Jan Groenendijk from the Netherlands is World champion once again!
Jan Groenendijk managed to retain the title he won in December 2024 in the Netherlands. In Cameroon 2025 he was the best player. The 26-year-old player from Wageningen finished equal with his
compatriot Jitse Slump, but the latter had to settle for silver based on the
coefficient system. The worldchampionship was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon from
5 until 23 june 2025. For the international game it was good to hold.
This worldchampionship on the African continent. The Cameroonese federation organised the
tournament in an excellent manner. There were 40 participants who were
divided in four groups. From those four groups, three per group went to the
final. Because there were no restrictions on the number of participants
per country and the sectioning was based solely on strength and
placement, there were many Dutch participants. Of the 40 participants,
13 were from the Netherlands. Of these 13, nine managed to qualify for
the final. In the four preliminary rounds named after regions in Cameroon, no one
from the host country managed to qualify. Cameroon’s strongest player, Jean Marc N’Djofang, only finished fifth in group A, Rhumsiki, according to
coefficient. He had the same number of points as the numbers two and
three who did qualify. Of the twelve finalists were nine from the
Netherlands, three quarters of the participants in the final. The Netherlands is the
strongest draughtscountry in the world together with Russia and Belarus.
However, Russia and Belarus have been suspended due to the war in
Ukraine. The previous tournament for the world title that was held on
the continent of Africa was the 2019 World Draughts Championship from 15
September 2019 to 3 October 2019 played in Yamoussoukro, the capital of
Ivory Coast. It had also been held in Ivory Coast, in Abidjan in 1996.
In Cameroon draughts is played intensively, it is played everywhere in
the streets. You can play draughts by simply drawing a board in the
sand and using different colored stones or caps as playing pieces. Jan
Groenendijk is a well-known draughts player in Cameroon who was
recognized by many people in the streets. N`cho Joel
Atse from Ivory Coast was again the strongest African draughts player
as he was in the last worldchampionship in Curaçao in 2023. He still managed to become fifth.
In this tournament his loss from Jan Groenendijk in the seventh round was important
for his result in this championship.
Before that, the Ivorian was in the lead after a win against the
Dutchman Martin Dolfing, who played too long for a win. The Dutch all
played for their own chances. There were relatively many draws, which
could be expected from this high level. In the final round there were still
five candidates for the first place. Jan Groenendijk was one point ahead
after he won from Atse.
He played a draw against the strong
Congolese Lutete, who drew all games in this tournament and made an
excellent debut. Jitse Slump came alongside by winning ftom his
compatriot Wouter Sipma who made an all or nothing attempt to win. Only
at the end did the world champion had 1 SB point more, 139 to 138.
For the third place a rematch had to be played between the Latvian
player and former world champion Guntis Valneris and the Dutch Martijn
van IJzendoorn. Valneris won this so he could take the third place on
the podium.
The 25 year old Jitse Slump will get the opportunity to challenge the world champion in
a match as number two of the world championship. This match will take
place in 2026.