I had missed a Saturday morning on Uncle Ben's porch, as last weekend he hadn't been feeling very well and told me he needed his rest. It wasn't very often that he canceled our lessons, and I was worried about his health, to tell the truth about it.

So, when I got home from school yesterday, you can imagine how pleased I was to hear that Uncle Ben had called and left word with Mom that he'd be delighted to have me make my regular Saturday visit this week. Of course, Mom fussed and bothered, saying that I shouldn't annoy the kindly gentleman when he was just getting to feeling a bit better, but she relented when I said that he might be a bit disappointed if I didn't show up. Still, she insisted that I take a plate of home-baked chocolate chip cookies along with me, and warned me not to be eating them on the way over!

I skipped down the sidewalk as fast as I could, given the heaping plate of cookies I was carrying, and soon arrived at the old familiar porch. There was Uncle Ben, looking chipper and pleased, with his trademark pitcher of lemonade looking icy and inviting. The checker board was ready, too. We exchanged good-mornings and how-are-yous, and I sat down in my usual place.

"I've got some good ones for you today," Uncle Ben declared, "but don't you think we ought to have some cookies and lemonade first, to get our brains working?"

I pointed out that Mom had told me quite clearly not to eat the cookies and that they were to be saved for Uncle Ben, but Uncle Ben just winked at me and said, "You just tell your Mom that I insisted!" That was good enough for me, and we each had several cookies and a tall glass of lemonade, quietly enjoying the calm Florida morning.

"All right then, to work!" exclaimed Uncle Ben. "How would you go about winning this one?" He indicated the position on the checkerboard with a wave of his cookie-laden hand, and then he gave me that smile--- the one that always told me that this wasn't going to be easy, but that I could get the answer if I tried hard enough.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W13,17,18,31,32:B6,9,10,16,20.

Uncle Ben's Porch is a fanciful and fictional characterization of the retirement years of the great checker author Ben Boland, with positions drawn from his classic Familiar Themes in the Game of Checkers. You're going to have to come up with your own cookies and lemonade, but clicking on Read More will give you the solution to this problem, a complete sample game demonstrating the theme, and a round dozen diagrammed positions and solutions based on the same motif.

For better or worse, today's Checker School episode isn't about a three-decker cheeseburger put out by a fast food establishment. Instead, it's a triple-decker set of positions by J. B. Macindoe, a fascinating progressive endgame study.

First, try the original:

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W24,20,19,17,13,K3:B12,K11,10,9,6,5.

If you are really good and you got it right, you went to this second configuration at some point:

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:WK28,20,15:BK6,K5,K2.

And if you stayed on track (a bit easier this time), you came up with the following third situation:

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W20,K19,K3:BK11,K10,K6.

We suggest that in solving the problem, you start with the first diagram; if that's (as we expect) a tough piece of meat, try the second diagram; and if you can't slice that particular piece of cheese, see if you can shred the lettuce in the third diagram. But to digest the solutions, no secret recipes are needed; clicking on Read More will serve up the answers.

What can be better than first? You'll know the answer when you solve this delightful miniature by R. Holding.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W31,19:BK4,2.

Can you finish "better than first"? Win the prize by clicking on Read More for the solution and a more detailed explanation of today's theme. (As with most miniatures, we recommend you try to "sight solve" without moving pieces on a board, as a way to develop visualization skills.)

This month's installment from Willie Ryan's Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard is appropriately named; we think you'll see why when you study the problem. But as usual, we'll hear directly from the great Mr. Ryan, in his own words.

'So many innocents have been lured to destruction by this hoary variation of the Fife opening that it has been appropriately tagged "The Pied Piper's Special."

11-15 23-19 9-14 22-17 5-9---A 26-23 9-13 30-26 13-22 25-9 6-13 21-17---B 13-22 26-17 2-6 29-25, forming the diagram.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W32,31,28,27,25,24,23,19,17:B15,12,10,8,7,6,4,3,1.

A---The Fife opening, developed and first played by James Wyllie.
B---The losing move. The correct moves here are: 29-25, 8-11, 25-22, 4-8, 22-17, 13-22, 26-17, 2-6; at this point 24-20, 17-14, or 17-13 will produce a draw.'

The winning path is a bit long this time, but don't be led away by the sound of the Pied Piper's fife; clicking on Read More will break the spell and bring you Willie's solution.

Normally, on the first Saturday of the month we present one or more "speed" problems, in which you get to race against our unforgiving Javascript clock. We're going to break the routine this month, and from time to time in the future, to present a "stroke" problem instead.

Our large and varied readership, predictably, has large and varied tastes. Some people love speed problems, while others don't; and the same is true of stroke problems, hard problems and easy problems, and on and on.

Presenting variety, and something for everyone at least from time to time, are our goals in presenting our weekly column. So, let's mix things up with a stroke problem that is without any doubt on the easier side.... after all, it's the beginning of March, and in the U.S. at least we'd best be thinking about working on income tax returns.... we do need a bit of a break from time to time.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:WK4,K14,23,24,26:B8,11,15,16,28,K30.

By all means, don't stroke out if you can't find the solution! Instead, click on Read More for instant relief.

The American Checker Federation and GoldToken have announced the signing of a contract agreement which will make GoldToken the official ACF online checker play site. Under the terms of the contract, GoldToken will provide a wide-ranging set of checker-play enhancements to their site.

GoldToken was chosen by the ACF via a rigorous competitive bidding process. Potential bidders were pre-qualified and those who passed the first screening were sent a detailed set of bid specifications. The responses were evaluated and GoldToken emerged as the top bidder. Contract negotiations proved successful and contract signing was completed a little over a week ago.

The exact contract terms and conditions contain vendor proprietary information, so we're not allowed to give all the details here. But we can tell you that GoldToken will be adding a lot of checker-related improvements and additions to their site in the coming months. Completion of this work is expected in six to twelve months, and we know we'll find the wait practically unbearable--- but definitely worth it.

The Checker Maven was subject to another cyberattack: our checker postcard site was mildly defaced. It seems that, unknown to us, the postcard software we use had a certain flaw which allowed a type of attack called "SQL injection." We won't bore you with all the technical details; suffice it to say that we've restored the site to normal and patched up our software to hopefully avoid such problems in the future.

More importantly, we do need to (someday!) redo our postcard site. While we think it's a great feature, it relies on the postcard recipient clicking on a link to our site to see their postcard. Unfortunately in today's world, clicking on links to sites that are unfamiliar (and we admit that not quite everyone knows about our site, at least not yet!) can be very risky. So when we redo the site, we'll provide a postcard mechanism that won't require anything more than opening your email.

Today we bring you a checker problem that's a little bit easier than some others; it's called "The Ace in the Hole" and is by E. A. Jones. It's really more in the nature of a study or a lesson.

In the position below, forces are even, but the Black king seriously threatens the two White men. To get a draw, White will indeed need an "ace in the hole." If you were a betting person, which side would you take?

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:WK3,17,22:B1,5,K30.

Find out for yourself by solving the problem; is there an Ace in the hole or just a losing low card? A sure bet, though, is clicking on Read More; that's guaranteed to bring you the answers.

Preparing articles for our ongoing Checker School series is something we find fascinating, if a bit time-consuming; the hours rush by almost unnoticed. We first find an interesting classic position, usually, as is the case today, from Boland's Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers. Then we work through the position, games, and notes, knowing that if we ourselves can understand the play, the average checkerist will easily do so as well. Finally we check the solutions with the computer--- interesting discoveries are often made that way--- and add our own explanatory notes, amplifying on those things which Mr. Boland found obvious but we, with our far lesser skills, did not.

The offering below is one of those in which you really must read "the fine print" to benefit fully. Mr. Boland's notes were a bit less complete than usual, and there is much worthwhile play and answers to puzzling questions in the variants and branches. Let's look at the problem:

E. McMILLAN
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W29,14,K2:B8,5,1.

White clearly has the upper hand, but how to stop the Black man on 8 from crowning and evening things up--- without releasing the men in the double corner? Finesses abound in this position and it takes precise play to gain the win.

Solve it yourself, and then be sure to read the fine print, easily accessible by clicking on Read More.

It's been said that practically no one has made a living at checkers, and those few that did found that living to be pretty slim.

We're not saying that this has all changed now, but thanks to the great generosity of an anonymous donor, Big Money has come to youth checkers!

This year's Arther Niederhoffer Youth Tournament, to be held in Las Vegas at the Plaza Hotel on July 21 and 22, offers a five thousand dollar first prize to the winner of the top section. That's no misprint; the top prize is five thousand dollars in the "Expert Youth" group, intended for ages 16-21. Clocks will be used and games recorded, just like they do uptown.

If you're in the age range listed and have what it takes (or you know someone who qualifies), you won't want to miss this incredible event, with a cash prize the likes of which youth checkers has never seen.

More information can be found on the American Checker Federation website.