This column will appear on April 2, 2016. Yesterday was April 1, or "April Fool's Day," the traditional date for all sorts of stunts and jokes.

On April 1, 1943, the above Norman Rockwell drawing appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Mr. Rockwell did a certain amount of checker art, but in this particular instance, he deliberately riddled the drawing with errors, 43 of them by his count. (How many of them can you find? A larger version of the drawing can be found here.)

Today's problem is more in the nature of a "thought" problem. We know it's possible to construct positions that can't arise on the checkerboard. Here's one taken from "Impossible Settings" in Ben Boland's book, Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers.

There are only four pieces in this position, but we'd like to challenge you to find the minimal position that can't possibly arise in play that follows the rules. Can you find an impossible setting with fewer than four pieces?

The picture at the top of this article may give you a clue as to the answer. Click on Read More when you're done fooling with this and wish to see the answer.

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Do you remember The Time Machine by H.G. Wells? There were movie adaptations but the novel remains an unmatched classic of the genre. But at The Checker Maven we have a time machine of our own; it lies in our modest collection of old checker books and magazines.

Today, let's go back in time 91 years, to March of 1925, and take a look at a checker problem published then, and attributed to problemist W.J. Wood. (By the way, it was Rex Wood, not W.J. Wood, who edited the famed magazine Wood's Checkerist.) Like many a problem published in that day, the purpose was to instruct as much as to provide clever entertainment.

There is a bit of flash in this one, but by and large, it's solved with old-fashioned over the board playing skill. Can you go back in time and show your chops? Time's passing; find the solution and then clock your mouse on Read More to see the solution.

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Today we at last present the final chapter in our ongoing story. It's a long installment, and if you're just interested in the checker problem you can page down to the bottom. But of course, we hope you'll want to see how the story turns out!

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Samantha asked. Even with the heater going full blast, it was chilly in the rental car. It was well past midnight and Andrew and Samantha were on their way back to Lindyville.

"I have an idea," Andrew replied, "that's all."

"And based on your brilliant, super-secret 'idea' we're driving on cold and lonely country roads at one in the morning, with a car full of burglary tools?"

"They're not burglary tools," Andrew said. "At least, not exactly."

"Well, now I feel better," Samantha said, and then turned silent, wrapping her arms around herself and staring out the passenger window, which by now was so fogged up nothing was visible.

They were approaching Lindyville. "Can you check the GPS for me?" Andrew said. "We need to find the exact location I wrote down."

Samantha grunted. But she did turn on Andrew's special scientific GPS and glanced at the coordinates Andrew had written on a sheet of hotel stationary. Samantha brushed away the remains of a small insect that was stuck to the paper. "Turn left at the dead bug," she said.

"What? Yeah, guess that paper was in the desk drawer for a while, huh?" Andrew attempted a grin. "C'mon, honey, help me track to those coordinates."

"Oh, well," Samantha said as Andrew turned into Lindyville's main street. "Hold on --- I think we're almost there. Let's see, 42 degrees 6 minutes 7 seconds north, and 94 degrees 32 minutes 52 seconds west, yes, coming right up!"

Andrew slowed the car to a stop. "It's right across the street, I think," he said. "The GPS is only accurate to 10 to 50 feet, but this just has to be it."

"There's nothing there but an old bank that looks like it's been out of business forever," Samantha said. Andrew had rolled down his window so they could both see out.

"Perfect," Andrew said. "This makes perfect sense."

"Maybe to you," Samantha said. "You still don't care to explain?"

"Come on, hurry. We've got to get those tools out of the trunk."

Samantha paused a minute. "Andrew, we're not going to do what I think we are --- are we?"

"Yes, dear, we are. We need to break into that bank."

"I just know we'll end up in jail," Samantha said. She was carrying the pickaxe and sledgehammer while Andrew was laden down with the rest of the tools. "I don't know why I'm doing this."

"Don't you want to solve the mystery?"

"Yes, but it isn't worth doing five to ten for breaking and entering."

They moved quickly. Andrew had pulled the car into an alley, out of sight from the main street. The alley lead around to the back of the bank.

"Aren't banks kind of hard to break into?" Samantha asked.

"They are, but this one has been closed for years, and there won't be any alarms or anything. Probably the locks are old and rusty. Or we can just break some glass windows or something."

"You're not very good at this sort of thing, are you?"

"No experience," Andrew simply replied.

They turned the corner out of the alley.

"That's funny," Andrew said.

"Just what about this is funny?" Samantha asked.

"Don't you see? There's a faint light coming from the basement.

Samantha peered toward the bottom of the building. There was a bit of a yellow glow coming through some cracks in the foundation.

"I wonder ... I bet .... look! The back door's open a crack!"

There was a heavy metal fire door at the back of the old bank, and it was open about two or three inches.

"Someone's down there," Andrew observed. "Probably still is. That can't be an electric light; the power to the building would be turned off, if it was even still working at all. We'd better be quiet and cautious."

"Maybe we'd better get out of here instead," Samantha said, but she knew Andrew wouldn't listen.

Andrew needed both hands to pull open the heavy door, and it made an ominously loud creak as it moved.

"Andrew, let's go!" Samantha said. But Andrew was already through the door, motioning for Samantha to follow.

Just inside the door there was an old stairwell leading to the basement. The stairs were wood and looked rotted. Andrew pointed to the steps, as if to say, be careful.

There was just enough light coming from the basement that Andrew decided not to use his flashlight and possibly alert whoever was down there. He took a couple of cautious steps. Samantha followed behind.

Suddenly there was a loud crunch and a yelp as Samantha's foot broke through one of the steps.

"Ssh," Andrew said, rather loudly.

"But I ... " Samantha began.

"Who's there?" came a voice from the bottom of the stairs. A flashlight beam caught Anthony and Samantha in its glare.

"Hold it right there!" the voice commanded. "I have a gun and I won't hesitate to use it!"

Samantha gasped. Neither she nor Andrew could see anything past the brightness of the flashlight, but they froze in place.

"Now come down here slowly. No quick moves."

Samantha and Andrew did as they were told.

"Into that room." There was a room at the bottom of the staircase, illuminated by an electric lantern. "Drop all your tools and step away."

The tools clattered to the floor. Andrew and Samantha backed up to the adjacent wall.

"It's ... you!" Samantha said, as the figure behind the voice stepped into the lantern light. "Miss Victor!"

It was indeed. The librarian, dressed in dirty coveralls, had a .45 automatic in her right hand and it was trained on the hapless couple.

"You!" Miss Victor replied in turn. "The troublemaker that stole my book! I should have known!"

Andrew started to edge forward, but Miss Victor was too alert. The gun turned in his direction. "Another inch and you're dead," she said through clenched teeth. "Maybe you're dead anyway. Both of you."

Andrew glanced toward the far wall. There was another pickaxe and a sledgehammer there, and a wide hole in the concrete floor.

"I was right," he muttered. "You're trying to find the gold bars, aren't you, Miss Victor?"

"How did you know about that?" Miss Victor couldn't hide her astonishment.

"Once I saw the checker book, it wasn't hard," Andrew said, trying to maintain a calm and even tone. He had to keep her talking, although he didn't really have any sort of escape plan.

"You see, I knew about the gold robbery way back when. The gold bars were never found, and they were very heavy. So they had to have been left somewhere. Then there was the murder later on ... and the pieces started to come together."

"Go on," Miss Victor said.

"You already know, of course," Andrew said. "Whoever left the gold probably buried it somewhere, and it had to be near here. He would have come back to get it later. It was surely a gang member who had killed his accomplices. That would explain all the bodies that the posse found. But then I realized another man from the gang might have gotten away, and come looking for the traitor later on.

"But in the meantime, Lindyville sprung up. It grew fast. And this bank was built. Right over where the gold was buried. Then the gang member returned, using the alias Cudworth, seeking the gold. He must have made a note of where he buried it, but it wouldn't be safe to leave such an incriminating note lying around. So he encoded the latitude and longitude into his little checker problem book, and he did it in a clever way. I'm surprised you know Gould's Problem Book, Miss Victor."

"I'm not stupid," Miss Victor said. "I'm a librarian, remember?"

"Yes. So you also realized that the problems in Cudworth's book weren't original. They were taken from Gould's. The problem numbers from Gould's spell out the latitude and longitude of where the gold is buried. Problem 42--- 42 degrees. Problem 6--- 6 minutes. And so on. Right under the bank. A nasty surprise for Cudworth. But before he could come up with a way to get at his loot, a surviving gang member must have found Cudworth and killed him, and then tore up the checker club office trying to find some indication of where Cudworth concealed the gold. The killer never realized that the location was encoded in Cudworth's innocent-looking checker problem book. But you worked it out, didn't you?"

"Yep," Miss Victor said. I worked it out a while ago. It's taken me that long to break through the foundation and dig down, a little every night so I wouldn't be caught. I had to dig around a lot but I finally found the gold bars. I was going to start taking them out tonight. But then you two showed up."

Miss Victor paused and breathed heavily. "Well, you ain't going to stop me. I'm going to kill you both and bury you right where the gold is. Then I'm outta here and off to South America. I'm done with this two-bit town and my two-bit librarian's pay. I'm gonna live it up real good."

"How come your English is so bad?" Samantha asked suddenly. "For a librarian, I mean. You sound like someone who didn't even finish high school. South America? Hah! I'll bet your Spanish is even worse."

"Watch your mouth, girl, or I'll finish you off first!" Miss Victor waved the gun around wildly. She was starting to sweat and looked nervous. Andrew sensed that this was his chance.

Making sure Samantha was shielded behind his body, Andrew charged at Miss Victor.

A shot rang out. There was a scream.

The gun dropped from Miss Victor's hand. A shocked spread across her face as she dropped to the floor.

"No one move!" It was a commanding male voice from the entrance to the room.

A large man in a sheriff's uniform was there, holding his smoking service revolver at the ready.

"I'm Sheriff Corman. Looks like I might have saved you two. But you're under arrest just the same. Unless you'd care to tell me what in blazes is going on here?"

Andrew and Samantha were in the little building that served as the Lindyville Sheriff's Office for the rest of the night, explaining everything over and over again. Finally Sheriff Corman said, "This is way too crazy for it to be a lie. And Miss Victor was holding a gun on you. Lucky I got there when I did."

"How did you know to go there?" Samantha asked. She rubbed her eyes. It had been a long, long day and night.

"One of the good citizens of Lindyville called me. They saw your rental car pull in by the old bank. They thought you were, you know, kind of suspicious. So I checked it out. I found the back door open and smelled trouble. Like I said, lucky for you. I think that old bat would have killed you both. Never did like her much. Always putting on airs just because she ran the library."

"How is she?" Samantha interrupted. "Miss Victor, I mean."

"Oh, she'll live," the Sheriff said. "Long enough to go to jail. I only shot her in the shoulder."

"Er ... what about us?" Anthony asked. He tried to make it sound innocent.

"I should lock you both up for breaking and entering," Corman said. "But I won't, if you promise to get out of town and not come back. We don't need outside agitators giving Lindyville a bad name."

Andrew didn't say anything about what the newspapers were going to make out of the story, unless the Sheriff found a way to keep it quiet. "Sure, Sheriff, if it's okay with you, we're out of here."

"Miss Victor already confessed. You won't have to testify or anything. Just as well. Now, skedaddle!"

Andrew and Samantha didn't need to be told twice.

They were at the Des Moines airport, waiting for the commuter flight to take them out of Iowa. "There's only one loose end," Andrew said idly.

"What's that?" Samantha asked. "Do I really want to know?"

"There were seven problems in Cudworth's book, not six. It only took six numbers to give the latitude and longitude of where he buried the gold. What was the seventh number, from the seventh problem?"

"I bet it was the number of gold bars he buried," Samantha said. "He'd want to make sure they were all there. What else would it be?"

Andrew smiled and put his arm around Samantha's shoulders. "Brilliant," he said, "brilliant. Problem 80--- 80 gold bars." He pulled her a little closer. "I really owe you, don't I?" he asked. "Not just for your help, but for putting your life in danger."

"You sure do owe me," Samantha said. "And I plan to collect." Samantha gestured with the ring finger of her left hand.

Andrew, surprisingly, wasn't surprised. "Anything you want, dear," he said. "Anything at all."

---

And now, here's the final problem in the series. You already know the secret, but please try it out instead of just looking it up. In any case, it's not very difficult.

We'll also leave you with this additional teaser. If the 80 gold bars that Miss Victor was trying to recover had been of standard gold bar size, what would they be worth today?

When you've struck gold, click on Read More to verify your solutions.

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We've written about Julius D'Orio before; his book, Mysteries of Dama, is as entertaining and unusual a checker book as can ever be found. Mr. D'Orio is indeed something of a "Dr. Strange" character, but is he a master of the mystic arts? Can checker lore be ascribed to such a domain?

We can't give a definitive answer to that question, but we can say that today's Checker School lesson, taken from Ben Boland's Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers, features the colorful Mr. D'Orio once again.

The problem position is indeed intriguing.

White, a man down, can still win. But how? What is the mystical series of moves that allows White to defeat the odds and bring home a victory?

Incantations are not necessary, just solid over the board skills. Give it a try and then wave your magic mouse on Read More to see the solution, notes, and a very instructive sample game.

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We're trying something a little different today; it's a "speed" problem with a much longer timing than usual, because the solution, while short and clever, may not be immediately obvious. We owe this one to regular contributor Josh Gordon of Toronto (that's definitely not Josh in the photo above).

We'll give you a full minute to solve it. Of course, master players won't need anything like that long, but ... well, we won't give it away. Click on the link below to display the problem and start the clock, then come back and click on Read More to see the solution.

March 2016 Timed Problem (medium difficulty)

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No, we're not presenting a public service safety announcement this week, although the lesson above is obvious. Instead, we're presenting a "shocker" of the checkerboard kind.

Problems with "dual" solutions, that is, more than one way to solve them, are in general not considered aesthetically pleasing, and are usually disqualified in problem composition contests. But in actual play, a selection of feasible lines of play is a frequent occurrence.

In the problem below, Black's best move is indeed a shocker, and we're certain the composer intended that to be the sole solution. But there is a shocker in here for the problem composer as well, in the form of an unanticipated and rather mundane alternate solution.

Give yourself full credit for finding either solution, and an A+ for finding both. When you've solved it, zap your mouse on Read More to get a charge out of the full solution.

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The Single Corner opening with 11-15, 22-18 is very popular and full of interesting play, but sometimes a seemingly reasonable and natural looking move will singe a player's fingers, so to speak. We'll look at one such situation in today's original study.

To set the scene, here's the run-up, without commentary.

1.	11-15	22-18
2.	15x22	25x18
3.	9-14	18x9
4.	5x14	29-25
5.	8-11	25-22
6.	10-15	22-17
7.	4-8	17x10
8.	7x14	23-18
9.	15x22	26x10
10.	6x15	24-19
11.	15x24	28x19
12.	2-6	32-28
13.	11-15	19x10
14.	6x15	21-17
15.	12-16	28-24

Here's the position as it now stands.

White should have played 17-14 but didn't, and it's a win for Black, but how? Could you have drawn with White had you played 17-14? Black still would have an edge and the draw is not easy.

So we've burned the candle at both ends, and left you with two problems. Show the Black win after White's 28-24, and show how White could have made a draw with 17-14.

Too much? Burned out? Set your mouse aflame on Read More to see the solution and explanatory notes.

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Samantha was outside the library, waiting for Andrew to arrive. “Come, on, come on, before she realizes ...”

Thirteen long minutes passed before Andrew pulled up to the curb. Samantha tore open the passenger door and scrambled into the car.

"Go! Now! Quick!" she said as she swung the door shut behind her.

"What's going on ..."

"Go! Go! NOW!" Samantha said frantically.

Andrew pulled quickly away from the curb and drove down the street.

"Faster!" Samantha said, turning to look out the back window. "She'll be at the door any second now ... there she is! Turn the car, get it out of sight!"

Andrew made a quick right turn into the nearest side street and continued driving. Samantha let out a breath and turned back around to face forward again.

"Whew! That was close!" she said.

Andrew turned back on to the main street, driving in the direction of the highway back to Lake City. "Would you mind explaining?"

"It's complicated, but I think I found something. And we better leave town right away."

"We're on our way," Andrew said. "It's an hour back to Lake City. Plenty of time to explain, even if it's complicated."

# # #

On the drive back, Samantha told Andrew about Miss Victor's extreme unfriendliness, and about the book of checker problems Samantha had found on a shelf in the library.

"A copy, you say," Andrew said. "Not the original."

"Right, a photocopy."

"Then the original is somewhere else, or missing altogether. Maybe it's archived due to its age. Or maybe ..."

"What?"

"Never mind. I need to have a look at it when we get back to the hotel. But I can't believe you stole it from the library!"

Samantha smiled and put her hand on Andrew's shoulder. "I'm just full of surprises," she said.

# # #

They were back in their Lake City hotel in the early afternoon. Both of them were hungry, and even though Andrew was itching to have a look at Samantha's "acquisition" she insisted that they eat lunch first.

"Chicken fried steak," Samantha said. "My stomach may never recover from this trip. When we get back to Albuquerque, I think I'm going to make you take me back to the Cattleman's Club."

Andrew groaned. "On a professor's salary?" he asked. "That's kind of a once a year thing."

"All right, then, I'll settle for Sadie's, but it will have to be twice."

Andrew nodded, his mind clearly elsewhere.

They were in their hotel room, and Samantha had just handed him "Cudworth's Checker Problems." Andrew was at the room's little table, minutely examining the photocopy.

"What should I do while you're, um, busy?" Samantha asked. She knew Andrew would probably spend hours with the stolen book.

"Umm ... go shopping or something," Andrew replied absently.

"Sure, since I've already toured the sausage factory, I might as well check out the couture at the Lake City General Store."

"Oh, there must be something," Andrew said.

"Right, well, I'll go find myself a nice hardware store or something. See you later." Samantha grabbed the rental car keys and was out the door.

Andrew didn't pay any attention.

# # #

Two hours passed, Andrew spending all of it looking at the slim book of checker problems. Something was familiar, but he couldn't place it. He went over and over the book, trying to make the connection, without success.

The book contained only seven problems, written out in an old-fashioned style with hand-drawn diagrams.

"These aren't original problems," Andrew muttered. "I know they're not, but ..."

Just then the door opened and Samantha came in, carrying a very large shopping bag.

"You won't believe what I found here," Samantha started to say, when all of a sudden Andrew looked up and shouted, "That's it!"

Samantha, taken aback, dropped her heavy bag. "What on earth do you mean?" she said. "I go to a quilt store and 'that's it'? What are you talking about?"

It finally registered in Andrew's mind that he had shouted his words at Samantha. "Oh, no, not you!" he said. "I mean I've got it!" He smiled, got up, and gave her a hug.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, hugging him back, rather tentatively.

"Well, I think I've got it," Andrew said. "I just have to check a couple of things on the internet. This hotel is supposed to have service, isn't it?"

"Don't you want to see our new quilt?" she asked. "I found ..."

"Yes, sure, honey, sure, right away, just as soon as ... now where did we put the laptop? We brought it with us, right?"

# # #

Samantha had folded, unfolded, and refolded her new quilt at least half a dozen times. Andrew hadn't even looked at it once.

"This internet connection is just too slow," Andrew said, probably for the tenth time. He had the stolen book opennext to the laptop and was scribbling notes on squares of paper from the little notepad he found on the hotel dresser.

About ten minutes later, he shouted, "That's it!"

"You said that before," Samantha said. "What's 'it' now?"

"I was right! I've got it!"

"You've got it? Well, I hope it's not catching. Now, can you please look at our new quilt?"

"Oh, yes, it's very nice, I love it," Andrew said. "But I knew there was something familiar about all this!"

"You've never been interested in quilts," Samantha said. "How could it be familiar?"

"No, the book! Cudworth's book! Don't you get it?"

"No. I don't. Tell me."

But Andrew was still talking. "We have to go back there."

"Back where?"

"Lindyville, where else? But it will have to be a night. Tonight. Yes, we'll go tonight. Late. Very late."

"We can't. We have a flight back in the morning. We have to be at the airport by eight."

"Change it. We'll go back Monday. This is too important. Can you take care of it? We'll call in sick or something. We can crack this case if we just go back to Lindyville, I know we can!"

Samantha looked like she would rather crack Andrew's head than the case, but she knew how he was. "I'll take care of it," she said. "Then let's go for dinner. We can give Waffle House one last chance, I suppose."

# # #

All through dinner, Andrew kept a resolute silence about his conclusions, merely saying, "You'll see, you'll see," and then consulting his notes over and over again.

"I wish we had a printer," he said. "We'll have to make do with my sketches." He produced another couple of squares of paper with untidy scrawls all over them."

Andrew paid the check. "Come on, we need to buy a couple of flashlights and a few tools," he said. "There must be a hardware store that's still open."

"Oh, there is," Samantha said, "believe me, I've seen every store in this town."

Half an hour later, the rental car's trunk was loaded with flashlights, batteries, a crowbar, a pickaxe, a bolt cutter, a hammer, and some large screwdrivers.

"Planning a break-in or something?" the checkout clerk had asked. Andrew had just glared while Samantha stared open-mouthed.

"Let's get an hour or two of sleep," Andrew said. "We'll be on the road by eleven and get to Lindyville by midnight."

"What on earth are we up to?" Samantha asked.

"You'll see, you'll see," Andrew kept repeating, all the way back to the hotel.

---

Have you figured it out yet? Perhaps this problem will solve the mystery for you.

The problem is of medium difficulty (or maybe not quite), but the solution is very appealing. See how you do and then click Read More to see the solution.

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The Checker Maven is in the midst of office renovations, and it's a stressful, difficult, and expensive time. We'll be shutting down our computers tonight (Monday, February 8, 2016) around 8 PM HST, and they'll be off for a couple of weeks. Never fear, The Checker Maven website will stay online and Saturday columns will appear on schedule. It's just that we might be a little slow in responding to email, as for the most part we'll be working out of the Hamilton Library on the University of Hawai`i Mānoa campus.

We'll be back as soon as we can!

We're always looking for entertaining and instructive speed problems. Unlike like the young racers above, our goal today isn't to cross the finish line first; it's to further develop our checker visualization skills, and one way to do that is with a good problem solved against the clock.

Regular contributors Josh and Lloyd Gordon of Toronto sent us a speed problem that is relatively easy, but quite surprisingly, it arose in actual over the board play. You'll see what we mean when you solve it.

Click on the link below to display the problem and start our unforgiving Javascript clock. Then come back and click on Read More to check your solution.

February 2016 Speed Problem (easy, 5 seconds)

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