Early August certainly is thunderstorm season in the Santa Fe, New Mexico area, where one of our Checker Maven editorial offices is located, and strokes of the electrical variety are very common. But today we return to a different kind of stroke, that of the checker variety, and a complex problem that will either please or annoy depending on your skills and predilections. Here's the situation; you will need excellent visualization skills and a good imagination to sight-solve this one.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:WK2,K5,K7,9,11,12,19,20,24:B1,4,10,13,K14,25,26,K27,K29.

No doubt you will get a charge out of the solution, if you don't actually find it shocking; but we can, as always, state that it is safe to click on Read More to see the electrifying solution.

Solution

20-16 27x20 19-15 10x19 7-10 14x7 2-6 1x10 11x2 20x11 2-7 11x2 12-8 4x11 9-6 2x9 5x21---1 13-17---2 21x14 29-25 14-18 White Wins.

1---A bolt of lightning if there ever was one.

2---Or 29-25 21-30 13-17 30-26 17-21 26-30 White Wins.