Jeu de Dames - Site officiel de la Fédération Française de Jeu de Dames

The Leman tournament has just come to an end. The winner, Klavs Norenberg, who travelled specially from Latvia, kindly agreed to answer the questions I put to him. This interview is presented in its original version and translated in another post.

Klavs, you’ve just won the International Open in Anthy-Léman, and French draughts players are keen to get to know you better. Your result in this tournament comes as no surprise when you look at your recent performances, particularly at the Riga Opens, where you’ve topped the rankings for the past two years. What is a surprise – a pleasant one, I hasten to add – is seeing you compete in a tournament in France. And first of all, the question I’m dying to ask is this:

1 - What led you to Anthy/Léman?
Its my first year when i'm not playing draughts in youth competions, so it would feel weird if summer would be without draughts. I was checking options for tournaments and Open du Leman was very intriguing for me.

2 - What memories would you like to take away from this tournament?
My memories from this tournament would be only the best. Unexpected results from the tournament, also I would like to praise the organisers for good schedule and tournamet was organised on a high level.

3 - The game of draughts seems to be well established in Latvia. Could you tell us more about it?
Draughts in Latvia has upgraded to higher level in the last 10years. Even the smallest opponents there know what they are doing and its not easy to win. I think the main reason is the well established Latvian Draughts Federation and funds going back to draughts players to improve.

4 - On a more personal note, could you explain how you got into draughts and what factors enabled you to reach your current level of play?
I started playing draughts because of my grandad, so you could say that i didn't even have a choice. He is my coach till this day. I think its very important to enjoy tournaments and not to put expectations. Just concentrate on the game thats ahead of you and try to do your best. In my experience this really helped my progress and also mentally when i'm playing.

5 - Guntis Valneris is, of course, Latvia’s best-known champion, renowned both for his talent and his kindness. What is your relationship with him like?
Talking about Guntis I have only respect. Last years i have played him more and more and later analysed our games. He was helping to analyse the games also the last time I was in world youth championship in turkey and I think that helped me a lot in my improvement. Every Latvian draughts player looks up to Guntis and he's playing style, so he is like our idol in draughts forum.

6 - I’ve noticed, from your results, that you’ve made remarkable progress. Has anything in particular happened in your training or your personal life?
Thank you for noticing that. I think when you start feeling that the work you made pays off you start liking and enjoying the tournaments more. Every one wants to win and play good, so that gave me the motivation to try more and now I feel more confident playing bigger opponents, which helps really lot mentally.

7 - What advice would you give to young French players who want to compete at international level?
I think it's important to feel confident. Be brave and don't look at the titles or rating of your opponent. Anything can happen in one game and try your best. Even if you lose but you know that you gave it all you had, it is the best training you could have. That would be the advice I would give to young French draughts players.

8 - What are you studying, and what are your immediate plans?
I'm studying right now in university at Riga about real estate. If you would ask me this question year ago, I would say that i will put draughts in my second plans or even put it on hold, because I wasn't too happy about my results. Now I will try to play as much as i can in summer when i have the free time. This summer i plan to play in Netherlands(Nijmegen), u27 european youth championship blitz and rapid and also thinking about Golden Praga. After that we will see.

9 - Will you be coming back next year?
I would really love to come back to Open du Leman if it will be possible. Can't predict what will happen in the future but for now i think next year i will be there to play for the title again.

JPD - Thank's a lot for these answers;
Klavs - Thank you for the opportunity.