by wmsg-draughts on October 11, 2008
Beijing, CHINA - The Chinese strength in draughts has been a surprise to many of the draughts participants at the 1st WMSG in Beijing. But not to everyone. When speaking to ten-times world champion Alexei Chizhov, he is not amazed at all.
Within a one years time the Chinese were able to learn the art of playing draughts at a very acceptable level. Of course that is the result of the way draughts sports is being implemented due to the Chinese mind setting regarding sports. Much knowledge comes from the ideas and experiences of Casper van der Tak, a Dutch businessman who lives in China. He was the first person to teach this board game and was a big help to the Chinese draughts organization. Their path of discovery led them to Ufa, a Russian city well known amongst draughts players. The goal of their visit was to learn how to organize a draughts tournament. When in Russia, Chizhov was contacted and invited to come to China, and so he did.
Booming
On May 18th Chizhov, one of the candidates favoured to win the WMSG draughts competition, came to China for a 10 day stay. It was a period of some sessions with simultaneous play, analyzing games and maybe even more important, he trained the Chinese trainers. A little while after that draughts schools with professional trainers were established. This way, the host country of the 1st WMSG could independently educate the talented players. Besides being talented, the by now 200 players in China possess two other important qualities; mind sports experience and enthusiasm. The Chinese potential is well recognized by Chizhov. Draughts is a booming sport in this Asian country. When the Chinese were able to train 200 young people play draughts this well in only one year, what will happen in a longer period of time? At this rate will China be competing for the highest ranks in 2015?
WMSG participants
Back to the present, the WMSG, held in Beijing. Chizhov came to China on the 14th of September to finish a training period for the qualified participants of the WMSG. The full training period lasted two months. The days were filled with two training sessions of three hours each. When adding up the draughts homework and the online playing, it becomes clear that the draughts capacities did not come out of the blue, but were the result of hard work.
As young as they are, the Chinese participants of the WMSG international draughts competition have all played another mind sport at high levels; this includes go, xiangqi and chess. One of them, Ce Zheng, is a professional 3rd dan go player.
The youngest player in the men’s tournament is the ten year old Quinrang Zeng. All eyes were focussed on him in the 3rd round when he forced Lithuanian master Kudriavcev to a draw. When bringing this fact to the attention of Chizhov, he simply says: ‘he is just one of a group of kids his age, who all play equally well.’
by wmsg-draughts on October 4, 2008
Beijing, CHINA - On October 4th 160 draughts players entered the Beijing International Convention Centre to begin the World Mind Sports Games. The WMSG are hosting five different mind sports. According to draughts world champion Alexander Shvartsman: “Playing draughts along with chess, go, bridge and xiangqi is a strong concept. Good to promote the games and show it is sport!”
Tournament director Henri Macaux is happy to inform us that 37 countries have sent their best players to compete; this is a milestone in draughts history. For eight of these countries, this will be their first appearance in a n event organized by the World Draughts Federation. These new countries are Barbados, Chili, Japan, Uganda, China, Bulgaria, Hungary and Australia.
The qualifying round in the men’s tournament is played in two groups playing the swiss system. The total amount of participants is 110 players. The best eight players of each group will be qualified for the finals. The finals will be played in a knockout system. The 50 women play their qualifying round in one group. The best 16 players will fight for the medals by knock out also.
According to World Champion Shvartsman it will be a tough job to reach the finals. “You need luck to get to the last 16. No-one is sure to reach the knock-out phase.” If he were to mention a favourite, it would be Alexander Georgiev. “Unlike me, he is in shape and he is very strong in play-offs. I am in training for the World Championschip 64-square draughts which is to be held in a month.”
During the WMSG, Shvartsman will compete in both international 10×10 and the 64 Brazilian draughts competition. He qualifies both games as interesting, but for various reasons. “The competition in the international 10×10 is very heavy. My opponents play with double energy against me, because I am the world champion. A draw against me is sometimes celebrated. I am also the five-time world champion in the 64-game, but that is different. My opponents there will too play for their lives, but I can beat the challengers by playing sharper then them. On the 64-square board, one mistake can be fatal and you will lose the game. In the international 10×10 game however, you get more chances to correct a bad move.”
The 9 qualifying rounds will be played on October 4-9. The finals start on the 10th. On October 12th we will know who will be the WMSG champion. The 2nd half tournament will be filled with three draughts competitions: rapid 10×10, Checkers, Brazilian and Russian draughts.
by wmsg-draughts on September 16, 2008
Paris, FRANCE - This October, Beijing, China will host the 1st World Mind Sports Games. The event will attract the world’s best mind sporters. In draughts, over 325 men and women will participate in the world’s biggest mind sport event ever seen.
The organizing association for the draughts games is the Fédération Mondiale du Jeu de Dames (FMJD). The federation has over 60 years of history and is now working on the biggest challenge in years. The execution of four tournaments in only two weeks time is a task that will require a lot of creativity and organizing power. Aside from two disciplines of International Draughts 10×10, players will also be competing in Brazilian Draughts, Russian Draughts and Checkers.
International Draughts
Who will be the strongest 10×10 player on Chinese soil? Several (former) world champions are preparing themselves to fight for the medals, so it is expected to be a tough job to win one. The present world champion, Alexander Shvarzman from Russia will again meet most of his opponents of the previous world championship. Winning again won’t be easy. His Russian team mates Alexander Georgiev and Alexei Chizhov are as motivated to win this first WMSG as he is. Other favorites include Latvia’s strongest player Guntis Valneris and the Dutch hope, Alexander Baljakin. Also, a large group of African players is eager to play for gold. Maybe the creativity of Jean-Marc Ndjofang can bring Cameroon a triumph.
Champions are not the only ones training for this unique event. Member countries of the FMJD will send their best players to the WMSG and so will Japan. The chairman of the Japanese association is looking forward to playing in Beijing. Mr. Mitsuo Omata has a passion for board games. As a go, chu-shougi and renju-player, he became interested in draughts. He even went to Mongolia to learn the sport. In his opinion, draughts is interesting, having a very powerful flying king. Compared to go, the tactics are more or less the same. The biggest difference to him is the playing time; a game of go lasts much longer than a game of draughts.
by wmsg-draughts on September 7, 2008
START OF WORLD MINDSPORTS GAMES BEIJING IS NEARBY
Paris, FRANCE - In less than one month from today, the 1st World Mind Sports Games in Beijing will start. More than 300 draughts players from over 60 countries will participate, together with over 2000 other mindsporters.
Draughts players from all over the world, including the reigning world champions, will battle for medals in three different types of draughts : International 10×10, Brazilian-Russian and Anglo-American. Without a doubt, this event will be the most exciting draughts event in years.
The FMJD has launched a special Draughts WMSG website in the three FMJD languages French, English, and Russian. Everyone is invited to take a look at www.wmsg-draughts.org. More information will be sent by e-mail and will be published in the press section of the website.
For questions and contact information please visit www.wmsg-draughts.org.
English
Russian
French
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