This month we bring you what is possibly the most insane stroke problem ever conceived. It's a completely artificial situation and has no practical play value, but as a test of visualization it is unrivaled.

Try this problem without (1) using your computer, and (2) getting out an extra checker set so you can move the men around on your board. In other words, be crazy and sight-solve it!

When you have the answer, or have completely gone off your rocker, click on Read More for the solution.

[Read More]

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:

"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.

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!

[Read More]

Today we present the second in our series of three lessons on classic "man down draw" positions. No one who has played more than a few games has failed to encounter some of these seemingly lost situations, and, most likely, missed out on a possible draw.

The position below is attributed to Dr. T. J. Brown, and found in Ben Boland's classic, Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers:

We immediately note a similarity to last month's lesson: a single Black king is holding two White men at bay on the edge of the board. Once again, there is hope, and with careful play, Black can save the draw. (And we do mean careful play; a typical learner's attempt, 18-15, loses at once to 28-24.)

Work this one out for yourself, and then click on Read More for a detailed solution.

[Read More]

Time certainly does fly by, and all the faster when the clock is running on this month's speed problem. We'll allow you a full five minutes, or 300 seconds, to crack this one. It isn't really that hard if you find the key move. Click below to show the problem and start our relentless, unforgiving timer. Then click Read More to check your solution.

November Speed Problem (medium difficulty)

[Read More]

Here's one that's a little different, and although out of the mainstream of checker problems, we think you'll find it an interesting exercise in visualization. Here's the situation:

For this puzzle, in which play adheres to the normal rules of checkers, Black is to crown a man while White is to prevent the attempt. Can you guide a Black man to the ranks of royalty? When you're done, click on Read More to see if your solution is truly noble.

[Read More]

As we write this article, the 2005 World Series of baseball has begun, although when you read it, the title may already have been decided. Did the Astros complete their "Double Steal" and go all the way?

Regardless of the answer to that question, though, we invite you to "go all the way" to the solution of today's feature problem, a "double steal" theme by Tom Wiswell. You're sure to have an easier time of it than the Cards had with the Astros!

White is a man up, but Black is going to even the score on his next move. Still, there is a way for White to recover the win.

Keep your eye on the ball, work out the answer, and then click on Read More when you've reached home plate in your solving.

[Read More]

It's happened to any checkerist who has ever played beyond the starting position. We've gone a man down and we're looking for a way to at least save the draw. In the next few articles in our Checker School series, we'll have a look at some classic man-down draw positions. Now, depending on where you are in your checker career, this may be new material or just review. But either way, we're certain that knowledge of these positions will pull you out of many a predicament.

This month we'll start with a position attributed to A. Sinclair. Our solution and commentary is from Boland's classic work, Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers.

Black is a man down, but he has two kings, to White's one, and the two White men are jammed on the single-corner side of the board. So Black might have a chance to rescue the situation.... but how?

Try this one out, and then click on Read More to nail down the technique.

[Read More]

We'll give you a bit of a break with this month's easier stroke problem --- or will we?

You be the judge. Try out this puzzler, decide for yourself whether or not we've been easy on you, click on Read More to verify your solution, and then give yourself a break. We recommend that most delectable staple of checkerdom, coffee and cake.

[Read More]

We're getting near the end of the "introductory" sections of our electronic republication of the Willie Ryan classic, Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard, and the material Willie teaches isn't quite so simple any longer. Try your luck on these two, and click on Read More to check your answers. Here's what Willie has to say about it all.

'Ordinarily,white's cause in Example 15 would be hopeless. With the pieces even, and black's king on square 14 in a powerful center-of-the-board position, and the black piece on square 27 about to be crowned, further play seems to be futile. Despite all these symptoms of distress, white can engineer a flashy cul-de-sac in four of his own moves by resort to a "hook-up triple" or "aligned triple take." Alignment is the chief implement of all stroke and shot play. It means using ideas to force pieces onto certain squares by squeezing or pitching, so as to align (place) several pieces in position for successive capture. Can you force a triple take in Example 15? That's all there is to it!

Nothing so delights the beginner as a sweeping coup in which a number of pieces are swept from the board in one series of jumps. A casual glance at Example 16 does not impart the slightest suggestion of an impending coup, but nevertheless a "delayed long range triple" is in the offing. The white king on square 14, with the help of the piece on 21, makes a few well-forced preliminary moves and then, presto! the game is suddently climaxed with a ripping three-for-one shot, using what is known as a "throwback" technique. This give-away hint should enable rookie readers to develop some crafty ideas on how to handle the white pieces to make a win.'

[Read More]

What is a Twin in the world of checkers?

Well, there is really only one Brian Hinkle, but frankly, we're grateful for that much, as Brian has been a stalwart supporter and contributor to the work of The Checker Maven, as well as a top player and reknowned analyst and problem composer in his own right.

A Twin is a problem that has the same outcome no matter whose turn it is to move, and Brian kindly provided us with this sparkling example, which is a creation of his own.

Can you solve both parts of this twin, and determine the winning moves whether White or Black goes first? If so, you're likely to agree with Al Darrow, who called it the finest twin he had ever seen.

[Read More]