Ton Sijbrands, Checkers Player, Despite All Consequences

The Dutch grandmaster checkers player Ton Sijbrands has been a legend since he was a child. In the 1960s, he appeared as a debuting player on TV, a shy-looking boy with long, blond curls. In 1967, at the age of 17, he became the youngest Dutch champion ever, and won the World Championship a few years later. His victory decisively broke through the Soviet hegemony over the game. Director Kees Brouwer follows Sijbrands's remarkable career by means of archive footage and conversations with the checkers player, in which he looks back at the many tournaments he played and the opponents he defeated. An important matter is his relationship with one of his most formidable opponents, Andris Andreiko. Shortly after Sijbrands defeated him in the World Championship, Andreiko died under mysterious circumstances, and Sijbrands has harbored a vague feeling of guilt ever since. The camera accompanies him on a visit to Andreiko's widow, to whom he presents the book he has written about her husband. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)