In Bismarck, North Dakota, it was the Saturday after Labor Day in September 1955, and for long-time resident Sal Westerman that meant one and only one thing. The Coffee and Cake Checker Club would resume meeting at the Beacon Cafe after the club's summer hiatus. A long string of checker filled Saturday afternoons lay ahead.

Sal was in high spirits as he made the ten minute walk from his home on 13th Street over to the Provident Life Building, in which the Beacon Cafe was situated. Sal and the "boys" (all but one of whom were over 50) met at the Beacon and enjoyed wonderful baked treats made by the proprietess, Deana Nagel, accompanied by lots and lots of coffee.

As expected, there was a great turnout for the first meeting of the new season, and by the 1 PM start time the group filled both of the large booths at the back of the cafe. On hand were Larry, Delmer, Wayne, Tom, Louie the Flash, Kevin the Spooler, Dan, Mike, Ron, Young Blaine, and even Old Frank, making an even dozen.

But then, just after Sal joined the group, there was a new arrival. Now, Sal had known in advance about this, due to a telephone inquiry, but he deliberately hadn't made a prior announcement. "Boys," Sal said, "meet our newest member, Nancy German."

Nancy, reaching the back of the Cafe, gave a big smile. "Pleased to meet you, boys," she said, "and I hope you'll welcome a lady to your group."

There were enthusiatic nods all around. "Delighted to have you," Sal said, "and why don't you tell us about yourself?"

"Well," Nancy said, "I grew up in South Dakota and just moved to Bismarck over the summer to take a new job. I played a lot of checkers down in Pierre and was even on the Pierre municipal team. So when I heard about Sal and the club, naturally I wanted to join. Now, I have to work on Saturday a lot of the time, so I won't be here every week, but I'll do my best, both to show up, participate in problem solving, and try to give you some good games of skittles."

Again all the boys expressed enthusiasm. "Have a seat," Dan said, moving over to make room at the side of one of the booths. We usually start out with Sal giving us a problem to solve."

Nancy took the proferred seat. "Yes, Sal explained that to me over the phone, and how you boys buy treats if you can't solve it and Sal buys if you can. But look, as a newcomer, regardless how it turns out, I'd like to treat today."

Just then, with her usual great timing, the Beacon's proprietess, Deana Nagel, spoke up from behind her service counter. "Fresh apple pie," she said. "I got hold of a batch of really nice apples from a farm just outside of Mandan, across the river."

"Mighty kind of you to offer to buy," Wayne said to Nancy, "and apple pie sounds fantastic, but you really don't have to do that."

"I want to," Nancy replied. "I'd like to show appreciation for you welcoming me to your club and letting me be one of the 'boys'."

There were chuckles from everyone. "Sure," said Louie the Flash, "you can be one of us 'boys' if you wish."

Then Sal said, "Well now, shall we get into it? First problem of the season!"

Sal laid out the following position on a checkerboard on the table in each booth.

"Take a little time," he said, "maybe you're all a bit rusty after the summer layoff."

But the boys--- and Nancy--- were deep into contemplation of the problem.

---

We welcome our readers back to the Beacon Cafe, at least virtually, even though 1955 was quite a while back. Get yourself some of that good virtual cafe coffee, and sit down with the 'boys' to solve the problem. When you're done, click on Read More to see the solution, the brief conclusion of our story, and to get yourself some virtual apple pie made with apples fresh off the tree from Mandan, North Dakota. Sorry ... if you want real coffee and apple pie, you're on your own--- but it sure does sound good.

[Read More]

Labor Day is a day we always look forward to; celebrated on the first Monday of September in the United States and Canada, it is an opportunity to recognize the working man and woman, who are the soul of the economy and upon whom we all depend.

We've often said that all honest work is honorable and deserving of respect. Perhaps you're part of an elevator crew.

Or maybe you're a shuttle driver.

A fireman?

Or even a television news anchor!

No matter what your profession or job, The Checker Maven salutes you, and as always for Labor Day, we present a special checker problem. Often we turn to one of the greats, Tommie Wiswell. But instead today we turn to Jessie Hanson, a member of the 1927 All-American team. Mr. Wiswell says of him, "he has published numerous problems of a very high order." Here's one of his gems.

We'll give you fair warning; this one is much trickier than it looks, but your labor for today is to solve the problem and then, like any good working person, check your work--- by clicking on Read More.

[Read More]

Association of concepts and ideas in our memory is vital to our everyday existence on just about every level. We maintain mental "maps" in varying levels of detail and the better we can develop and utilitize these maps, the better we can do when the inevitable problems and challenges come our way, as we will have stored away knowledge about similar problems and their solutions.

Now, we've been going through parts of Andrew J. Banks' eclectic book, Checker Board Strategy, as part of our long standing Checker School series, and Mr. Banks has the following interesting observation about memory and association:

"Association of ideas is the third way of developing a logical memory. If I merely say 'Think of something!' you will be at a loss for ideas. But if I say, 'Think of an article of clothing,' ideas will flash. This test illustrates the power of association. After you have learned a problem, meditate and reflect; thus you often can associate that problem with a similar one."

We definitely think Mr. Banks is in accord with us. After all, as described above, we mostly solve problems in general by implicitly or explicitly comparing them to problems we have solved in the past, and extending or adapting those previous solutions.

So, then, look at the position below. Is it comparable to or associated with anything you've seen before? Does that give you some ideas?

Access your memory bank; correlate, adapt, and extend, and find the solution--- this one isn't all that difficult. After you're done, associate your mouse with Read More to check your answer.

[Read More]

There had been a lot of changes in the National Checker League since the big scandal in the previous season. The NCL was under new management with a new Commissioner and a new Deputy Commissioner. Several coaches and assistant coaches on various teams, and a number of players as well, had either been dismissed, forced to resign, or outright arrested by law enforcement.

The Detroit Doublejumpers, who had as its Captain our protagonist, Marvin J. Mavin, also had several new coaches and a few new players.

Most notably there was a new Head Coach, as former Head Coach Baba Dudut had been arrested on corruption, racketeering, and other charges. The new coach was Morticia Mumples, who was hired away from the AAA Memphis Mills. She replaced Interim Coach Sammy Sawizawiz who had filled in for a couple of months.

Morticia had a good track record. She had been a professional player, mostly in AAA checkers but with a few years as a substitute in the big leagues. She had coached the Mills to a league championship. Known as a stern taskmaster but also someone who always treated players fairly, she was widely regarded as a good hire.

But something had happened between the close of the season in May and the opening of training camp in August. After signing the contract with the Doublejumpers Morticia disappeared for two months. No one knew where she had gone or what may have happened to her.

Then just before training camp started, she showed up again and was, shall we say, a different person. She called in the sports press and said, "My new name is California Hummingbird. This summer I went on a retreat in a remote mountain monastery in a secret location, which I cannot reveal, but I have seen the light. I will teach the Doublejumpers a whole new approach to the game of checkers, and they too shall see the light and experience bliss and nirvana."

She took no questions from the press. Doublejumper management, when asked, said they would just wait and see. In public, they stated, "Ms. Mumples ... er, Hummingbird ... has a demonstrated record of success and we are counting on her." In private, though, they were rather concerned.

The Doublejumpers always trained at a luxury camp in the appropriately named town of Au Train on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and traditionally the team boarded a charter bus in Detroit, with the ride to Au Train taking the good part of the day. This year was no different, except that prior to departure, Coach Hummingbird engaged the services of a spiritual practitioner, Swami Sammy Salami, to bless the bus and ask for a safe journey and a successful training month.

Swami Salami chanted in a language he claimed to be Vedic Sanskrit but nearly every phrase sounded something like "oma blah glah nah oma namma ramma gamma"; but since no one on the team had ever studied Sanskrit, they couldn't really say anything.

In any event the bus did arrive safely at the campsite and the players quickly occupied their cabins and then assembled for their inaugural camp dinner. This was normally a festive affair with great food featuring fresh fish and locally sourced produce; there were always a couple of toasts and then the Coach would close the dinner with a talk that set the mood for the month of training.

Under former coach Baba Dudut and his own predecessors, this was usually a lot of tough talk about hard mental and physical work. But Coach Hummingbird took a much different approach.

"My camp will be gentle," she said, "now that I have achieved enlightenment. We do work hard, but we enjoy the work and we envelop it in a spiritual cloak that shields all the pain and leaves only the bliss of achievement and success. I will teach you mantras to chant. We will recite shlokas from spiritual texts. When we do physical training, we will be one with nature and with the Higher Orders. We will revel in the companionship of teamwork and shared achievement. Each morning we will rise early for chanting and yoga ... "

"Not tactics training?" one team member interrupted. "We always used to ... "

"We will meet our spiritual needs first," replied Coach Hummingbird, "for if our spirits are not balanced, how can we do worldly work?"

There were a number of shaking heads and a few muttered under the breath comments as the dinner adjourned.

The next morning, the Doublejumper team was awakened at 5 AM to the sound of a gong. They were all ushered into one of the practice rooms. Our hero Marvin was heard to remark that "the sun ain't even hardly up yet" but then Coach Hummingbird was speaking.

"I will give each of you a spiritual name," Coach said, "and during our time at training camp you will be known by that name and that name alone. It is your key to the ethereal energies that will help you play better checkers."

Coach went around whispering in the ears of the players, and when she got to Marvin, she gave him a friendly smile and said quietly, "You, Captain Marvin, must be both a leader and a player. Therefore you shall be known as Holistic Harmonic Happy Hope, or 4H for short."

Marvin replied, "4H? Ain't that some kinda farm club?" But Coach just smiled and moved on to the next player.

The players then adjourned for breakfast. Instead of the usual sausages, eggs, pancakes and coffee, breakfast consisted of yogurt, fruit juice, herbal tea, and blackberries. The players grumbled but Coach said, "We consume only spiritual food to nourish the spirit. We must not put harmful substances into our sacred bodies."

Next up was an hour of yoga. This was followed by an hour of meditation. Finally before lunch the players gathered again and were asked to each give a statement about how checkers affected the higher orders of their connection to the Great Wheel of Life. Most of the players mumbled a few phrases, not really knowing what to say. Marvin, for his part, said, "I ain't got no idea about nothing like that."

Lunch consisted of a green salad with no dressing, cubes of boiled tofu, and something Coach called "tea of heaven" which apparently was a brew made from various leaves and twigs.

The afternoon was similar to the morning. Finally, at about 4 PM, Marvin spoke up on behalf of the team.

"Coach, ain't we gonna like, practice checkers and stuff? You know, like checker problems and scrimmage games and openings and endings and ... you know, checker camp sorta things?"

"Oh, 4H," Coach replied, "your inner harmonies are clearly misaligned. In my newly conceived checker camp we don't study checkers in the way you describe. Instead we let our spirits soar, we see them fly over the checkerboard; then the pieces on the board, far below, become energetic nodes through which our inner energies pass. We envision a victory and ... voila! The victory is ours!"

Marvin thought for a minute, "Uh ... yeah ... well ... at least can we have some, like, decent food for dinner?"

Another team member then spoke up. It was the second board starter, Timmy Timbuck. "Coach, when you were coaching in AAA did you do all this sort of stuff?"

"Oh, no," Coach replied. "That was back when I was still known as Morticia Mumples. I had not yet achieved enlightenment. But I have now seen a new and better path to success. I couldn't wait to share it with you players. It will be the New Age of checkers!"

At this point the other coaches--- the Problem Coach, the Opening Coach, the Endgame Coach, and the Strategy Coach--- went off to the side and conferred..

Problem Coach Riddleme, who was normally among the hardest taskmasters in the league, was the one who spoke up.

"Team," he said, "we're taking the bus into town for dinner at a steakhouse. Load up. Wheels roll in five minutes."

The players actually cheered. But Coach Hummingbird, clearly shocked and surprised, attempted to protest. "I'm the Head Coach!" she wailed. "You can't do this without my permission!"

"Wrong," replied Coach Riddleme. "Doublejumper executives, unknown to you, have asked all the other coaches to keep an eye on things and take action if necessary. We have full authority. Sorry, Ms. whatever you call yourself, you're no longer Head Coach."

The team went into town and happily consumed steak and lobster dinners. When they returned to camp, Coach Hummingbird was nowhere to be seen. Later, a note was found in her cabin saying she couldn't work with insensitive non-spiritual clods who had no chance at enlightenment. She would return to the monastery in the secret mountain location to wait the coming of the Great Om-My.

Coach Riddleme announced that he was taking over until another Head Coach could be appointed. But even though it was rather late, he called for an hour of problem solving. "We've got to make up for lost time," he said, "but no worries, you'll have your pancake breakfast in the morning with plenty of coffee. Now here, look at this, it's in two parts."

1.	9-13	22-18
2.	12-16	24-20
3.	8-12	25-22

Black played a potentially losing move at this point and the game continued:

4.	16-19	23x16
5.	12x19	27-23
6.	11-16	20x11
7.	7x16	18-15
8.	4-8	...

Of course there were quite a few more problems and positions to be solved before lights out was finally called, but the players were glad to actually, you know, play checkers.

---

We don't know what you prefer; is it steak and lobster or boiled tofu? The choice is yours and literally a matter of taste. But we'll bet you'll enjoy taking on Coach Riddleme's first checker problem. Reach checker enlightenment by finding the solution and then clicking on Read More to see the solution. Recitation of shlokas is optional.

[Read More]

It was August, 1955 (it's always 1955 in these stories) and Labor Day weekend was not far off. For Sal Westerman, that was a good thing.

Sal, being definitely on the elderly side, certainly didn't want to wish his life away. Not at all; he tried to make the most of every day. It's just that by the time late summer came around, he was really missing his Saturday afternoon meetings of his Coffee and Cake Checker Club.

The Club indeed did meet every Saturday afternoon, but only from just after Labor Day until just before Memorial Day. Summers in Bismarck, North Dakota, were noticeably short and North Dakotans made the most of warmer weather to be outdoors, whether camping or fishing, tending to their yards, playing softball, or any other summer activity. The club's venue, the Beacon Cafe, even shut down for most of the month of August so its proprietress, Deana Nagel, could travel back to Gackle, N.D., to help out with the harvest on the family farm.

Sal of course had his own ways of keeping busy during summertime, including a lakeside vacation with his wife Sylvia and numerous other things, many of which of course had to do with checkers. But he missed getting together with the "boys" as he called them (all but one of whom were at minimum 50 years old) for afternoons of checker fun.

This year, for some reason, Sal especially missed his club, and even though it would just be a couple more weeks until the "season" began, he felt somewhat depressed. Perhaps more than somewhat.

To begin with, it was a Saturday afternoon, and he was home alone in his study. His wife was visiting her sister Phoebe in Dickinson, N.D., and Sal avoided going along as he and Phoebe did not have, shall we say, a warm relationship. The Beacon Cafe was closed. Sal had tried calling a couple of the boys to meet up for lunch or coffee, but he wasn't able to reach anyone. They were all off on vacation, fishing or camping, or just too busy with yard work or other summertime chores.

Sal thought about going over to the bar at the Patterson Hotel for a beer, but it seemed like too much effort. It was really hot outside and any amount of walking, even to a nearby park, just seemed like too much. Nothing seemed to appeal to him. Summer had been great, but did it have to be so long? Of course, it wasn't long at all but at the moment it seemed that way.

Taking an afternoon nap was always an option, but he realized that if he did he would wake up even more depressed, having done nothing all afternoon. He'd read the last few issues of All Checkers Digest from cover to cover several times. He'd finished that problem book project that he had started with Young Ed from Pennsylvania and was still impatiently waiting for a proof copy. Things just weren't going his way today.

Maybe he could go to a movie. But that would involve walking and besides there was nothing playing that he wanted to see. Watching daytime weekend television was an even worse option. Going to the library? Going out for a hamburger? Too hot. Too hard.

Sal was sitting in his easy chair, unable to get out of his low mood, when the phone rang and startled him. Who could it be? Sylvia didn't call from Dickinson in the afternoon, and he had just heard from her last night.

Sal hurried as quickly as he could up the stairs to the kitchen, where the phone sat on a small table by the wall. He answered on what was probably the fifth ring, hoping he wasn't too late, and hoping even more it wasn't someone trying to sell him insurance.

"Hello?" Sal said after he picked up the receiver.

"Sal?" came the voice on the other end. "It's Ed, in Pennsylvania. Look, this long distance call is kind of expensive, but I had an idea for one more problem to add to our book. Quick, write this down."

Sylvia thoughtfully kept a small notepad and a pencil next to the telephone. Sal picked up the pencil and said, "Go ahead, Young Ed, I'm ready."

Ed quickly stated the position of the pieces and the problem premise. "Try it out and drop me a line," he said, "and tell me if you think it ought to go in the book. I'll run along now before I spend a month's rent on this call. Take care and say hello to Sylvia for me."

The line disconnected. Sal hung up the phone and looked at the notes he had hastily scribbled. The position was really interesting ...

Sal couldn't wait to get back down to his study and set up the problem. His dark mood had vanished in an instant. This was going to be a great day after all!

---

There's nothing like the excitement of a good new checker problem to lift a checker fan's mood. Of course, we hope your mood today isn't a dark one, but dark, light, or in-between, an Ed Atkinson problem is always a treat. This is one of the last of them in our supply. Enjoy it and click on Read More when you're ready to check your solution.

[Read More]

From June 14 to June 22 in 2025 at a site in Italy, 3-Move World Champion Sergio Scarpetta defended his title against challenger Melikaya Nonyukela. The match was tense and exciting and went to the very last game. The final score was 16-16, comprised of 3 wins per player and 26 draws. With a tie score, the title remained with Mr. Scarpetta but Mr. Nonyukela showed himself to be a player of championship rank and a force to be reckoned with.

Grandmaster Richard Pask has annotated all 32 games of the match and presented them in a new booklet which he has generously allowed us to make available for free download from our website. Get your copy here; these games are definitely worthy of many hours of study and enjoyment.

As a sample, let's look at a position later in Game 32, the last in the match. At that point Mr. Scarpetta led by 16-15 but Mr. Nonyukela had the opportunity to play for a win and bring the match to an overall draw.

Here's the critical position.

What would you have done here? What would be the outcome? This faced Mr. Scarpetta at the very end of the very last game. See what you might do, and then download the book and turn to Game 32 to see the run-up, full notes, and the surprising outcome.

Once again we thank Mr. Pask for the privilege of presenting his work.

There's an old schoolhouse saying about "the exception that proves the rule" meaning that there may be a general rule (typically in grammar) but there are exceptions to the rule, and somehow that "proves" the rule. We always thought that this was, in fact, exceptionally nonsensical, with no basis in logic.

Getting to the point: While today's problem is not quite a "first Saturday of the month" speed problem, it's not overly difficult and it is quite clever, and demonstrates that every rule indeed has its exceptions, even if they don't exactly "prove the rule."

No, you won't need exceptional skill to solve this one, and we hope you won't take exception to our evaluation. But either way, see how you do and then click on Read More to see the exceptional solution.

[Read More]

Marvin was flat on his stomach as one FBI agent had a knee in his back while another handcuffed him. Then he was yanked to his feet and quickly searched.

"We're takin' you in," another agent said, "and you're done for. Too bad, too sad about your big checker star salary. You're nothing now, and you'll be even less in prison." Another agent laughed. "Wonder how long he'll last?" he said with a sly grin.

But as Marvin was being led to one of the SUVs, another three black SUVs pulled into the parking lot and more men piled out with guns drawn.

Marvin was quickly shoved into an SUV and the agents took cover behind their vehicles. "FBI!" one of them shouted. "Drop your guns!"

The reply came quickly. "What are you talking about? We're the FBI!" Drop your guns and come out where we can see you!"

The FBI agents looked over the hoods of their SUVs at the new arrivals. They were about to open fire when one of them said in obvious surprise, "Jack? Chris? It's Mike! But what are you guys doing here? Men, hold your fire, they really are FBI!"

"Dan? Mike? What are you guys doing here?" one of the newly arrived men said. "We were told that Marvin J. Mavin would be here and might be attacked by mobsters. So his wife called the FBI and here we are."

"Well," said Mike, "we had a tip from Mavin's coach that he would be meeting with some conspirators here and we just arrested him based on his Coach's statement."

Marvin, not knowing what to think, said, "Hey, what, are all of you from the FBI?"

"That's right," Jack said, "and it appears there are conflicting stories and something of a mix-up."

"Don't you guys like, you know, talk to each other and stuff?" Marvin said. "So, like, am I still under arrest and stuff?"

"I guess not, at least for now," Jack said, "we'll have to get the stories straight first." Jack removed Marvin's handcuffs but warned him, "You better show up at the FBI building like, right away, and stuff."

It was something of a long night. Marvin gave a statement, as did Priscilla. She had been suspicious about a supposed meeting with the FBI at a location out in the country, and had checked out the Wayward Inn on Google and found it had closed years ago. So she had herself called the FBI and explained the situation.

However it seemed that Coach Baba Dudut had also called the FBI and spun them a story about Marvin being corrupt and going to meet with mobsters. Coach claimed to have intercepted a phone call to that effect. But under questioning his story soon fell apart, and he was held on suspicion of lying to the FBI.

The newspapers got hold of the story, and the FBI's minor embarrassment about uncoordinated action was swept under by the unfolding NCL scandal.

An investigation by several agencies ensued and the results were shocking and far-reaching. And all across the country, and even in Canada, the following scene repeated itself.

# # #

Suddenly the door to the Coach's office burst open and men in tactical gear with weapons at the ready burst in to the shock of the Coach, who was sitting behind his desk busy with paperwork.

"On the floor, now! Hands where we can see them! You're under arrest!"

More men in tactical gear swarmed into the locker room and practice rooms, seeking out individual players and taking them into custody.

But the biggest scene of all played out in Belpre, Ohio, where the NCL Deputy Commissioner was cornered in a stairwell as he tried to flee when he saw the tactical squads exit their vehicles. He tried to put up a fight but one zap from a taser put an end to his struggles, not to mention his career and his freedom.

# # #

Indeed a number of coaches and players from all across the league were arrested, Coach Baba Dudut among the most prominent. The (former) NCL Deputy Commissioner tried to cast aspersions on Axel Homeboy but it seemed the Commissioner had been quite unaware of the goings-on. But the bad publicity forced him to resign, and he was replaced by a Ms. Kimmy Lewis, who appointed Byron Hinman as Deputy Commissioner. Both Ms. Lewis and Mr. Hinman promised complete reform and tight oversight.

And so the greatest scandal in the history of professional checkers came to a highly public and very messy conclusion.

# # #

One night a little while after it was all over, Marvin and Priscilla were relaxing in the living room of Priscilla's condo. A cheery artificial fire was in the faux fireplace. Marvin was enjoying a bottle of beer and a problem in the latest All Checkers Digest. Priscilla had a glass of dessert wine and was reading an issue of the Hostile Takeovers and Malicious Mergers business journal.

Marvin was muttering "I think this one has dual solutions," when Priscilla asked, "So how's the new interim coach?" Coach Baba Dudut had of course been immediately dismissed and was now facing at least ten years in prison.

"Sammy Sawizawiz? He seems like a pretty good guy. He ain't so hard on me like Baba Dudut was. 'Course, he's just interim coach 'til they hire somebody. But I think it's gonna be okay. And the League will make a comeback, you'll see."

"I'm sure it will, dear," Priscilla said, "but all the same, in the future you had still better not be talking to reporters or doing anything foolish. I saved your neck this time but I might not always be able to do so."

"Well, there ain't gonna be ... "

But Marvin saw Priscilla's stern look and knew better than to say anything further.

# # #

Things had gone totally wrong. Cha Cha owed the Bulgarian mob a lot of money and with the match fixing having ended, she had no source of income. It was time to high-tail it out of the country and assume yet another identity.

She thought it was clever how she was able to pull strings from such a distance and manipulate the players and coaches in the NCL. But that fool of a player and his swanky stuck-up wife had ruined it. It was unfair. But at least no one suspected her; operating through the mob, she had kept enough distance to stay in the clear. The guilty had had no contacts beyond the mob, and the authorities had been unable to locate any mob members.

Well, even though she was off to Malaysia, and who knows where after that, they hadn't heard the last from Cha Cha. Not by a longshot.

THE END

---

We hope you enjoyed this 7-part serial and will tune in again for more adventures in the world of Marvin J. Mavin. But meanwhile see if you can solve today's problem. Marvin did hint at something important so do pay heed. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution. Or should that be "solutions"?

[Read More]

Postal play in checkers used to be a big thing. The late legendary Richard Fortman was one of the postal greats. Mac Banks, in our own day, is another big name in postal play. But by and large postal play has disappeared. Certainly there are no more postal championships.

The reason, of course, is the rise of the computer as a virtually unbeatable resource; unless matches are strictly played by what we shall call "gentleperson" rules, on the honor system, promising to not use computers, every match is likely to be 100% draws. And even on the honor system, there are now excellent references, vetted by computers, that ensure one side or the other won't get an advantage.

So it's refreshing to come across an actual, current day postal game, played strictly without references. Grandmaster Richard Pask sent us the annotated transcript of a recently completed game with Ron Green, which Mr. Pask says gives us "(a)n important addition to the literature of the 9-13 23-19; 10-15 ballot."

We'll present this in the manner Mr. Pask did in his notes, as a two-part problem. If you wish to take on the full challenge, look at the first diagram (above). Work out what you might play from there; then see what you might do at the second diagram (below). We have omitted the run-up and the continuation; those will be found along with the solutions.

After all of this, click on Read More to see Mr. Pask's complete write-up.

[Read More]

Sal Westerman, the unoffical leader of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club in Bismarck, North Dakota, was on a two-week vacation with his wife Sylvia. His club didn't meet during the summer months, and Sal and Sylvia sometimes rented a lakeshore cabin and relaxed in a pleasant environment away from the big city.

Now, what constitutes a big city may vary according to your location, but in 1955 (the year in which all of these stories take place), Bismarck was considered a big city, at least for central North Dakota. The population would soon cross the 25,000 mark and for North Dakotans that was big.

The lake cabin was near Garrison, North Dakota, which had a population of 1,800 at best. It was just large enough for Sal and Sylvia to pick up groceries and supplies to take to the cabin.

Sal spent mornings fishing on the lake in a little rowboat provided by the cabin owners, and afternoons sitting outside with a checker magazine or two. Sylvia went for nature walks, did some sewing, and prepared rustic meals in the cabin's very basic kitchen.

Sal had noted, however, that about midway in their stay, a visitor would be coming from Pennsylvania. That would be Young Ed, who had already made a name for himself as a master problem composer and who corresponded regularly with Sal. Now, recall that in our last episode, Sal had started on a "secret" summer project to create a book of problems composed by Ed. Many of the problems were already selected and Young Ed and Sal planned to work together for a day or two to finalize the book. Young Ed couldn't stay very long as he needed to continue on to the West Coast to visit with relatives before returning to Pennsylvania at the end of his vacation from work.

Young Ed would be arriving in Bismarck by train and would take the daily bus up to Garrison. He wouldn't hear of Sal and Sylvia driving back to town to pick him up; it was more than enough that they meet him at the Garrison bus stop.

The day of Young Ed's arrival came. Sylvia didn't want Sal to drive as his eyesight was no longer the best, so she drove and Sal rode along. Young Ed had just gotten off the bus when the Westermans arrived. Even though they had never before met in person, Sal and Young Ed recognized each other at once.

"So good to meet you at last!" Sal said, giving Young Ed a warm handshake.

"Same here," Young Ed replied.

"Have a good trip?" Sylvia asked.

"I like the train," Young Ed said, adding, "I never did care for those noisy airplanes."

It was now late afternoon and Sylvia suggested they stop at a cafe before going back to the cabin. The Fisherman's Cafe was their favorite, and over an early dinner, Young Ed and Sal--- naturally--- talked checkers while Sylvia pretended polite interest.

The ensuing evening and nearly all of the following day was filled with checker work as Sal and Young Ed occupied the kitchen table and reviewed problems, draft writeups, and so on, only leaving the table when chased by Sylvia.

"I've got to put lunch out," she'd say, "unless you both want to starve. Go for a walk in the woods or go out on the boat for an hour or so!"

Young Ed and Sal would then good-naturedly set their work aside and get some fresh air.

The following day, just before noon, Young Ed and Sal pronounced their work done. The book was ready for the mimeograph machine. Sal agreed to do the final typing when he got back to Bismarck, and then send the manuscript to Young Ed, who would see about geting it duplicated and into distribution.

Sylvia made a last lunch of fresh fish she had picked up in town early that morning. Then it was time to take Young Ed to catch his bus back to Bismarck, where that evening his train for the West Coast would depart.

Young Ed and Sal didn't know exactly when they would meet again, but Sal said fondly, "We'll surely keep in touch and I'll get that manuscript to you before summer is over."

"Thanks for everything, Sal," Young Ed said, "and thanks, Sylvia, for your kind hospitality."

Then within minutes Young Ed was on his bus and off on the next stage of his trip.

"A nice young man," Sylvia said, "I'm sure he's going to have a great career and leave a wonderful legacy.

The years would prove Sylvia right.

---

Certain liberties were taken with this story. "Young Ed" is of course a fictional version of Ed Atkinson, but in 1955 the real Ed would have been very young indeed and certainly not traveling across the country. Other details, such as daily bus service to Bismarck, are also invented.

But what is certainly not invented is that Ed indeed left us a wonderful legacy, filled with sparkling checker problems and entertaining checker lore. Ed is surely missed, and we hope that our own "secret project" to publish a small volume of his problems, can come to eventual fruition.

Here's one of our last remaining Ed Atkinson compositions.

Ed's problems are always a delight. When you've worked out this one, click on Read More to check your solution.

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