The Checker Maven
Jump to navigationFrank Dunne's Shot
In our ongoing series taken from Willie Ryan's Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard, we've from time to time found new wrinkles via computer analysis, as we have with today's offering. Willie of course got it right (which happens at least 99% of the time), but there is an interesting line of play that the computer turned up and that Willie apparently didn't examine. Let's have a look as Willie describes the problem.
"The name of Frank Dunne, famed English master of five decades ago---1, holds an illustrious place in the archives of checker literature. His writings on the game were of the highest order, and he made many outstanding contributions to the silent art. Here we record the ever useful Dunne Shot which arises in play from several different openings.
| 10-15 | 24-19 | 6-9---A |
| 22-18 | 15-24 | 22-18 |
| 15-22 | 28-19 | 4-8 |
| 25-18 | 8-11 | 26-22 |
| 9-13 | 29-25 | 1-6---B. |
| 18-14 | 11-16 | See the |
| 11-15 | 25-22 | diagram. |
A---If black plays 4-8 here, then white wins quickly with this pretty touch: 14-10!, 7-14, 22-17, 13-22, 26-10, 6-24.
B---Inviting, but fatal. The correct sequence to draw is: 16-20, 30-25, 8-11, 18-15, 11-18, 22-15, 9-18, 23-14, 1-6, 31-26, 3-8, 26-23,13-17, 32-28, 20-24, 27-20, 7-10, 14-7, 2-27, 21-14, 27-31, 19-15. Wm. F. Ryan."
1---At present writing, more like 11 decades---Ed.
WHITE
White to Play and Win
W:W32,31,30,27,23,22,21,19,18,14:B16,13,12,9,8,7,6,5,3,2.
Bombard this position with your best ideas and see if you can find the White win. As we pointed out above, there are some subtleties here that we discovered with computer analysis, so you may find this an explosive problem, but take a shot and then click on Read More to see the solution.
Solution
"Continue: 27-24, 16-20 (forced)---2, 14-10*, 7-14, 22-17, 13-22, 30-26, 20-27, 26-1, and white wins. Dunne used this play for the first time to defeat G. Jewitt in an English Championship tourney."
2---We don't quite understand Willie's comment here. The computer thinks this is an inferior move and prefers 8-11, after which Black still has a losing position but the win for White may not be quite as easy. The text move leads to an immediate loss. After 8-11 the computer shows the following very long win for White. Many variations are possible and we just show the main line:
| . . . | 24-20 |
| 6-10 | 31-26 |
| 10x17 | 21x14 |
| 2-6 | 19-15 |
| 16-19 | 15x8 |
| 6-10 | 23x16 |
| 12x19 | 8-4 |
| 10x17 | 18-15 |
| 19-24 | 15-11 |
| 7x16 | 20x11 |
| 24-28 | 22-18 |
| 17-21 | 18-15 |
| 3-8 | 11-7 |
| 8-12 | 4-8 |
| 9-14 | 8-11 |
| 13-17 | 26-22 |
| 17x26 | 30x23 |
| 21-25 | 7-3 |
| 14-17 | 15-10 |
| 17-21 | 10-6 |
| 25-30 | 6-2 |
| 30-26 | 23-19 |
| 5-9 | 2-6 |
| 9-14 | 6-9 |
| 14-18 | 9-14 |
| 18-23 | 3-8 |
| 26-31 | 14-18 |
| 23-26 | 11-16 |
| 26-30 | 16-20 |
| 30-25 | 8-11 |
| 25-30 | 20-24 |
| 31-26 | 18-23 |
| 21-25 | 23-18 |
| 25-29 | 19-15 |
| 29-25 | 15-10 |
| 26-22 | 18-23 |
| 22-17 | 10-7 |
| 25-22 | 7-3 |
| 17-13 | 3-7 |
| 13-9 | 7-10 |
| 30-25 | 11-15 |
| 25-21 | 24-19 |
| 22-17 | 15-18 |
| 21-25 | 23-26 |
| 17-13 | 26-22 |
| 25-21 | 10-14 |
| 9-5 | 19-15 |
| 13-9 | 15-11 |
| 9-6 | 18-15 |
| 5-1 | 14-10 |
| 6-9 | 11-7 |
| 9-13 | 10-14 |
| 1-5 | 15-10 |
| 5-1 | 14-17 |
| 21x14 | 10x17 |
| 1-6 | 17-21 |
| 13-9 | 22-18 |
| 9-5 | 21-17 |
| 5-1 | 18-14 |
| 6-2 | 7-11 |
| 2-6 | 11-15 |
| 6-2 | 17-13 |
| 2-7 | 14-9 |
| 7-2 | 15-10 |
| 12-16 | 10-15 |
| 1-6 | 9-5 |
| 6-1 | 15-11 |
| 16-19 | 13-17 |
| 19-23 | 17-22 |
| 1-6 | 11-15 |
| 2-7 | 15-19 |
White Wins.
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