The Checker Maven

Hopeless

Sometimes we feel like we've reached the end of our rope and there is just no hope and nothing can be done any longer. It happens to us all at times, and then we need to draw on whatever internal and external resources we have at hand, and try to pull ourselves back up.

Consider our heroine above, who wishes things could have begun differently, and presumably led to a different outcome. Surely, she must have been referring to a game of checkers in which she misplayed a difficult 3-move ballot. Well, cheer up, young lady, you can always play another game and improve on your results.

This week's problem selection certainly belongs to the seemingly "hopeless" category. Consider the position below.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W7,12,24,30:B4,5,9,22,K29.

White is down a man and looks to be in rather bad shape. Is it truly hopeless? Should White just throw in the towel and resign?

This problem is an object lesson in the wisdom of the old adage, "Never give up hope." In fact, White can get a draw if he maintains his courage and composure. Can you find the right moves? Hope springs eternal! When you're satisfied with your answer, click on Read More to see the solution.

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10/31/09 -Printer friendly version-
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X the Unknown

Wouldn't it be nice if, during one of our games, it was our turn to play and suddenly a sign flashed, "Black to Play and Win"? We'd then know to look extra hard for that winning move, and we'd have a good chance of actually finding it.

But real life is not so user-friendly. There are no flashing signs telling us what to do next. If there's a win on the board, we have to both know it's there and find it. Every position is an "X the Unknown" to be solved on our own.

That's why problems with terms like "White to Play, What Result?" are at once frustrating and practical. Frustrating, in that we'd at least like an idea about what we're supposed to do. But practical, in that they mirror the real world of cross-board play, with an unknown result awaiting us at each and every move.

Today's problem is taken from the real world of master play, from a long-ago cross-board game. Can you discern the result and find the right line of play? We're offering you no further information. Here's the position.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play, What Result?

W:W32,31,25,11,K3:B23,18,13,4,2.

Can you master the unknown, or will you be X-ed out? When you've worked your way through, though, it's no unknown that clicking on Read More will show you the solution.

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10/24/09 -Printer friendly version-
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Tonkin

Tonkin is what the French called the northern sector of Viet Nam, during the years of French occupation of that Asian nation. They derived Tonkin from the Vietnamese term Đông Kinh, which actually means "Eastern City" (not northern), and is also an old name for the Vietnamese capitol city, Ha Noi. Đông Kinh additionally is used to refer to the cities of Tokyo and Beijing. We found that the Internet contains a fair amount of incorrect information about the name Tonkin, so we hope we have set the record straight, at least to some degree.

Of course, while The Checker Maven's excellent and erudite Research Department is always anxious to impart collateral learning such as this, today's column really is about checkers, as we present another lesson in our Checker School series, a position, unsurprisingly, credited to a certain H. Tonkin. We don't know anything about Mr. Tonkin, but we're convinced that he didn't come from Ha Noi, though his origin might well have been in an eastern region of some other nation. The setting is a very practical endgame, and for a change in this series you'll find the solution is neither long nor especially difficult.

H. TONKIN
WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W21,17,10:BK26,14,2.

Whether you're from the east or the north, or for that matter, somewhere else, work out the solution and then travel to Read More để xem các giải đáp cho bài (to see the solution to the problem), notes, and a sample game.

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10/17/09 -Printer friendly version-
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A Double Boomerang

We usually think of Australia in conjunction with the boomerang, which in turn we usually think of as a device which, when thrown, will tend to return to the thrower after describing an extended aerial arc. Of course, that's the usual public over-simplification, but it is known that boomerangs were used in Australia at least ten thousand years ago. A boomerang is actually a rotating wing, and it's an example of a "heavier than air" aerial device; you might even think of it as a very distant forerunner of the airplane.

But if you want to know all about aerial boomerangs, we'll direct you elsewhere. Today's Checker Maven column, in our series taken from Willie Ryan's Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard, is about a boomerang of a different sort. Yes, indeed, checkers has its own variety of boomerang, though it doesn't have an Australian history. Willie will explain below.

"As the name implies, a boomerang shot defines a situation wherein the first player, in executing a shot, uncovers a counterstroke for the second player. Such examples are fairly common, but double boomerangs, in which the mechanical process of a straight or single boomerang occurs twice in succession, are so rare they are considered oddities. The following game illustrates one of the very few practical double boomerangs, in which 16 pieces are removed from play in a hectic series of doubles and triples.


9-13 5-9---A 6-10
23-19 29-25 28-24
11-15 10-14 1-5---B, 1
22-18 27-23 32-28
15-22 8-11 3-8 to the
25-18 24-20 diagram.
BLACK

WHITE
White Plays; Black Draws

W:W31,30,28,26,25,24,23,21,20,19,18:B14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,5,4,2.

A---Here is an old shot that Alfred Jordan used with stunning effect in his exhibition play, when handling the white pieces: 7-11, 19-15, 10-19, 24-15, 6-9, 26-23, 1-6, 29-25, 12-16, 31-26, 3-7, 28-24; at this position, 8-12 or 16-20 will produce the draw, but 16-19, 23-16, 11-20 will be smashed by 25-22, 9-14 (nothing better), 18-9, 5-14, 27-23*, 20-27, 15-10, 6-15, 23-18, 14-23, 26-3, a double exposure, and white wins.

B---This leads to a hazardous ending. Better play would be: 3-8, 25-22, 1-5, 32-28, 11-15, 18-11, 8-15, 19-16, 12-19, 23-16, 14-17, 21-14, 9-25, 30-21, 13-17, 21-14, 10-17, 26-23, etc., for a draw."

1---Here's the difference between human and computer analysis. The computer actually favors the text move, 1-5, by a slim margin; but the computer doesn't take into account how difficult it might be to thread your way through the ensuing ending, which Willie rightly characterizes as "hazardous." For a human player, trying to find the right moves over the board with the clock ticking, Willie's idea of playing 3-8 instead makes a lot of sense.

We're not sure if this is really a problem or an exercise; it's more in the nature of a study. In any case, decide how you would play this out, and then, click on Read More to circle around to Willie's high-flying line of play.

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10/10/09 -Printer friendly version-
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The Leaves Fall Quickly in the Fall

How fast do the leaves fall in the Fall? It seems like the season is all too brief. There is a short period of spectacular color and then, suddenly, it's over, and in much of North America we're left with nothing but a big raking and cleanup task.

For our October speed problem, we've chosen to mimic the season by presenting a problem which goes by pretty quickly. One minute the clock starts, and then, seemingly in seconds (actually it is in seconds), time is up.

Of course this means that the problem is in the easy category (and we've seen problems like this before), so we'll expect you to solve it in 15 seconds. When you're ready, let your mouse fall on the link below.

October Speed Problem (easy; 15 seconds)

To drop down to the solution, simply flutter over to Read More.

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10/03/09 -Printer friendly version-
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