Jannes van der Wal
Encyclopedia
Jannes van der Wal was a Dutch/Frisian
draughts
player and world champion in the game. He also played chess
at a nearly competitive level.
He became world champion in São Paulo
in 1982. After that he garnered attention for his humorous or even eccentric personality. His interviews on Dutch TV were unusual involving a full minute where he did not talk or others where he reacted oddly on being asked how old he was.
After this he became a minor celebrity appearing in a few programs on Dutch television. He was also the subject of a 1999 documentary titled Jannes.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263483/
He is believed to have held the record on simultaneous play as he played against 225 players on July 16, 1987. He won against 93% of the 225 opponents with 14 games being draws and 4 losses. Anton van Berkel has since beaten this record.
In 1996 Jannes van der Wal died of leukemia
.
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
draughts
Draughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
player and world champion in the game. He also played chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
at a nearly competitive level.
He became world champion in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
in 1982. After that he garnered attention for his humorous or even eccentric personality. His interviews on Dutch TV were unusual involving a full minute where he did not talk or others where he reacted oddly on being asked how old he was.
After this he became a minor celebrity appearing in a few programs on Dutch television. He was also the subject of a 1999 documentary titled Jannes.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0263483/
He is believed to have held the record on simultaneous play as he played against 225 players on July 16, 1987. He won against 93% of the 225 opponents with 14 games being draws and 4 losses. Anton van Berkel has since beaten this record.
In 1996 Jannes van der Wal died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.