The morning session in the draughts tournament saw all games end in a draw. This did not mean that many games were not heavily contested. World Champion Georgiev came close to Chinese talent Zhou Wei. Therefore we had a full house when the tie-breaks started at 5PM. What Georgiev could not achieve in the morning session he accomplished in the rapid game. He managed to get a very complicated position on the board and that was too much for Wei: 9-3. Shaibakov give Brazilian Silva an unpleasant surprise with an unexpected move that brought him 9 points. All other men did proceed to the blitz game. The blitz games saw only one win: Misans played a very good game and gave Dul no chance. Dutch Pim Meurs should have won against Germanski with a full piece ahead and a good position. However, Getmanski performed a Houdini trick and escaped from hell. Therefore three games needed to be decided in the nerve cracking Georgiev-Lehmann tie-break. Both players get 5 minutes on the clock plus 2 seconds per move. When the game ends in a draw the continuation starts with the time left on the clock. Number 2 in the world championship of this year Amrilaev was too strong for the number 3: champion of Africa Jean-Marc Ndjofang. In the second game of the barrage Pim Meurs did not see a combination that gave both players a king but 3 pieces more for Getmanski: 7-5 for Getmanski.
Boomstra and Valneris played in a thriller. In the second barrage game Valneris oversaw a combination, luck for Boomstra who won decisively in the next game: 7-5 for Boomstra.
After three rounds the leaders in their groups are Valneris and Georgiev.
From the four games in the women tie-break two were decided. Many times world champion Golubeva managed to beat another former world champion: Darya Tkachenko: 9-3. Dutch Nina Hoekman struggling with poor health could not persevere against the young Chinese Alatenghua and there were the first points for the Chinese girl: 9-3. The blitz games saw one decision: the battle between the young talents Fedorovich and Motrichka saw Motrichko win: 8-4. In the first game of the GL barrage, Nogovitcyna beat current world champion Tanssykunzhina from Ufa. After three rounds Golubeva seems to be right on track to win the championship: she collected 33 points so far.
Beijing December 2011
Harry Otten