Willie's title for this entry in his fabled Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard is appropriately named, for at least two reasons. One is that the solution to Willie's position resembles, in an imaginative way, the action of a windmill as represented on a checkerboard. The other reason is that Willie seems to have been tilting at windmills a bit, and makes a most atypical misjudgment of the final outcome. Let's have a look and a listen as Willie sets forth his premise.

"This time we have a combination in-and-out shot of the type most frequently missed in actual play. The experts seldom 'muff' a straight or ordinary in-and-outer, but there are many kinds of in-and-outs, and the more complex varieties are often overlooked, even by top-flight champions.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Draw

B:W30,28,27,26,19,16,12:B20,17,14,13,11,7,3.

The original terms of this position were Black to Play and Win---Ed.

A---If black plays 13-17 here, white brings home the draw with this timely stroke: 13-17, 18-15*, 11-18, 12-8*, 3-26, 31-22-15-6, 7-11, 6-2, 11-15, 2-6, 9-13, 6-9, 14-18, 21-14, 15-19, 30-26, 13-17, 9-13, 17-22, 26-17, 19-23. Wm. F. Ryan.

B---Caught and caged! Black now executes a whirlwind shot with a double-action in-and-outer. Of course, 30-26, 17-21, 26-22*, 21-25,19-15, 11-18, 22-15, 14-18, 15-11, 7-10,12-8, 3-19, 27-24, will corral a draw easily. Wm. F. Ryan."

1---28-24 might be better here as Black now gets a small advantage---Ed.

2---14-17 would have held Black's small edge---Ed.

Can you find the combination shot that draws (not wins) for Black, or will you tilt at windmills yourself? Work it out and spin your mouse to Read More to see the solution and a bit more analysis.

Solution

"Continue: 3-8!, 12-3, 17-21, 3-17, 13-31, 16-7, 31-15, and black wins---3. Wm. F. Ryan."

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play

W:W30,28,7:B21,20,K15.

3---But alas, Black doesn't win as the position is a dead draw. Had the Black man on 21 been on 22, the story would have been different. Black's spectacular double shot isn't quite enough. We don't know what happened here; perhaps Willie thought he saw a Black win in this position but, most uncharacteristically, missed a move somewhere. For instance, 7-3 15-11 30-26 21-25 26-23 25-30 23-19 30-26 19-16 11-15 16-11 29. 15x8 3x12 etc. to a simple draw. Other approaches don't work, either. If you see something we missed, please write us and let us know.