41-4659.28-2249-3560.22-17...60.18-1246-23!60....46-2861.17-1228-11

This publication has been made possible in part by a financial contribution from Johan Krajenbrink.

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