Today, we reach the end of the "introductory" tactical problems and examples in our ongoing electronic republication of Willie Ryan's celebrated Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard. The problems have been getting harder and harder... and we haven't even gotten to the main parts of the book! Here's Willie once more:

Example 17
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

"Many a losing position has been won or drawn, in the last minute of play, by a brilliant series of startling moves. Example 17 pictures white in what appears to be a hopeless predicament; yet white can turn the tables to win by a neat 'backup and throwback' stratagem this is as pleasing as it is deceptive. The backup idea is employed to get tactical support or 'backing' from an opponent's piece--- to use that piece as one of your own men. All compound shots are essentially based on the backup principle. A throwback or 'pitch-out' is a clever method of ousting an opponent's king from your king row (by sacrificing one or more pieces) in order to capture it on the bound.

Example 18
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

For our closing study, Example 18, we feature an advanced player's problem that brings into play some of the tactical ideas we have discussed in the preceding examples. Instead of expecting our beginners to solve this chestnut, we will briefly review the solution and denote the play, step by step."

Whoa, just a minute there, Willie! Let's let our readers try it on their own first! After all, they can always click on Read More to see the solutions!

Example 17 22-18!, 13-22, 32-27!, 31-24, 23-19, 24-15, 18-2, 10-15, 2-9, 15-19, 9-14, 19-23, 14-18, and white wins.

Example 18

White starts the winning attack by "squeezing" 16-12; black must avoid capture by playing 8-11 as the "sacrifice" by 26-31, 12-3, 31-27, loses by 23-18, 27-23, 19-15, 23-14, 15-10, 14-7, 3-10, and black's piece on square 22 is a sitting duck. After 8-11, white continues the campaign of "force" by going 23-18, exposing black's man on 26 to capture; hence, black must crown 26-31. The attack is relentless; white now presses 19-15 and black must move 11-16 to avoid capture. Now comes the surprise; white "squeezes" 30-26, forcing black to square 25. The stage is now set for the final act. White plays 12-8, permitting black to jump 31-22, followed by the "slip" 15-11, 22-15; and then comes the crusher with 8-4, 15-8, 4-27; and white wins.