The photo above shows a very narrow drawbridge somewhere in Holland. Now, in checkers there are bridges and draws, and some of those draws are narrow indeed. Today, we'll look, not at a bridge, but at a narrow draw, which we'll define loosely as one that is difficult to find over the board and requires precise play, hewing to a "narrow" path.

We've been exploring the final part of Willie Ryan's Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard with a series of variations on some rather tricky play. Today, we ask you to join Willie in helping the White pieces find a narrow draw.

Here's the run-up one more time, with just a couple of notes as reminders.

A---Loses. 28-24 and several other moves would draw.

B---Willie claimed that this draws, but the game was lost earlier.

C---Black's winning move was 25-29; now White can draw.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W31,30,27,26,23,21,19,11:BK25,13,12,9,5,4,3,2.

This one is tough, no doubt about it, and the path is indeed narrow and long. Still, it's a really terrific study, filled with checker wisdom. Do give it more than a narrow try before clicking on Read More to see the solution and notes.

Solution

The solution is long and you can view an animation here.

Willie notes that this is a star move and that 23-18 loses to 13-17.

Willie diverges here with 3-8. We continue with the KingsRow solution.

Or 2-7. From here on, variations are possible, which you can explore with your computer.

White continues a man down, but notice how the Black pieces are arrayed on the sides.

White is still a man down but it's now a database draw.

One holds two in the corner.

Etc.

Drawn; Black can make no progress.

If you didn't get this or didn't solve it completely, don't feel bad. Just benefit from the fine drawing technique demonstrated in the study, and call it good!