From 1 to 7 July, Hoogeveen will be the battleground for the Dutch championship for women. The games are played in multifunctional center De Magnet.
The field of participants has many new faces. Some experienced players from last year were unable to play due to various circumstances. However, MIF Vitalia Doumesh (58) from Alkmaar and MFF Jacqueline Schouten (58) from Velserbroek will be present again. Doumesh participates for no less than the 25th time and is therefore one of the most experienced players in the group. She became Dutch champion four times and has been playing drafts at the highest (inter)national level for years.
For Schouten it will be the 18th time that she participates. She placed second three times and placed third twice. Only the gold medal is still missing in her cup case.
After a long absence of 14 years, Marijke Koers – van Genderen (41) is participating in the National Championships again. She played the National Championship three times before, but never reached the podium.
Darya Tkachenko from Ukraine will make a surprising debut. She has been living in the Netherlands for almost two years now and according to the KNDB rules she can participate. Tkachenko is no stranger to the drafts world. She has already had an impressive drafts career. She has four world titles and two European titles to her name. In this field she has the highest rating and is the only one with a grandmaster title. She also hopes to add an NK title to her drafts resume.
Debutants
Last year’s numbers two and three, Luise Gabbert (17) from Bennekom and Lisa Scholtens (18) from Hoogeveen, also make an appearance. Last year both made a successful debut by immediately winning prizes. Of course this tastes like more for both. These two contemporaries graduated from secondary school this year and can now play checkers all summer long.
Gabbert has been playing drafts for more than 11 years and has won several NK titles at the youth level. She also finished second and third at the European Junior Girls Championships in Turkey. Scholtens is the first Dutch girls with two junior world titles. In addition, she can play for the Netherlands for the first time at the Women’s World Cup later this year.
Upcoming talent
The field of participants is complemented by the upcoming youth talents Elise Schouten (16) from Hoogeveen, Fleur Kruysmulder (16) from Huissen, Tanya-Marie Cnossen (15) from Eindhoven and Yulia Bintsarovska (14) from Kampen. Schouten was a convincing winner in the B group last year and is now making her debut at the highest level. Kruysmulder and Bintsarovska are also taking part for the first time. They are going through an enormous dam development and are allowed to add one (inter)national prize after the other to their collection. It is the second time for Cnossen. She made her debut last year and she did very well.
The NK B category will take place for the second time: the Proost Management NK Women. Eight drafts players will play their own round tournament from 3 to 7 July. The winner will be promoted to the A category next year. Here too we see a balanced mix between young and old. There are five seasoned players: Barbara Graas (71), Iepie Poepjes-Koopman (75), Anna Bakker (69), Nicole Schouten (64) and Daniëlla de Vos (49). The younger generation is represented by Marjory Feyt (15), Charell Schuller (16) and Rosanne Steenblik (14).
The organization is in the hands of ‘DroomDamsters’, a drafts association that is committed to girls’ and women’s drafts in the Netherlands. DroomDamsters is one of the largest drafts associations with more than 150 members. The NK falls under the auspices of the Royal Dutch Dambond (KNDB) and is in collaboration with the Drentse Dambond (DDB). The tournament has been held in Hoogeveen since 2019.
Follow live
All games are played on live boards. Home viewers can closely follow all played moves. The live games also include an analysis graph to show the (missed) opportunities. This year, NK broadcasts, ‘news’, will be made every day for the first time. This is provided by the Hoogeveen draughts player MF Nick Waterink. Waterink will discuss the highlights of the day in an accessible explanation.