By the time this article appears, winter should be coming to an end in much of North America, and a welcome thing that will be for those who endured repeated blizzards and lasting cold. The coming of spring will bring a huge sigh of relief to winter-weary Americans and Canadians.

Here at our Honolulu editorial office, we too experienced winter cold spells with temperatures that dropped as low as 63 F, though we don't expect much in the way of sympathy from our readers.

But wherever you live, let's celebrate spring together (if you're in the southern hemisphere, let's welcome the advent of fall; we've heard that Australia was mighty hot during some of the austral summer), and let's do it with a challenging checker problem authored long ago by George King.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W29,28,27,25,24,19,13:B20,18,15,12,10,5,1.

Forces are even, but White has a really limited choice of moves and could be in serious difficulty. But, just as you would clear a path through the blizzard's snow, there is a way out of White's predicament here. Can you find it and secure the draw?

Shovel your way through the complications and find the path, then dig your mouse on Read More to see the solution.

Solution

25-22 18x25 29x22 1-6 22-17 5-9 27-23!---A 20x27---B 17-14! 10x17---C 19x1 9-14 23-19 27-31 19-15 17-22 15-11 etc., to a draw.

A---17-14 can't be played yet; 17-14 9-18 and White is lost.

B---The draw depends upon a White man being on 23 and a Black man on 27. This is worthy of note and is the subtle key to the problem.

C---9x18 23x7 15x24 28x19 etc., also to a draw.