If you eat my checker, why don’t you? Can you win later? (Training positions)-1
The lack of a purposeful and constructive organization of the training and tournament process directly affects the quality and outcome in sports. The desire to annoy a neighbor, as well as the lack of desire to play with strong players, always leads to a fatal outcome and failures in sports. This is a truism. But…
Unfortunately, as we have already noted more than once, the quality of the game and the training of athletes in Latvia is inexorably declining. One tournament with classic control per year is a “bad” situation. As promised, we are starting to publish a review of the games from the recent Latvian International Draughts Championship. Let’s start with the women’s tournament game.
It was hard to watch, but the necessary training material was collected. Today, we would make the name of the collection like this: “Realization of non-realization.”
 |
M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1
Sometimes in one tournament you don’t get as many chances to win as you got in this M. Fideline game. But, the ability to realize chances develops along with the desire to win and the desire to be a leader. It is impossible to win, expecting that victory will come by itself. In this position, in the middle of the game, Black, having a good structure of his checkers, unexpectedly attacked, 1. … 21-26??. White did not take advantage of his first chance and played no less unexpectedly, 2. 31-27?? After a fairly simple move 2. 34-29! 26:48 3. 29:7 8-12 ( forced) 4. 7:29, white got a promising won endgame with four extra checkers. |
 |
M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1
White got a second chance in this game after 10-15 moves. In a completely simple position, Black unexpectedly attacked 1. … 23-29??. White’s choice was obvious: 2. 25-20!. But… here black chose the wrong option instead of the correct fight on the field of 38. Further in the party it was: 2. 25-20! 24:15?? 3. 33:24 19:30 4. 35:24. In this position, Black still had a chance of a draw.
|
 |
M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1
But…after making a move of 4. … 3-9??, White could immediately get the winning position. And again they didn’t take their chance, making the move 5. 28-23??. White won with a simple wait-and-see move of 5. 39-34!!, with quite understandable next moves. |
 |
M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1
But black stubbornly tried to lose. In this game, it felt like the coach was trying to give in to his student so much that he would win. Black made a move of 5. … 9-14??, although a draw was achieved by a simple maneuver: 5. … 13-18! and 6. … 12-17! with irresistible attacks. White did not take advantage of his chance to win here either. Did you make a move 6. 39-33?? A simple move won, as in many training positions: 6. 27-22!!, with no chance of saving for black. |
 |
M. Fideline – A. Valnere, Round 1
Slowly but surely, the competitors “swam” to the next position. White’s move. It seems that here, for sure, white will take and start playing to win. But… then the Fantastic happened! Instead of a simple move of 1. 15-10 and a further 2. 10-05 with an absolutely won position, white began to give away checkers. So: 1.28-22?? 17:28 2. 29-23?? 28:10 3. 15:4 18-22 4. 27:18 30-34, white achieved such a coveted draw in the first round. |
 |
Z. Uvačana – V. Ivanova, Round 1
A few moves ago, Black made several erroneous decisions in building his own checkers and got a theoretically lost position. Accuracy is really needed from whites. White coped with this task: 1. 38-32 12-17 (a more stubborn resistance was left by the move 1. … 13-19, after which, despite a significant advantage, they must remain vigilant. It is necessary to make a 2-for-2 exchange, and make a few more precise moves.: 2. 29-23 18:29 3. 30-24 19:30 4. 25:23!, the following diagram). The party had: 2. 28-23 13-19 3. 23:12 17:8, |
 |
Z. Uvačana – V. Ivanova, Round 1
In this more “persistent” version (see above), the solution could be as follows: 1. … 20-25 2. 28-22 and any black’s response is followed by an attack of 22-18 with a win. “Perseverance” in this position is more related to the hope of an “impulsive” and hasty move for white. You never know if it would have been justified. |
 |
Z. Uvačana – V. Ivanova, Round 1
In the game, White easily won the endgame. 4. 37-31 21-26 5. 30-24 26:28 6. 24:2, there were only a few moves left before victory. But… |
 |
Z. Uvačana – V. Ivanova, Round 1
6. … 28-32 7. 2-11 32-37, and then White, in an absolutely won etude ending, quite unexpectedly made a paradoxical move: 8. 11-28?? and black easily got a draw. 8. … 37-42 9. 28:5 42-47 It’s a draw! Victory was one step away.: 8. 11-39 37-41 9. 39-30 14-19 10. 25:23 15-20 11. 30-2 and for any possible answer from black, white wins. |
| To be continued… | |