FMJD and Europe

Good traditions remain in our memory for a long time. Competitions in China, as in the Netherlands, are always held at a high level. And the high level of tournament organization is matched by the high level of players. True, with some reservations. For several years now, many of the strongest athletes from different countries, who have been subjected to idiotic sanctions, have not been coming. However, there are still a few more buts….

…and gently cleaned up with a towel from behind…

What is all this about…

The first address of the new FMJD president to the people and other “servants” revealed light and darkness. Never before has our world seen such reverence and ethics. So much chocolate and sweetness. This letter evoked unpleasant analogies from history.

You couldn’t imagine concentration camp prisoners thanking the firing squad for the fact that they survived and remained alive. And in this letter from the new president, the only thing missing was bowing and scraping.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Two draughts tournaments are being held in Montpellier, one of France’s largest cities. The 2025 world veteran champion Fidele Nimbi and multiple French champion Cordier Arnaud are participating in one of them. As usual, we will be rooting for our good friend Fidele Nimbi.

It is also worth noting that Montpellier is home to one of the most famous art museums with a rich collection of works by French artists.- Fabre Museum

In recent years, we have become accustomed to the fact that the organization of world and European championships for boys and girls is of a low standard. From a sports management perspective, this is a major oversight on the part of the leadership. After all, it is at these sporting events that the future of the draughts world is decided and perceptions of it are formed.

Let us recall the classic Russian writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol:

But the future is unknown, and it stands before man like autumn fog rising from the marshes. Birds fly madly up and down in it, flapping their wings, not recognizing each other, the dove not seeing the hawk, the hawk not seeing the dove, and no one knows how far he is flying from his doom. — “Taras Bulba”

Buying voters, blatant lies about future plans, voter fraud, and public manipulation—this is what will accompany tomorrow’s elections. And there is no hope for change.

Those in power are stupid, greedy, and egocentric individuals who lack the necessary knowledge and skills to manage a global sports organization. But let’s take a look at the members (large and very small) that make up the world of draughts.

Hyken is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe and is located approximately 13 km south of Assen, the capital of the province of Drenthe.

The village was first mentioned in 1370 as “civibus de Hyken”. The etymology is unknown. Hyken initially developed without a church in the early Middle Ages as a satellite of Beilen. In 1858, the Oranjekanaal canal was dug, dividing the village into two parts. It used to be a village of shepherds. In 1563, there were 70 sheep per building.

The word Amersfoort consists of two parts: Amer (the obsolete name of the river, now known as the Em) and foort (ford, in modern Dutch voorde). The settlement of Amersfoort was first mentioned in a letter from Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1028.

We have long written, referring to a supposedly international organization, that there are two immutable truths in life which, if not observed, can lead to trouble or irreparable consequences. And believe us, we were not joking.

Just as an idiot cannot run a psychiatric hospital, so a beggar or a person who is “bitter about life” cannot lead a constructive lifestyle. With an idiot in charge of a psychiatric hospital, only the sick will be happy, while the healthy will be doomed to eternal suffering. A beggar can tell everyone what gray peas or acorns taste like, but he can never teach how to live happily using constructive strategies in difficult circumstances. Someone who is “bitter about life” can only become a painfully blind radical and a descendant of an Austrian artist, stubbornly insisting only on his own ideas. There is only one language, only one culture, and the more cruel the rules, the better for him. And then suddenly… the boomerang comes back and you find yourself mortal.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

All attention this week will be focused on the election of the head of the international federation. If it takes place. At the very least, this will be the third attempt to gather a quorum. Materials have started appearing in various publications in connection with this event.

On October 12, 2025, Wouter Sipma will attempt to set a new world record in a simultaneous game session. The current record for a simultaneous game session is held by Martijn van IJzendoorn. Martijn van IJzendoorn played on 50 boards, while Wouter Sipma will attempt to set a record on 52 boards. Wouter Sipma’s session will be broadcast live on RTV Drenthe.

Date: October 12, 2025
Start time: 12:00
Venue: RTV Drenthe, Beijlerstraat 30, 9401 PL Assen.
Additional information: The match will be broadcast live on RTV Drenthe

Strip farming is a term used in Russian historiography to describe the arrangement of land plots in strips, intermingled with other plots. Strip farming emerged in the Russian Empire during regular redistributions of communal land.

Fragmentation, which often reaches negligible levels, devalues such plots, has a harmful effect on the economy, hinders the use of advanced farming systems, gives rise to constant legal disputes and agrarian unrest, undermines the legal foundations of ownership, and exacerbates relations between private landowners and peasants.