One year ago today, somewhere between last-minute preparations and the usual pre-tournament chaos, it was finally starting to sink in. I was about to fly across the Atlantic for my second World Championship. This time, in Trinidad and Tobago.

When I first sat down to write this piece for Damkunst, the tournament was still fresh and surrounded by quite a bit of controversy, so I felt there was almost an expectation for the players to speak up and share their thoughts. Now that some time has passed, I’m quite glad I no longer feel that need.

There are certainly things that could be discussed, although I believe many of them have much more to do with the FMJD than with the local organizers themselves. But I like Damkunst for what it is. A place where people who care about draughts can come together to enjoy the analyses. I’m free to have the other discussions elsewhere, but here, I would much rather focus on the joy of the game itself.

And perhaps time has done its job because when I think back to Trinidad now, what I remember most is the kindness of the people I met there. And of course how ridiculously good the doubles were 😀

October 2025. Couva, Trinidad and Tobago. My second World Championship.

As always, I came into the tournament wanting to win. That was the goal. But realistically, I knew I would also walk away content with a place in the top three.

The tournament, however, was off to a bad start. It was round three. Viktoriya Motrichko and I had both drawn our first two games against lower-rated opponents, and neither of us could have been particularly happy that we were now paired against each other. We would most likely have met at some point anyway, but in a Swiss-system tournament, starting strong and reaching the top tables early matters more than ever.

And also, I think we were both looking for more than just points. We needed the kind of psychological boost that (almost) only a win can give you. The hope coming back, the pieces suddenly seeming a little lighter to move, and your mind a little sharper without all this pressure to ‘bounce back’.

Vika was, of course, the favourite going into the game. Not only was she higher rated, but our head-to-head record is also clearly in her favour. And although the game eventually ended 1:1, as you will see, one of us did walk away from it with that psychological boost.

Interestingly, the game was also a clash of two rather different styles. It wasn’t always the case, though. I still remember studying openings like 16-21 through Vika’s games as a teenager. Then, sometime around 2020, her approach seemed to change quite significantly. Since then, she has often avoided theoretical positions, and has preferred calmer, more open types of play. My own tendencies are quite different.

So, going into this game, I knew that a sharp theoretical position was unlikely, so I decided to try the same variation we had played not long before during the WC Superblitz. In that game, I had prioritized time management over positional play and didn’t manage to execute the plan properly. Still, I believed it to be promising and wanted to give it another try here. This time it worked out much better.