Damkunst | Analyse

There are many ways to analyse a game of draughts. The most common approach is, of course, to work hard, examine which moves were good or bad, what could have been improved, and what the decisive mistake was. Then, present all this clearly and readable for the reader—assuming you think the reader is important. There is nothing wrong with this. On the contrary: if you want to become better and if you want to learn, you simply have to analyse thoroughly and write it down well, because that helps organise your thinking. But there are other ways to look at a draughts game. There are more ways to learn to play draughts better; it doesn't have to be only with deep variants.

In Guntis Valneris versus Oege Dijkstra, for instance, you can see how the Latvian former world champion deals with his opponent's cautious exchange strategy. This requires mental calmness, and you must certainly avoid getting annoyed. So you can learn a lot from that if you find yourself in such a situation. With Valneris-Dijkstra, you can also look at the structures of both players and how they develop throughout the game. The best is if you can bring everything together in a game, but that requires quite a bit:

⦁ You take your opponent into account.
⦁ You pay close attention to your own structure and that of your opponent.
⦁ You also know the different game types.
⦁ You also know what ‘the right technique’ is in certain positions.
⦁ Sometimes you count tempi, sometimes it is not that important.
⦁ Can you transition from one characteristic to another?
⦁ In a position with small number of pieces, you use the method from my draughts books CPP 6 and CPP 7.
⦁ I am probably forgetting a few things.

Combining all these elements in a single game is asking a lot. In practice, it is difficult to balance all these aspects properly. In reality, many players let aspects such as tempi or the exchanges they want to make dominate their decisions. I have used this game by Valneris in many of my training sessions: hopefully, I have an idea of what the average player thinks, and I have tried to incorporate that aspect into this discussion.

Let it be clear in advance: the reader will not encounter any variants. This is not due to laziness on my part, but I believe that text is much better suited to understand this game properly. Furthermore, I have not spoken with Valneris or Dijkstra (though that would have been a good idea), but I will still attempt to empathize with their considerations, and the reader must decide whether this sounds convincing. Finally, I could have given the reader a kind of "reading guide" as an example: "Replay this game about ten times and first look only at the developments on White's left wing."

One last remark beforehand: VBI Huissen became national champion in this match. Valneris was the eighth player to complete his game, and his victory put Huissen ahead 9-7. My draw against Taeke Kooistra made it 10-8, and Gérard Jansen's draw against Wytze Sytsma led VBI Huissen to win 11-9 against Damcombinatie Fryslân. This also turned out to be Valneris' last game for Huissen, as in the 2024-2025 season he will instead play for the Frisian team. All these elements make it a special game as well.

1.33-29 17-22 2.39-33 19-23 3.35-30

This move was not often done in my training sessions, but it is the right move in this flank position. It is also a sharp move: it challenges the black player to 3… 20-25. But the roles will soon become clear: Dijkstra wants an easy game against the former world champion. How will Valneris respond to this?

11-17 4.30-25 6-11

Now that the intentions of both players are more clear, white must make a decision right away. This was also put forward in my training sessions. Many players, if they really put themselves in Valneris shoes, might think: I must not allow any exchanges at all now. But that’s not possible; that’s far too radical. There will always be exchanges; the question is which exchanges to allow and which to avoid. How do you make this assessment in the diagram? My attempt:

⦁ After 5.32-28 23x32 6.37x28 it is fairly easy for black to find 6...13-19, followed by 7...19-23 8.28x19 14x23 9.25x14 10x19. Black then develops quite well.
⦁ After 5.44-39, black will likely (100 percent sure we never know) respond with 5...23-28 6.32x23 22-27 7.31x22 17x19 and then develop his long wing, which we also do not want.
⦁ Perhaps 5.31-26 is a nice and sharp idea.
⦁ Perhaps 5.34-30 23x34 6.30x39 is an idea, and indeed that is an exchange, but technically correct: white works on his own nice structure on the right (no edge piece on square 35) and black must find a way to his long wing development. And note: a structural advantage can have a significant long-term impact; you can keep it going for a long time.

5.34-30 23x34 6.30x39 22-27

What does the reader think about how exchanges were made in my training sessions? Were double exchanges the most common? Or single exchanges? The most frequent exchanges were indeed double, because that way white develops his long wing. Here we come to a big theme: draughts players are taught that you must develop your long wing. I’m not sure, but I think it was Alfons Ottink who told me when I was very young: “Johan, you don’t have to develop your long wing yourself. It will develop on its own.” I thought about that for a while, and if I were the reader, I would do the same now. So, this is a big theme in this game: what does white do with his long wing?

7.32x21 17x26

The reader has hopefully thought deeply about that long white wing. In my training sessions, everyone with white played 8.31-27 and 9.37-31 26x37 10.41x32. Why? White takes a central field and white develops his long wing. That seems logical, right? Of course, that can be done: there is nothing wrong with it. But is it also smart? Could it be done differently? The disadvantage of 8.31-27 and 9.37-31 26x37 10.41x32 is, for example, that it is predictable and a black edge piece goes away. Pay close attention: one idea might be to focus specifically on that black edge piece on field 26 in this game. Note: Valneris will not do anything on the left for a long time! After all, why should he be in a hurry? Essentially, white can always, if he wishes, develop his long wing in various ways. In other words: black cannot keep white’s long wing in position. In the game, white therefore plays on the right and advances to square 29, which is technique if you are not on field 35. In the game, white waits on the left and observes what black will do there. I imagine that this is also difficult for black: what will Valneris do with that long wing? I think a characteristic of very strong players is that they can keep options open.

8.40-34 11-17 9.45-40 7-11 10.34-29 20-24 11.29x20 15x24

White now plays 12.40-34 and clusters his pieces around 24, because that gives options against piece 24: attack, leave it, or exchange it. We also see in the diagram that white's structure on the right is good, so without 35. We also see that black must think about his own long wing, and white has also achieved that. Reflecting on the first diagram, white’s theme was already: what to do with black’s long wing? White does not want to make it too easy for black.

12.40-34 17-21 13.50-45 1-6 14.44-40 10-15

⦁ Left is still that full white long wing.
⦁ On the left, white can still, if he wanted to, get into action with 15.31-27 and then move to square 27 or to square 28. The reader understands that in my training sessions everyone repeatedly played 15.31-27 21x32 16.37x28, because after all, that's what we want: taking center and developing the long wing.
⦁ On the left, more black edge pieces are now positioned, and black’s edge piece on 26 is still there.

I really like the game move 15.40-35. I wrote earlier: there will be exchanges anyway, it's all about which exchanges. Still, it is surprising that white plays 15.40-35, after all, hadn't white solved 35 himself? Exchange will happen anyway, it's all about which exchange, and white will provoke the big black exchange. Also interesting is still that black edge piece on 26: after 15.40-35 4-10 16.34-30 black must consider 37-32 after the capture.

15.40-35 24-30 16.35x24 14-20 17.25x14 9x40 18.45x34

Look back at all the diagrams and pay attention to the left side of the board. Why would you quickly develop your long wing? Also note how white keeps using that black edge piece on 26, as now 18…13-19 is again not possible. However, black would like to play this move to bring more balance to his position.

5-10

With 19.49-44, white brings more balance to his position. With that move, he plays towards the space on that side of the board.

19.49-44 10-14 20.44-40 12-17

Always pay close attention to the structure on the left. Look back at the diagrams again and observe what has happened to the black structure: more and more pieces are concentrated there. Only now does white come into action. White is now taking action to play against all those black pieces. White has been waiting for this moment. White has let black build. White has let black choose. White only chooses when it suits him, and now is the time!

21.31-27 21x32 22.38x27

It is important to understand whether you can develop your own long wing in the near future: why do it quickly? White can play towards a nice structure in the diagram with, say, 42-38, 47-42, 37-31, 26x37, 41x32, 46-41 and 41-37. The idea is, of course, that the black structure is much less attractive and much less balanced, for example, with that heavy, useless fork on 6/11/16/17. Black also has trouble controlling his own center squares 22, 23 and 24. Another interesting aspect in the diagram is that white is still making combinative use of the edge piece on 26, which wouldn’t have been possible if white had easily exchanged it in the second or third diagram.

17-21

I think this is a difficult moment and it was in my training sessions. White has just moved to square 27, so the inclination is to return back to square 27 again, but it won't happen. Why not? Maybe because after 23.42-38 21x32 24.38x27 the white structure looks a bit less attractive? And can also become a bit less attractive? In almost all my training sessions, the exchange 23.36-31 21x32 24.37x28 26x37 25.41x32 was made: the tendency to develop the long wing quickly and smoothly can indeed be hard to suppress... Valneris will develop his long wing in stages, and I think, though I'm not sure, that he's going to provoke another black exchange. Valneris will play 23.42-38 21x32 24.37x28, keeping 36-31 in reserve and maybe 26 will not be exchanged at all?

23.42-38 21x32 24.37x28 18-22 25.28x17 11x22 26.36-31 26x37 27.41x32

What can we say about this position:

⦁ White has a nice structure and white can easily play to other nice structures. Example: a right pyramid around square 29. Example: pieces on 25-30-35, on the right.
⦁ White has a useful piece on square 22: white can do a lot with piece 22. Example: attack with 32-28. Example: leave it in place.
⦁ Black's position is not well connected and center piece 22 is not strong because it is on its own.
⦁ Black has many edge pieces, and it’s highly questionable whether they will do any good in the near future.
⦁ Black needs to make choices on how to strengthen piece 22.
⦁ Black needs to make choices on how to build on its own half.

In other words, black has enough problems and white is in a nice enough position to continue playing.

6-11 28.46-41 11-17 29.41-37

I think we can now clearly see how beautiful white's position is: all his pieces are close together and well-positioned on his own half. We can also see that black needs to make decisions, and of course, things can go wrong then. I think the next black moves are not good, and white will break through from his own side via the center to the attack with a strong enough outpost on 23.

17-21 30.32-28 22-27 31.28-23 13-18 32.23x12 8x17

My experience as a trainer is that many draughts players are overly concerned with tempi, even now: black might have thought that things were going well because he now has 4 tempi more. But as is often the case in draughts, it's a clash between structure and tempo, and white's position is simply too strong. Notice how white's long wing is perfectly positioned to handle 16/17/21/27. Another beautiful element in draughts, I find, is to look at space and how to play within that space. I previously quoted Alfons Ottink, who impressed me when I was young. Another remark that made an impression on me as a young Johan came from Ben Smeenk. He said something like, "you have to look through the position to the future." I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but it did get me thinking. As a white player, can you see which structure or structures you want to work towards? Or in other words: do you envision a future position? Or put differently: can you name a series of white moves that results in a nice white position? Perhaps the first question to ask is what exactly you want with that future position... I would think: from your own side to the center, then on to the attack, and as the final step, break through to a king.

33.34-29 2-8 34.39-34 8-13 35.34-30 17-22

In my training sessions, the next move for white turned out to be a tough one. Why tough? To begin with, it moves to the edge, and white's pieces were positioned so nicely in the middle. There is also a strong inclination to go on the attack with 36.30-24, but then white becomes somewhat blocked after 36...14-20. The move 36.40-35 is strong because the pair 35/30 can be powerful towards the attacking field 24. Moreover, it's essential that after 36.40-35 14-20, white even has several options, especially 37.30-25 4-9 38.25x14 9x20 and 39.35-30.

36.40-35 4-9

Now, another beautiful and challenging edge move: 37.30-25. Don’t 25 and 35 now stand all alone? Yes, they stand alone for a moment. But an important idea for white is to move 43 to 30, with an active position, because white can continue to field 24 in various ways. Note again that black's pieces on 16/21/27/22 have no future towards white's long wing.

37.30-25 13-18 38.43-39 18-23 39.29x18 22x13 40.33-29 13-18

The challenge for white now becomes: what is best? White can continue with the idea of a strong formation on the right, with moves like 39-34, 34-30, and then stylishly proceed with 48-42, followed by either 38-33 or perhaps the exchange 38-32, and all the white pieces are well positioned, each having a role to play. But now suddenly, 41.35-30 and white incorporates that black cannot close the white attacking space with 41...14-19 because of 42.38-32 27x38 43.47-42 38x47 44.29-24 47x20 and 45.25x12.

41.35-30 21-26 42.30-24 16-21 43.39-33 27-31 44.48-42 31-36

The white position is picture-perfect. A new phase begins. Of course, it's also incredibly difficult to defend against such a beautiful white position.

45.33-28 18-22 46.28x17 21x12 47.38-33 14-20 48.25x14 9x20 49.33-28 12-18 50.42-38 3-8 51.38-32 8-12 52.32-27 12-17

White's center succeeded, or rather, a complete and wide center. White's attack has also succeeded. However, white still needs to make moves, and it turns out that breaking through is indeed part of the plan: own half – center – attack – breakthrough.

53.24-19 20-25 54.19-14 25-30 55.14-9 15-20

Because I'm not fond of endgames, it’s up to the reader to figure out for themselves what actually happens if black proceeds with
55...30-35

56.37-31

Jasper Lemmen noted on Toernooibase that white could have won brilliantly by giving away almost all of his pieces with 56.29-23 18x29 57.28-22 17x28 58.27-21 26x17 59.37-31 36x27 and calmly promoting to a king with 60.9-3 W+, and that deserves a diagram!

In the game, Valneris opted for the more economical variation, but he still won, of course, after

56...26x37 57.9-3 30-35 58.3x48 35-40 59.27-22 18x27 60.28-22 27x18 61.47-41 36x47 62.48-31 47x24 63.31x49

and thus a fine 2-0!

Valneris - Dijkstra