In previous stories about the Beacon Cafe, with its setting in 1955 Bismarck, North Dakota, we've explained about both the spring and fall seasons and the absolute requirement to rake your yard. In the spring, that's done on the first weekend of April, no matter if snow is still on the ground. In the fall, the rule is a little less rigid, but it's usually the first weekend in October, after this cold-weather city has typically experienced its first hard frost.

There was no question about it. If you were a homeowner, you followed these rules if you didn't want to be known as a misfit, someone who didn't belong, or even something of a pariah, because if your lawn didn't look right, it affected the rest of the neighborhood.

Sal Westerman, whom we all know as the unofficial leader of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club, which met every Saturday afternoon at the Beacon Cafe with the exception of summer and holiday breaks, was a long-time Bismarck resident and understood how the town worked. When he was younger, he and his wife Sylvia, later joined by their daughter Joyce, were out there raking faithfully every spring and fall. But some years ago Joyce had moved away to Washington D.C. to join a law practice, and Sal and Sylvia were now elderly, so they hired out their yard raking to some ambitious and relatively younger ladies in the neighborhood.

Hiring someone to do your raking was acceptable, if marginally so. Doing it yourself was considered much more meritorious, but if you had an excuse, such as age or infirmity, people would nod their heads and understand, even if they felt it wasn't quite the same as getting out there and sweating. Of course, if you were younger (such as under 70) and capable (such as not terminally ill), hiring out the yardwork was considered the height of laziness. And not doing it at all--- maybe you need to move to a slum in a big city where you'd fit in better.

But "raking day" had taken place on the previous Saturday, which had turned out to be a slow day for the Coffee and Cake Checker Club, as many of the "boys" couldn't get their raking done before the 1 PM club start time. Now, the "boys" were, except for Young Blaine, all over 50 years of age, yet everyone other than Sal and Old Frank did their own yardwork.

Today, though, the attendance was much better. Dan, Delmer, Wayne, Larry, Louie the Flash and Young Blaine were all there in addition to Sal. Naturally the initial talk was about raking leaves the previous weekend.

Now, back in the day, leaves were raked and left on the curb for City pickup, though some rakers would create mulch piles and a few would haul the leaves to the landfill on their own. But another measure of merit was how big a leaf pile you created. Larger leaf piles were of course more highly esteemed than smaller ones.

Blaine said he and his newlywed wife Moira didn't have to rake as they weren't yet homeowners and were renting in an apartment building. However the building's owner offered Blaine a day's worth of pay to rake up the grounds, and Blaine and Moira gladly took it on. He mentioned the huge pile of leaves that he had loaded into the owner's pick-up truck to haul to the landfill. But the rest of the boys insisted that it didn't count because an apartment complex was larger than a house and besides, Blaine did it for hire.

Louie the Flash hemmed and hawed about his own efforts, mumbling about going to Fargo to visit yet another new girlfriend. "I raked her yard, does that count?" he asked. But the boys said they could hardly give any credit to out of town raking.

The raking one-upmanship contest went on for a little while longer when finally Sal intervened. "Boys, we're here for checkers! Now I'm sure you all--- or almost all--- did your jobs, and who had the biggest pile of leaves really isn't all that important. Let's just call it a draw and move on."

There was a tiny bit of grumbling, especially from Wayne, who had a big house and a big yard and thought he ought to have been the winner. But eventually there were nods of assent.

"Now, look," Sal said, "I have a problem for you that is quite thematic, and if you think raking leaves and the game of checkers aren't related, take a look at this.

Sal laid out the following position on a couple of the checkerboards which were on the tables in the big booths at the back of the Cafe.

"Well then, here's the idea. There are a lot of pieces on the board. Think of them as leaves and find a way to rake them all up! I'll give you, oh, forty-five minutes to solve it."

The proprietress of the Beacon Cafe, Deana, always knew when to speak up. A blue-ribbon baker, Deana sold the boys wonderful baked treats during their meetings. If the boys didn't solve Sal's problem, they would buy for Sal with some to take home for his wife; but if they solved it, Sal would buy for the group.

"I've got autumn leaf cookies today," Deana called out. "Freshly baked and from an old family recipe." As usual, Deana's timing--- and marketing--- were impeccable.

---

Are there any special rules about raking your yard, whether in spring or fall, in your community? Do you follow those rules or would you rather just play checkers? We know what our option would be! Regardless of your local situation, do try to "rake the leaves" in Sal's problem. Click on Read More to see the solution and the brief conclusion of our story. We're sorry, but you'll have to provide your own cookies.

[Read More]

The calendar had turned to September; Labor Day had come and gone, and that meant two things.

One was that the new season of the National Checker League (NCL) would get underway.

The other was that kids across the land were all back in school.

It so happens that these two events were connected, for it was the policy of the NCL to do some outreach in the schools during September, in the hopes of inspiring the scholastic checker clubs and players to seek bigger and better accomplishments.

Nearly everyone in the NCL took part, and that of course included Marvin J. Mavin, whom all regular readers know to be the superstar Captain of the Detroit Doublejumpers. Although Marvin liked working in the inner city with disadvantaged kids, this year he was assigned to an elite private school in the upper echelon Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Now, Marvin wasn't completely thrilled with this assignment, but he was a trooper and he would do his duty. On a Thursday, when the Doublejumpers had an off day, Marvin was in his study paging through a few books in order to select material for his upcoming lecture at Grosse Point Modern Thinkers' Academy. He thought the problem below would be a good one to illustrate some points about how to think in checkers--- the right thing for the Thinkers' Academy, he reasoned.

But before he could work on this idea any further, he noticed a pile of unopened mail on the side of his desk, where the butler must have left it at some point. (Marvin's wife, Priscilla, was a very highly paid CEO at the international conglomerate, Rust Belt Holdings; she and Marvin lived in a chic 5,000 square foot condo and had a part-time domestic staff.)

"Hope it ain't all bills," Marvin said, but then realized it couldn't be; all the bills went directly to Priscilla's private CPA. There was a certain amount of fan mail, forwarded from the Doublejumpers from among the thousands of letters Marvin received each week, some advertising that the butler decided not to discard, and so on. But what caught Marvin's eye was a letter from none other than the Grosse Pointe Modern Thinkers' Academy.

Marvin opened the envelope. Inside was a letter and a form with what seemed to be a return envelope. He read the letter first.

"Dear Mr. Mavin,

"Thank you for volunteering to give a lecture to the many checker enthusiasts at our school. However, given your reputation, we would like to avoid any difficulties, and so we ask you to first answer the questions on the attached sheet. Please answer fully and carefully. Upon receipt of your submission, our governing board will review your answers and decide if we wish to continue or withdraw our invitation to speak.

"Thank you in advance,

"Grosse Pointe Modern Thinkers' Academy Board of Governors."

Marvin was a bit non-plussed. "Hey, you didn't extend no invitation, I was volunteered," he said to himself, "and besides, what's this about my 'reputation' and stuff?"

He went on to read over the form, which contained the following.

---

Political Correctness Evaluation

1. Should dogs and cats have separate bathrooms?

2. Should ants with blue eyes be placed in a protected category?

3. Should critical cricket theory be taught in schools?

4. Should hiring take into account historical inequities in preferences for breakfast eggs?

5. Should non-politically correct people be permanently banished from civilization?

Submit your answers at your earliest convenience in the enclosed envelope.

Note: The Post Office will not deliver mail that is unstamped.

---

Marvin looked at the envelope. "Gotta provide my own stamp, even. Gee. I don't know about this. Those questions, I mean like who ever heard of blue eyed ants and stuff?"

Marvin decided to wait until Priscilla got home later that evening. He would talk it over with her.

Dinner was normally at about 8; Priscilla typically worked until 7 and was home around 7:30. After dinner, which was prepared by Priscilla's private chef and consisted of a Cobb salad, panko-crusted mahimahi, a medley of steamed fresh vegetables and Potatoes Anna, followed by a lemon sorbet, Marvin showed Priscilla the letter and the form. They were seated on Chesterfields in the living room with cups of freshly brewed Colombian coffee, flavored with just a touch of cardamom.

"Well, dear," Priscilla said, "it seems reasonable to me. After all they need to protect the kids from incorrect speech and unacceptable ideas. It's important to be politically correct and that should be learned at an early age. There are things that children need to learn that they must believe in, and support. Protecting blue-eyed ants is just one of them. Eliminating persistent and pervasive breakfast egg preference inequality is another. I'm sure you understand. You could say the same about critical cricket theory. Why, did you know ... "

"Aw, honey," Marvin broke in. "I don't know nothing about that kinda stuff. I, like, play professional checkers, and over the board there ain't no blue eyed ants or cricket theory or nothing. We just play the game and the best player wins. We keep it kinda simple. Everybody gets the same chance at winning, or losing, or whatever."

Priscilla folded her arms. That was a sure sign she was getting annoyed. "Well, dear, you can tell the school that and watch what happens. You'll get canceled ... and maybe even exiled from civilization!" She laughed. "I'm going to bed now. You do the right thing, okay, dear husband of mine?"

Priscilla headed off down the corridor towards their bedroom.

Marvin thought for a minute and then muttered, "Yup, do the right thing. That's what I'll do."

Marvin went into his study, carrying the letter and form, and tossed them into the antique 1910 Victor wastebasket.

To be concluded.

---

Marvin once again appears to be headed for some potential trouble. However we'll set that aside at least long enough for you to solve today's problem. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution, and tune in again next month for the story's conlusion.

[Read More]

Sal Westerman was whistling a happy tune on his way to the Beacon Cafe in Bismarck, North Dakota.

It was September, 1955 (it's eternally 1955 in these stories), and the weekend after Labor Day. That meant that Sal's Coffee and Cake Checker Club would resume its Saturday afternoon get-togethers after the Memorial Day to Labor Day summer break.

Summer in Bismarck was short and during that time everyone wanted to enjoy the long hours of daylight and the relief from cold weather. So nearly all of the usual activities paused. Sal of course enjoyed his summers, but he missed his club and was delighted that the "new season" was about to begin.

As expected, the turnout was large at this opening meeting. Most of the "boys" (all but one of whom were over 50 and some, like Sal, considerably so) were on hand; Delmer, Wayne, Larry, Dan, Ron, Louie the Flash, Young Blaine, Mike, and even seldom seen members Barry and Old Frank were all seated in two of the large booths at the back of the Cafe. With Sal, that made a near-record total of eleven.

Deana, the Cafe's proprietress and a blue-ribbon champion baker, couldn't have been more pleased. In anticipation she had baked several trays of everyone's favorite, walnut chocolate chip bars, and had brewed extra pots of coffee.

After the greetings were complete, the talk turned to summer activities. Wayne and Ron had spent the summer on their respective family farms. Delmer, Larry, and Barry had spent nearly every weekend fishing and camping. Dan and Mike had taken vacations out west and Dan managed to play in a checker tournament in breezy San Francisco. Old Frank stayed home working on his custom dollhouse sideline.

Of course Young Blaine had gotten married in June (as written about in a previous Checker Maven column). The boys tried to get Young Blaine to talk about his honeymoon with his new wife, Moira, but Blaine would only say that it was "nice." The new couple had taken the train to the East Coast and went on an Inland Waterway cruise.

Louie the Flash, though, allowed as how his summer hadn't been so great. "Hey wow man, it started out nice," he said, "with my new almost girlfriend in Fargo (see previous story). Man, I was so sure she was the one. But on about my third or fourth trip she told me sorry, but she found another guy who she said was 'more suitable.' Well, okay, I said, I'll find another girlfriend, been nice knowing you. Sorta."

The problem was, Louie admitted, that each new girlfriend didn't last more than a couple of weeks and before long summer was over and anyhow he was tired of driving the 200 miles each way to Fargo. Did he have a current girlfriend? the boys asked and Louie admitted that at the moment he was strictly on his own.

That elicited a certain amount of sympathy from the boys, but then again, they all knew Louie. He'd have another girlfriend soon, and another after that, and so on.

"Enough of this girlfriend business," Sal said. Admittedly he and his wife Sylvia had been married well over 40 years and it wasn't like Sal was exactly up to date on dating and girlfriends. "I have a nice little checker problem for all of you."

The boys nodded and expressed their assent. Indeed, it was time for some checkers, and the way it always worked was that if the boys could solve Sal's problem, he would buy the treats, but if they couldn't get it, the boys would buy for Sal and some for him to take home to Sylvia.

"I sure hope you don't get this one," Sal said good naturedly, "or I'll be buying a lot of treats."

He laid out the following position on a couple of the checkerboards and the boys set to work while Deana refilled their coffee mugs.

After about 45 minutes, Sal called time. Old Frank, speaking for the group, said, "We've got it."

---

Walnut chocoate chip bars sound really quite good, but unless you're living in Bismarck in our fictional 1955 world, you'll have to supply your own. What you can do is give the problem a good try. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution.

[Read More]

This year, Marvin was going to be ready.

Marvin J. Mavin, the superstar captain of the Detroit Doublejumpers in the National Checker League (NCL) had had problems in the past with training camp. The NCL season ran from September to May, with pre-seasons training camps held in August.

The Doublejumper training camp, as was the case with most of the NCL teams, was quite rigorous. It involved serious physical training as well as an intense regimen of checker study. Various coaches led sessions in problem solving, opening, endgames, mid-games, and so on. The hours were long and discipline was strict.

Marvin wasn't so good with discipline. He wasn't so good with strict, either, and he'd been in constant trouble at previous training camps. It had even led to his leaving the team briefly the previous year.

To be fair, there had been a series of over-zealous if not downright abusive coaches (see previous Checker Maven stories). The current Doublejumper coach, Baba Dudut, was a lot more fair minded, but he didn't have much of a liking for Marvin.

But Marvin had discussed matters with his wife, Priscilla Snelson, who was the high-powered CEO of the Rust Belt Holdings, a giant Detroit based conglomerate. Priscilla convinced Marvin to go to camp physically and mentally prepared, ready to follow the rules and do whatever was asked of him.

So it was with all this in mind that Marvin boarded the team bus in Detroit and rode with the team to the appropriately named Au Train, Michigan site of the Doublejumper training camp.

Au Train was in a beautiful area in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There were sparkling lakes, cool and quiet wooded areas, and the overall atmosphere was perfect for training.

Things went well for the first week or so, and even Baba Dudut himself remarked that Marvin seemed to be "a new man with a new attitude." Marvin did the morning runs without complaint, did extra laps when told to do so, and participated actively in all the training activities.

There was just one little problem. While the food was great, featuring plenty of fresh caught fish, locally sourced seasonal vegetables, and lots of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, there was a very strict rule against alcohol.

Now, if you've followed our stories over the years, you'll know that Marvin liked his beer. Certainly, he wasn't an alcoholic--- the team would never keep him on if he was--- but he did like a beer or maybe two once in while. And that's where the trouble began.

In the third week of the four weeks of training camp, all of the coaches needed to go to a special meeting at NCL headquarters in Ohio to hear about rule changes for the upcoming season. The idea was for them to be trained and then in turn train their players before camp ended. To make a long story short, the coaches would be away from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

The players were left on their own for that time period. The coaches left them work to do, including problem solving and a mini team tournament to play on Sunday. They then were expected to do problem solving on Monday morning. The regular schedule would resume on Monday afternoon with the return of the coaches.

Everything went fine until the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday at about four in the afternoon, when Marvin, as captain, spoke up.

"Like, hey guys, we've been working real hard and stuff, so like, you know, why don't we, like, take the bus into town and have steaks at the Blackstone?"

There were nods of agreement. Camp food was very good, but the team wouldn't mind a break and a change of pace.

Now, there was nothing wrong, so far, with any of this and once or twice in every year's camp session, the coaches did indeed take everyone into town.

So one of the camp attendants started up the bus and everyone boarded for the ride to the Blackstone. It was all good fun and soon the team (twelve in all; the two squads of five each and two utility players) was seated at a big round table and ordering their steak and shrimp dinners.

That's when Marvin said, 'Know what? Why don't we act up a little and get a couple of pitchers of beer?"

There were murmurs around the table. Beer certainly wasn't allowed. "Aw, c'mon guys, loosen up! A pitcher of beer ain't gonna hurt nothing!" Marvin signalled to the waitress. "Hey there young lady, we need about five pitchers of beer over here!"

The waitress smiled, happy to have the boys run up the bill. Soon thereafter five big pitchers of a local brew, U.P. Gold, arrived and the waitress started filling beer mugs.

Marvin led off with a toast to good times at camp. Pretty soon most of the players were following his lead--- he was captain, after all--- at first sipping and then taking larger quaffs of the really excellent beer.

Dinner came and with it more pitchers of beer. After a couple of hours it started to get a little rowdy but the beer kept on coming. Finally, around 10 PM when the restaurant was closing, the boys settled the bill. But by then they were pretty well inebriated.

They sang raucous songs for a while on the bus back to camp, but many of them were falling asleep. A lot of beer after a sustained abstinence didn't have exactly a positive effect.

Somehow they must have all stumbled into their cots. A few of them got sick on the floors of their cabins.

At around 11 the following morning, all the coaches returned to camp and the team members were still in their cots suffering from terrible hangovers.

The coaches were livid and none more so than Baba Dudut, the head coach. It didn't take him long to get the story; the bus driver parted with it willingly after being told his job could be on the line.

Baba Dudut filled a pail with cold water, went to Marvin's cabin, and proceeded to empty the bucket over Marvin's head as he lay in bed groaning in uneasy sleep.

Marvin woke, instantly sober.

"What have you got to say for yourself?" Coach asked.

"Uh, gee, Coach, whaddya mean?"

'WHAT DO I MEAN? YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN!"

By this time the other coaches had roused all the players.

"You're all going for a swim! On the double down to the lake!" Coach commanded.

Lake Au Train, even in August, is very cold, and today the water temperature was about 64F (18C). As the boys entered the water they started to shiver and a couple of them sicked up again. "Yeah, it's cold in there, better start swimming!" Coach yelled.

After about 15 minutes, the Problem Coach, Tom Riddleme, came to the lakefront with a big display board. He began to show checker problems on it.

"No one gets out of the water until all of Coach Riddleme's problems are solved!" Coach Baba Dudut exclaimed.

The team had to solve quite a few problems including the one below.

All told they were made to stay in the water for over an hour and after that tjey had to do laps around the lake until they were completely exhausted. The rest of the last week of training camp followed a similar pattern.

At one point Marvin was called to Coach's cabin and given the dressing down of his life.

"I'm fining everyone on the team $50,000 each," Coach said at one point. "But you, as the instigator, I'm fining $500,000 and you can take it or leave it. You'll also make a public apology to the coaches, the owners, and your teammates. If you do all that maybe I'll let you stay on as captain and not send you down for a year in Rookie League. And by the way if your teammates are angry with you, you can pay half of their fines for them."

Marvin knew better than to say anything. And he knew he had an even bigger problem--- how to explain all of this to Priscilla when he got back home.

---

Can you solve the problem above, which challenged the Doublejumpers? Could you solve it standing up to your neck in 64F water? Fortunately, you can solve it in comfort; see how it goes and then click on Read More to see the solution.

[Read More]

Editor's Note: Today's column is something of an experiment, and we expect many of our readers will find it quite esoteric and difficult, and indeed possibly rather annoying. Take on the full challenge if you wish, but do feel free to make liberal use of the "hint" buttons found at various points in the narrative.

---

The summer season in North Dakota is short, so as always Sal Westerman's Coffee and Cake Checker Club was on summer hiatus, which meant no Saturday afternoon get-togethers at the Beacon Cafe in the city of Bismarck. The club adjourned from just before Memorial Day until just after Labor Day as the members took vacations and spent time outdoors tending to their yards and gardens, going on weekend camping trips, and enjoying the brief respite from the cold weather that prevailed during the rest of the year.

This year Sal contemplated a very unusual vacation. His wife, Sylvia, planned on a week of shopping with her sister Phoebe, who lived about 90 miles west in Dickinson, North Dakota. They would travel together by train to Minneapolis and spend a week in what Sylvia called "gay abandon." Sal wasn't invited, nor did he wish to be, as he and Phoebe did not have what you might call a warm relationship.

Now, Sal, as one who greatly enjoyed intellectual pursuits such as checkers, was also a member of a couple of somewhat obscure groups. He had long belonged to the National Puzzlers Association (NPA), a group of enthusiasts who composed and solved word puzzles of many different types. He was also a member of the American Cryptogram Society (ACS), an interest that stemmed from his work during the previous World War.

It just so happened that this year, 1955, the NPA was having its annual convention in Greenfield, Massachusetts; and on the following day the ACS would be having their own convention in Philadephia, Pennsylvania. Sal was making plans to attend them both. He would take the train from Bismarck to Chicago, then another from Chicago to New York, still another from New York to Boston, and then a local train to Greenfield. After the NPA convention ended in the evening, he'd take late trains back to Boston, New York, and finally Philadelphia.

It would be a lot of tiring travel for someone of Sal's age (let's just say he had seen 70 a few years ago). Sylvia didn't know if it was such a good idea but Sal insisted. "I can sleep easily on trains," he said, "and it will all work out." Sal would be away for about a week and would be home just in time for the season's first meeting of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club.

So it was all arranged, except for one thing. Sal wanted to compose a puzzle for the conventions, and he wanted it to be a single puzzle that combined checkers, wordplay, and cryptography. That was a tall order, but after quite a few afternoons in his basement study and a couple of trips to the public library, Sal had prepared his problem and sent it off to both societies.

Finally it was departure day. It turned out that Phoebe and Sylvia were on the same morning train as Sal, but they did have seats in different cars. At the Minneapolis station stop, Sylvia came back and said goodbye to Sal, while Phoebe harrumphed about wasting time and money when most likely Sylvia's house needed painting, and besides, who was going to mow the yard?

It was indeed a long trip spanning the better part of two days, but Sal eventually arrived in Greenfield. The NPA convention was small this year and was held at the home of one of the members. Sal presented his special puzzle.

The word puzzle part of the problem was the following rhyme. Sal wasn't the best poet ever but he made a good effort.

Here's a checker problem, quite OLD
It's easy so just be FAITHFUL and bold
Continue to the 14TH try, and mayhap
The deCIPHERed solution will fall in your lap.
Then SUBSTITUTE in all the right moves.
To be a POLYglot, this problem behooves.
And those ALPHABETICs, don't ignore
So we will give you one hint more
There's a TRI-THEME here to be seen
If you happen to know what we mean.

Then came the cryptography portion. Sal told the conventioneers that the run-up to the checker problem was given by the following cryptogram.

L-P Y-V K-P 1-X K-Q 0-X 0-4 F-C Z-5 E-2 0-C P-N C-H V-S D-H 1-Y B-H 1-Y G-M 2-Z O-S

At this point Sal declared, "White to Play and Win!"

At both conventions, this elicited some blank stares, some scratching of heads, and the occasional smile of comprehension.

"Hints are available," Sal offered, and during the conventions, he was definitely asked for hints by some number of attendees. Sal layered the hints, each successive hint giving away a little more.

One of the NPA members did manage to solve it by the end of the convention but then again only about half the members played checkers.

Sal went on to Philadelphia that evening and the next day presented the puzzle to the ACS. That group was a fair bit larger and had something of a better grasp of cryptography, and three of the members solved it by the end of the convention. Most NPA and ACS members thought the puzzle was clever although some thought it "tried too hard" to combine checkers, word puzzles, and cryptography. Still overall Sal felt good about it and immensely enjoyed his trip. He returned home tired, happy, and ready for his club to resume its weekly meetings.

---

Do you find all of this a bit confusing, or do you have a clue about what's going on? We'll offer you Sal's hints as an aid to solving. Click on the Details arrow to reveal the hint. Please use the hints only if needed!

Hint No. 1: An explanation of the word puzzle.

The "word puzzle" is not so much a puzzle as a series of hints or guidelines.

Here's a checker problem, quite OLD
It's easy so just be FAITHFUL and bold
Continue to the 14TH try, and mayhap
The deCIPHERed solution will fall in your lap.
Then SUBSTITUTE in all the right moves.
To be a POLYglot, this problem behooves.
And those ALPHABETICs, don't ignore
So we will give you one hint more
There's a TRI-THEME here to be seen
If you happen to know what we mean.

OLD and FAITHFUL means 11-15 is the opening move.

14TH further tells us that the opening sequence is the Old 14th.

CIPHER and SUBSTITUTE of course mean that this is a substitution cipher, where in this case symbols replace the numbers of the squares on the checkerboard.

POLY means the cipher is polyalphabetical, which tells us that the meaning of the symbols changes continuously.

TRI-THEME is a bit more obscure and tells us that the cipher is a Trithemius cipher, where the substitution alphabets shift one letter to the left each time.

Hint No. 2: More on the cryptogram.

The cryptogram works as follows. For the first square of the first move, we use this substitution:

ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ012345

In other words square 1 is 'A', square 2 is 'B" and so on until square 32 is '5'.

For the next square of the first move we shift to the left:

BCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ012345A

So now square 1 is 'B' and so on. We shift again after enciphering each square number. This gets tedious so we wrote the following computer routine (in elisp) to do the work for us.

(defun rjn-encode-checkers (movelist)
"Use a simple polyalphabetic cipher to encode checker moves"
(interactive)
(let* ( (32squares "ABCDEFGHIJLKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ012345")
(moves (split-string movelist "[\n -]"))
(theoutput "")
(odd 0)
themove thenumbermove spaceordash)
(while moves
(setq themove (car moves))
(setq moves (cdr moves))
(setq thenumbermove (- (string-to-number themove) 1))
(if (= odd 0)
(progn
(setq spaceordash "-")
(setq odd 1))
(progn
(setq spaceordash " ")
(setq odd 0)))
(setq theoutput (concat theoutput (substring 32squares thenumbermove (+ 1 thenumbermove)) spaceordash))
(setq 32squares (concat (substring 32squares 1) (substring 32squares 0 1)))
)
theoutput
))

Hint No.3: The solution in cryptogram form.

3-0 W-A M-I X-1 K-J 5-E I-C C-I P-K L-P V-N J-0 S-M J-T S-M I-S E-C 5-H N-V

Hint No.4: The run-up translated and the problem diagram.

The run-up in plain text and the diagram.

11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 4-8 17-13 15-18 24-20 10-15 19-10 7-14 26-23 11-15 28-24 8-11 30-26 2-7 26-22 3-8 23-19 7-10

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W13,19,20,21,22,24,25,27,29,31,32:B1,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,14,15,18

And finally, everything will be revealed by clicking on Read More. Good luck!

[Read More]

I love checkers. I play at the club at my home town in Iowa, Lindyville, and I'm the club champ. Sometimes I go to one of the bigger cities like Dubuque or Cedar Rapids or even Des Moines. I don't do badly at their clubs, either. I play for Lindyville in the Calhoun County Checker League and we do pretty well. We even finished in the top three at State one year.

So you can imagine I was pretty excited when my company chose me to go to the National Meat Packers Convention in Denver at the end of July. There were some major clubs in Denver, and I thought I'd take a couple of days of vacation and go early, check out the scene, and have a sort of mini checker vacation.

Being summer the Denver Dennies (their National Checker League team) wouldn't be playing but I heard some of their players practiced at the better clubs; maybe I'd get lucky and meet one of them or even get a game.

The convention ran Thursday through mid-day on Saturday, so I figured I'd go on Monday and check out clubs on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'd go home on Sunday and would have Saturday night for a couple of last rounds.

Now, I'm a pretty simple guy in my late thirties. My wife and I live in a modest home in Lindyville, and I commute to work in a nearby town. We don't have any kids and our pleasures are simple. I play checkers and my wife has her social circles in winter and gardening in the summer. Things run at kind of a predictable pace for us, and that makes me a little apprehensive when going to a big city, and all the more so to a metropolis like Denver. But still, I was excited to go.

The day arrived and my trip went smoothly. My wife drove me to Des Moines Airport, which is about 90 minutes away, and my United Airlines flight was on time.

That Denver airport sure is big and it's really far from the city. But I got to my hotel fine, and I was ready for a couple of days of checkers. I had looked up the clubs ahead of time and emailed them. Most of them answered and said I'd be welcome. So I spent the next two days visiting a couple of the mid-level clubs and getting some good games. I did pretty well overall, and on Wednesday night, the night before the convention was to begin, one of the players, a younger fellow named Travis who actually played for the Dennies, mentioned that if I had any more time, I might visit a club he knew where a lot of expert players were to be found. It was by invitation only, but if I said at the door that Travis from the Dennies sent me, they'd let me in. The club was actually in Golden, a Denver suburb but still part of the metro area.

I told Travis I had Saturday evening free and he said great, the Golden club usually had a good Saturday night turnout. I thanked him and said I'd certainly go there after the convention. But Travis did give me a brief word of warning, which at the moment didn't quite register. "The club is ... um ... different," he said, "so don't be too shocked."

The convention was held in downtown Denver in the Convention Center and it was really big. It was pitched at independent meat packers of all sizes and from all parts of the country. I learned a lot, met a lot of people, and it was well worth my time and my company's money. But I was anxious to get through it and get to that club Travis mentioned..

Well, the convention did close up after lunch on Saturday, leaving me plenty of time to get a little rest and a quick dinner, and then take a cab out to Golden.

The club looked fabulous from the outside. It was in an older building that had been well maintained and looked like something built perhaps in the late 1800s. I told the doorman that Travis had invited me and he immediately let me in.

No sooner was I through the door than I was enveloped in what seemed like clouds of cigarette and cigar smoke. I coughed and within seconds my eyes started to water.

Now, I'm not used to that sort of thing. Neither my wife nor I smoke, and there's no smoking where I work, nor is it permitted in public places and certainly not at my checker club or any of the other clubs I've frequented.

I went back and asked the doorman about it, as I thought Colorado had no-smoking laws at least as strict as those in Iowa. But he informed me that this was a private club, not open to the general public, and so smoking was legal.

I ventured further into the club. It was divided into a number of small playing rooms with a couple of checker tables in each one. The rooms were luxuriously appointed. I couldn't imagine how much a membership must cost and felt lucky to have snagged an invitation. But the smoke was pervasive and despite my wanting to play some games with highly ranked players, I didn't know quite how long I could last.

Everyone, and I mean everyone who was playing was smoking. I went from room to room and it was the same everywhere. Besides, nearly all the players were women. Now I knew women played checkers but I never really thought about women playing checkers and smoking at the same time. It wasn't like this back in Iowa.

A couple of women didn't have a current opponent and beckoned to me, but I kept going from room to room hoping to find somewhere at least partially free of smoke.

Finally I went into what must have been the last room in the club. Another young lady was sitting at a board. Of course she had a cigarette in one hand. "Want a game?" she said. "I've got a few minutes before my usual playing partner gets here."

"Uh, well, " I said, "I was trying to find somewhere where there wasn't anyone smoking, and possibly a male opponent."

The girl laughed. "Are you kidding?" she said. "You got a problem with women or something? This club is a woman's club. We invite men sometimes but only as a favor to them. And anyhow, everybody here smokes. We're fans of Willie Ryan."

"Fans of Willie Ryan? What's that got to do with ... "

"Look over there." She motioned to a plaque on the wall. It was engraved with a quote from, of course, Willie Ryan.

"A good smoke is an indispensible compliment to a good social game of checkers" --- Willie Ryan

"Sure," I said, "but I know that quote and later on Willie says smoking doesn't do anybody any good."

"Well, Willie smoked and we smoke. Now are you going to play or what? Look, this is an elite club, maybe the best in town. I don't know who invited you but if you're not going to play, why are you here?"

I was having trouble breathing and I'm sure my clothes were permanently fouled with cigarette smoke. But she was right. I came to play.

"I'll play," I said. "You're right, that's why I came here."

"Okay, put up your hundred." So saying she laid a no-doubt smoke saturated hundred dollar bill on the table.

"I never play for ... "

"Spare me the wimpy excuses. We don't play for less than a C-note around here. Unless you think you're really good and want to play for more?"

I was half minded to turn around and walk out. But I knew I was a good player and maybe this gal needed a lesson. Yes, I know, I was being overconfident and, regrettably, misogynistic.

I put my hundred on the table and took a seat. The woman brought out a clock and lit a fresh cigarette. "Ten minutes per side," she said, "no time increment." That meant all of the moves in the game had to be made within ten minutes, and no extra time was added when you made a move. It was fast, cutthroat play with no holds barred and no quarter given.

The game began. I noticed that when it was her move, her cigarette would dangle from the fingers of her right hand. When it was my move, she would take big puffs and blow smoke in my direction. After a while, I asked her to quit doing that. "It's how we do things around here, little man," she replied, "and if you don't like it you can always resign."

With a ten minute time limit we were both playing fast. I'll admit she was good. Very good. The game got to the position shown below.

It was my move, and there were just over two minutes left on my clock. She, on the other hand, had almost five minutes left.

She lit yet another cigarette. She blew more clouds of smoke. My eyes were so irritated they wanted to close. Through the haze, I tried to focus.

"Maybe you need a shot of oxygen," she razzed. But somehow, I had decided upon my move.

---

The smoke is thick. The opponent is tough. A substantial amount of money is at stake. What would you do here? The problem is actually quite easy and experienced players will solve it in well under a minute. Have a go at it and then click on Read More to see the solution and the rest of the story.

[Read More]

Late July in Bismarck, North Dakota, can serve up some very hot weather, and in 1955, no one to speak of had air conditioning.

During the summer, Sal's Coffee and Cake Checker Club didn't meet, so most of Sal's checker related activity took place on his own in his basement study, where the air tended to be a little cooler and where he had his collection of checker magazines and books. But if there was an extended run of hot weather, even the basement got really warm, even with fans running.

This Saturday marked the 3rd day in a row of 100F high temperatures, and Sal couldn't get comfortable no matter what he did. His wife, Sylvia, had made up a few trays of ice cubes but the Westermans only had a small freezer compartment in their fridge, and the ice cubes didn't provide for more than a couple of cold drinks.

Ordinarily Sal and Sylvia went on vacation in July, but their usual lake cottage wasn't available this year and they decided to postpone until closer to Labor Day. But that's a story that we'll relate in next month's installment.

Sylvia had gone to the movie theater (one of the few air-conditioned places in town) with a couple of her girlfriends. Sal had no interest in going to see The Lady and the Tramp, let alone be the only guy in a group of ladies, so he stayed at home.

But it was just too hot.

Maybe I could go to Lions Park, Sal thought; it's just a short drive, and I might find a shady bench to sit at and read the latest All Checkers Digest. There would at least be a breeze and I can bring along a thermos of water with the last few ice cubes in it.

So that's exactly what Sal did. Sal drove to Lions Park, parked his car and walked into the park. It wasn't all that crowded. A lot of people were probably away camping for the weekend, or on vacation.

There were indeed some shaded picnic tables and Sal was about to choose one and sit down, when he noticed someone sitting a couple of tables away. It was a young lady who of all things had a checkerboard in front of her. She was smoking a cigarette and looked, well, on the rough and tough side.

Sal couldn't resist walking over. As he approached, the girl gave him a rather unfriendly glare and then pointed to a hand-lettered sign taped to the table.

WILL BEAT YOU AT CHECKERS $10 A LESSON

Sal was a bit taken aback. Gambling was of course illegal and especially so in a setting such as a public park, and the "lesson fee" wording wouldn't fool a judge. Ten dollars also seemed like quite a lot of money.

"Have you had many takers?" Sal asked.

"What's it to you, pops?" the girl said. "But since you ask, no, it's a slow day. You want a lesson? Pay up if you wanna play, otherwise twenty-three skidoo. You're scaring off my customers."

Sal didn't see anyone around that might remotely be a customer, but he didn't reply to the comment. Instead he said, "You need to put out that cigarette first."

"I ain't gonna. I do things my way. Now I ain't got no more time to yak with an old coot, so you got like five seconds to pull out a ten spot or beat it."

"What if I win?" Sal asked.

The girl laughed. "You ain't gonna. But here's the rules. You lose, I keep the tenner. You draw, you get five back. You win, you get ten back. That way it ain't gambling, see? 'Cause you can't win nothing."

"No wonder you don't have customers, young lady. You need to find a new way of doing business and you need to clean up your act."

The girl stood, her fists balled at her sides. "I heard enough from you, gramps. Now you got a choice. Take a hike or when I'm done with you take an ambulance to the hospital."

Sal thought about finding a pay phone and calling the police. The girl could be charged with all sorts of things and would likely end up spending a couple of weeks in the city jail. But Sal reflected a moment. There's a better way, he realized.

A $10 bill came out of Sal's wallet and was placed on the table. "Here you are, miss," he said, "let's play checkers."

The girl picked up the money and put it in a jeans pocket. "Okay, geezer, get ready to be thrashed."

The game began and both players seemed to forget the hot weather, focusing on the hot game. Sal quickly realized that the young girl was pretty good, though a bit shy of championship grade. The following position came up with Sal to move.

There was a lot to consider, and after some thought about all aspects of the situation, Sal made his move.

---

Sal's plan for a quiet day in the park, enjoying the cool breezes, seems to have altered with his encounter with a tough talking young lady. What would you do in this position? As Sal knew, there's more to this than just the next move in the game. Think about it and then click on Read More to see the solution and the rest of today's story.

[Read More]

The Detroit Doublejumpers of the National Checker League were on summer break, and training camp didn't start for another month. Typically during the summer, their superstar captain, Marvin J. Mavin, did some outreach work in June and then took a vacation with his wife Priscilla in July.

Now, Priscilla Snelson (she had retained the Snelson name when she and Marvin married) was the CEO of the huge international conglomerate Rust Belt Holdings, and she was going to London for a day or two of business meetings. Her plan was to extend the trip to a length of two weeks, as she wanted to visit a small town in Wales for, as she put it, "a different sort of experience."

Marvin readily agreed. England, after all, was noted for its high caliber checker players (or perhaps we should say draughts players), not to mention strong teams and clubs, which were organized into a complex hierarchy of leagues and divisions at both the amateur and professional level.

Priscilla decided not to take the private jet due to the length of her stay, but she did book tickets for herself and Marvin in First Class on British Airways. They would fly to Heathrow Airport and stay in the five star London hotel hosting Priscilla's meeting. From there they would travel by train (also First Class, naturally) to Knighton, a market town on the border of Wales and England.

Priscilla booked the best suite in Knighton at the Hotel Wales. She was disappointed that the most expensive room was only $470 per night, but she figured she would be able to make do for a short while. She chose Knighton with the idea of taking nature walks in the Welsh countryside, enjoying quaint shops and local cafes, and staying away from the telephone and internet to the extent possible.

Marvin pointed out, after checking on a few things on the internet, that Knighton was a smallish town and there wouldn't be a lot to do. But when Priscilla started enumerating possible nature hikes, Marvin said, "You know, it's kinda cloudy and cool in Knighton."

"I checked the weather too, Marvin," Priscilla said, "and it's sunny about half the time in July. Just think, we can do two nature hikes a day!"

Marvin, who was never particularly thrilled about outdoor activity that involved a lot of physical effort, didn't reply. He would just have to grin and bear it.

The day of departure came and the couple flew to London, where they dined at a renowned celebrity chef restaurant. Then while Priscilla was at her meetings, Marvin spent most of the day at one of London's better draughts clubs. He received a warm reception and had a number of interesting games with some of the top London area players.

The next afternoon the couple traveled to Knighton. There were no direct trains but Priscilla had booked the fastest routing and they arrived in just about four hours, in time to check in at their hotel and have dinner in a local restaurant. Priscilla allowed how it wasn't as good as the London restaurant of the previous evening, but "it would do." Marvin, who had been enjoying some fine local ale, again kept his own counsel.

"You know," he said as they were finishing their dessert, "about how I looked stuff up on the internet?"

Priscilla was suddenly wary. "Yes?" she said, a note of caution in her voice. "I suppose you've found another checker tournament like you did on our honeymoon trip?" (As recounted in an earlier Checker Maven story---Ed.)

"Well, like, uh, yeah! How did you guess? In a couple of days there's like, uh, you know, this checker tournament and stuff ... "

"Here in Knighton?"

"Yeah, and it's open to everybody and there's like different divisions and stuff and ... "

"Marvin. What about our nature hikes? I have ten of them planned and you wouldn't want to miss any of them now, would you?"

"Yeah but there's like a ladies division and ... "

"In the checker tournament? I thought in this day and age ... "

"I know," Marvin broke in, "but it's like this. There's the Masters Division and Experts and stuff and all the way to Novice ... and ladies can play anywhere they want but there's a special division if ladies just wanna play ladies ... and stuff."

Priscilla pondered a moment. "Marvin, dear, are you suggesting I play in the ladies division myself?"

"Uh ... well ... sure ... you might like it ... "

"And stuff? Oh Marvin, how long is this tournament?"

"Just a day ... "

"I would miss two nature hikes and so would you."

"Aw c'mon Prissy, we'll both need a break after a coupla days of that hiking business!"

Priscilla glared. "Don't call me Prissy, especially when you want something from me! But I'll think about it ... maybe."

Marvin knew better than to push the issue at the moment. The tournament was on the upcoming weekend and there was still time. So he endured three days of hiking, both morning and afternoon, before bringing it up again.

To his surprise, Priscilla said, "Yes Marvin, I'll play in the ladies' division of the tournament and you can play in the Masters, as long as they allow professional players."

"They do; anybody can play. But gee Priss ... I mean honey, that's great that you're going to play! I ain't never seen you play but I betcha you ain't bad at all."

"As you know, I played through high school years but then became very busy with my studies at Harvard and later on the Sloane School. And then there was my career ... just no time."

Marvin quickly registered them both for the tournament, and then endured two more days of twice daily nature hikes. He was wondering if Priscilla would ever run out of places to hike but it didn't seem like it.

Saturday morning came around. The tournament was to be held at the City Centre on West Street. Marvin and Priscilla arrived promptly to sign in at 8 AM. Of course the organizers were thrilled to have a player of Marvin's stature in their tournament, and equally thrilled that his wife would participate too. The tournament head, a Mr. Linden Edmonds, asked for numerous publicity photos.

But then it was time for the tournament to start. The tournament was a six round Swiss system, two games per round, with a fast time limit of 15 minutes plus a 3 second increment per game.

There was a one hour lunch break after the third round. Marvin had won all of his games to have a score of 6 wins. When he met up with Prisilla, he was surprised and pleased to hear that she was tied for the lead at 5 wins and 1 draw.

"Surprised?" Priscilla said. "Why are you surprised, Marvin?"

Marvin could sense potential trouble. "Uh, well, like, that's, you know, really good ..."

"... and stuff? Don't you have confidence in my abilities?"

"Yeah, sure, uh hey let's grab some lunch, I hear they got good fries and stuff at this pub across the street ... I mean like there's a lot on the menu ... "

Priscilla gave Marvin a sharp look but agreed. "Very well," she said in a voice that was neither cold nor warm.

Lunch did fortunately turn out to be relatively pleasant and Marvin listened without interruption as Priscilla talked of her morning's games. He wisely didn't suggest alternatives to some of the play she described.

The afternoon's games began. Marvin had a perfect record again, right through to the last round, when he gave up a draw to a highly skilled local player. But he easily took first place in the tournament.

But there was one more surprise to be had. All of the divisions had finished except for the ladies' division. And who was playing on first board, with a chance at first place but ... Priscilla! She was in the second game of her match with a very young and highly talented Irish player who went by the moniker Little Patty Potatoes (her real name was Elsabeth Dooner). Going into the last match, Priscilla had eight wins and two draws, and Little Patty had nine wins and one loss, so the pair was even in the standings. The first game between them was a draw. In the second game, Priscilla needed a win. A draw wouldn't do as then Little Patty would win on tie-break points.

There was great interest in this final game. The Tournament Director wisely kept everyone away from the players, who had to watch at a distance on a demonstration board.

The game came down to this position, with Priscilla to play.

Marvin knew that Priscilla could win it if she would just make the right choice. There was a tense wait and then ...

Priscilla made her move.

---

If you were Priscilla, in contention for first place, could you have found the win here? Experts will have no trouble solving it quickly, but after all Priscilla hasn't played competively for some years. See what you make of things and then see if you can turn Patty Potatoes into Mashed Potatoes. Click on Read more to see the solution and the conclusion of our story.

[Read More]

It was 1955 and a beautiful June day in Minot, North Dakota, and it was the wedding day of Blaine and Moira. The Cornerstone Church was decorated with flowers everywhere, and the church was filled to overflowing as the ceremony began.

Occupying seats on the groom's side of the aisle were nearly all the members of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club. Led by Sal Westerman, they had all come up from Bismarck, where the club met during the months of September through May. Blaine at age 28 was the youngest member of the club by far, all of the others being over 50 and some, like Sal, considerably so. Blaine, whom everyone called 'Young Blaine' was a junior engineer at a Bismarck based power company.

The ceremony went flawlessly and to the cheers of all Young Blaine and Young Moira were duly pronounced man and wife. There was to be a reception at the Big Wolf Country Club and rumor had it that it would be especially elegant.

And indeed it was. There was a large variety of appetizers and canapes; there was champagne and mixed drinks; there were cheeses and cold cuts ... all followed by a steak and lobster dinner.

Before the dancing began, the wedding cake was unveiled ... and to the astonishment of the Bismarck guests, it had a checkerboard pattern! Young Blaine, caught by surprise, was clearly delighted, and Young Moira was delighted that her new husband was delighted.

Then the dancing started up and after the traditional first dances and the dollar dance (pay a dollar to dance a couple of beats with the bride), the newlyweds were sent off in a highly decorated Cadillac, trailing tin cans and streamers. The party went on, of course.

When it was getting near the end of the celebrations, just before midnight, the "boys" of the club were all gathered with their wives at a big round table--- and wouldn't you know it, Sal pulled out a checker problem! He had made a number of copies and distributed them to the club members.

"Something for you boys to amuse yourselves with," he said. "It's late now and we don't have a checkerboard, but take it back home with you and then write me with what you think is the solution some time in the coming week. Even though we don't meet until September, it will give you a little checker fun nonetheless."

The boys, of course, wanted to solve it right away, but by then it was time for the party to end and for everyone to go to their hotels to get some rest before driving back to Bismarck the next day.

Sal's wife, Sylvia, smiled at him and said, "Even at a wedding, you find a way to enjoy checkers." She patted his arm affectionately. Sal didn't reply. For some reason he was thinking of their own wedding, all those years ago, and how lucky he was to have Sylvia. He silently wished the same for Young Blaine and Young Moira.

---

Unless we miss our guess, you're not at a wedding reception at the moment (although that's certainly not impossible), and you're likely to have time to solve today's problem. We can't promise you a piece of wedding cake but we can promise to show you the solution if you click on Read More.

[Read More]

It was the month of June, and the National Checker League had begun its summer break before training camp began in early August. During June it was customary for NCL players, at all levels, to do outreach work of some kind, whether teaching checkers at an inner city park, setting up friendly tournaments at senior centers, or providing special lessons to school kids of all ages.

Marvin J. Mavin, the superstar captain of the Detroit Doublejumpers, generally enjoyed the outreach work, and was often known to go to other countries where checkers was popular but there wasn't always money for professional coaching. He especially liked working with youngsters who had a dream of themselves one day becoming a superstar.

There was an assignment available in southern Chile, and Marvin put in for it. It would be the depths of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and he didn't think anyone would want that posting. But to his surprise, he was turned down.

In a phone call from his head coach, Mr. Baba Dudut, Marvin heard these words.

"I know you wanted that assignment in Chile but I made sure you didn't get it. You've caused me a lot of trouble, you know." (Editor's note: See previous stories for details.)

"Aw, c'mon coach, you know no one else wants to go to southern Chile in the winter ... "

"I don't care. You're not getting what you want. I have something else in mind for you."

Coach went on to explain that there was to be a two week long executive camp being held in Aspen, Colorado, which would be attended by top executives from around the world.

"The execs won't settle for anything but a superstar player to lead the camp, and like it or not, you're it. It's a chance for you to redeem yourself. These are very important people so go to Aspen a week early and make sure you have your program arranged."

"But Coach ... "

Coach Baba Dudut had already hung up.

Back at home, Marvin told his wife, Priscilla, about the phone call and the assignment. Prscilla was the CEO of the large international conglomerate Rust Belt Holdings, and had her own view of events.

"Marvin, that's wonderful," she said. "You can make some good contacts. In fact there will likely be other CEOs there who I know and with whom I transact. It's a pity I can't go with you. But maybe you can pass along my greetings. Good for business all around."

Marvin wasn't so sure about any of it. A room full of giant egos? Priscilla would take to it but he certainly wouldn't.

Marvin didn't have much choice and on the appointed day he flew into Aspen's airport and took a taxi to the five star St. Regent Resort. The hotel offered the height of luxury and service and was very expensive, as you might expect for a venue where top CEOs were to meet.

Marvin met that evening for dinner with Mr. Sbrinz Etivaz, the Swiss-born director of the hotel.

"Everything is pretty much arranged, Mr. Mavin," he said over an appetizer course of smoked organic celery and roasted Mediterranean peppers. "Accommodations and meals are all planned. You'll find the schedule in your email. These CEOs are of course busy people, so your seminars will run from 9 AM to noon. Afternoons are reserved for the CEOs to tend to their businesses, and they have evenings reserved for networking and leisure. I do hope it's clear that you are to neither take meals with the CEOs, disturb their afternoon schedules, nor participate in evening activities. After all, despite your star status in checkers, the CEOs consider you to be 'hired help' at the servant level. You can eat in the main common dining room. In the afternoons and evenings I suggest you go over your material for the following day so as to ensure the flawless presentation the CEOs have every right to expect."

Marvin looked up from his food. "So, I ain't got no status?"

Mr. Etivaz gave Marvin something of a look. "No, you 'ain't'," he said with disdain, "and from here on out you will deal only with the Assistant Director of Protocol, Ms. Betty Butterfly, who will ensure everything goes smoothly. Please follow her directions to the letter and let her know if there are any difficulties."

"I see," Marvin said. "Well, whatever .. "

"Let me be clear, Mr. Mavin," Mr. Etivaz went on. "I know you have something of a ... reputation. Do not bring dishonor upon this establishment if you know what's good for you."

A waiter arrived with the main course. There was only one plate, which he set in front of Marvin and then went off.

Mr. Etivaz stood. "Enjoy your dinner, Mr. Mavin. I am a busy man and cannot spend any more time with 'hired help'."

Marvin did spend the next several days working diligently on a program. He'd start with the basics such as simple tactics and how to win two kings against one. He'd move on to more advanced tactics and something about midgame landings toward the end of the first week. In the second week he'd get into go as you please openings and finish the camp with a one day "graduation" tournament. He did wonder why top CEOs would spend two weeks away from the office to go to a checker camp. Maybe he'd find out when the execs arrived.

They started coming in on Sunday, a couple at a time. The camp was limited to 20 participants. There was an evening reception for the CEOs that night, hosted by Mr. Etivaz, but it was very clear that Marvin was not invited.

Marvin did meet the CEOs at the first session on Monday morning. There were participants from across the US and Canada, as well as Mexico, France, England, and several other countries; there was even a participant from the Marshall Islands.

After introductions, Marvin set to work. He was a little dismayed about most of the participants spending significant time texting and reading email on their phones. A number of them stepped out from time to time to make or take phone calls.

At the end of the session, just before noon, Marvin told them that their homework assignment could be found in their notebooks.

The next morning, Marvin asked for volunteers to demonstrate solutions to the homework problems. No one stepped up.

"Okay, then, how about you," Marvin said, pointing to the CEO of a major New York City construction company.

"Don't you go pointing your finger at me, boy," the man said. 'For your information we're busy people and we don't have time for childish things like homework."

"All right," Marvin replied, "then I'll just show you."

Marvin played out the solutions and then continued on with the lessons. But the same pattern played itself out all week and into the next week. It was obvious that the CEOs weren't learning very much, if anything, and they became less and less attentive each day. Some of them stopped showing up. On Wednesday of the second week, in the early afternoon Ms. Butterfly asked to see Marvin. They met in Ms. Butterfly's office.

"Mr. Mavin, some of the CEOs at your 'camp' have checked out early, saying they just didn't have time for 'this sort of thing.' Frankly, we're very disappointed."

"Me too," Marvin said. "They don't pay attention and even don't show up sometimes. They ain't never done no homework neither and I think they ain't learned nothing."

Ms. Butterfly leaned forward. "Well, that's on you, isn't it, Mr. Mavin. These are important people. It's up to you to hold their attention and keep them engaged. If you haven't done that--- and obviously you haven't--- then you've failed."

"Whaddya mean? They don't listen. They don't do no work. They don't ... "

"I don't care about your excuses. Save your breath. Now, there are two days left and still about a dozen CEOs remain. You had better make it good if you don't want a very poor evaluation sent back to your League executives. Thank you for stopping in, but I'm rather busy and need to get back to work." Ms. Butterfly picked up some papers from her desk and started looking at them. It was obvious to Marvin that he had been dismissed.

Marvin thought about things for several hours and on into the evening, after his solitary dinner at the main dining room. Finally, he came up with a plan.

The next morning the attendance was down to about 10.

Marvin stood at the front of the room and bellowed, "Listen up, people."

Heads raised from cell phones to stare in surprise.

"Now, you all think you're some kinda big shots, and that's great and stuff, but I came here to teach you checkers and none of you ain't learned nothing as far as I can see. So here's how it's going to be for the last two days. Put all of them cell phones away and leave 'em away. Pay attention and answer when I call on you. Do your homework tonight cause like it or not there's a little tournament tomorrow and you're all playing and I don't want no complaining. If you can't do things my way, you can leave now."

One CEO did get up and, with much harrumphing, actually left.

Another spoke up. "You don't get it, do you son. We're busy people, and we're playing chess, not checkers, in our business lives."

Now Marvin, like any red blooded checker player, didn't care for the chess vs. checkers analogy. "First of all, mister, I ain't your son. And second, if you're playing chess why are you at a checkers camp?"

"To network, what else," the CEO replied. "You think any of us really care about checkers? Like I said, we're playing chess while ... "

"Stuff it!" Marvin said. "If you think you're playing chess in your business, fine. But maybe you should be playing checkers. It's a game of finesse. But I guess you ain't got none of that."

There were howls of laughter from the rest of the CEOS while the man who had spoken turned red in the face. But before he could speak again, Marvin said, "Let me show you something."

There was a laptop connected to a projector, and the CheckerBoard program was running on it. Marvin put it in setup mode and had it display the following position.

"Now," he said, "suppose this is a business situation. Your company is White and your rival is Black. As you can see your markets, represented by the number of pieces, are equal. But your competitor has just made a little error and now you want to get a winning advantage. How do you do it?"

The CEOs actually now showed a little interest. One of them spoke up. "When I'm head to head with a competitor," she said, "and the markets are even, I find a weak spot and go after it and crush them."

"I don't know," another CEO said, "a direct attack could be risky. What if it backfires? Won't you be the one to lose then? Or what if they try to do the same thing to you?"

The discussion went back and forth. Marvin began to smile for the first time since he arrived in Aspen.

Finally he said, "This was a good discussion and it's very relevant to checkers. Let me show you a couple of things."

Marvin, finally had everyone's rapt attention, and there was not a cell phone in sight.

---

Most of our readers are likely not "top CEOs"; after all, checkers is a game for everyone. But you don't have to be a CEO to enjoy today's problem position. After you've given it some thought and effort, click on Read More to see the solution and the rest of the story. And--- our apologies to those of you who are top CEOS.

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