Two-for-the-price-of-one promotions are certainly popular in the world of marketing, making the buyer believe they're getting a good deal. Sometimes you do get a good price, and at other times (such as in the photo above), not so much. We occasionally refer to some bad deals as giving you "fifty percent off twice the price" or what is known in French as a "fausse solde."

But to start off February we have, indeed, two checker problems for the price of one, and it's definitely a good deal. (Not that you ever have to pay to read The Checker Maven, of course.)

The first situation is a true speed problem, and a rather nice one sent to us by regular contributors Lloyd and Josh Gordon. It's not terribly hard, probably of the 30 second variety.

Diagram 1
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W32,K21,10,7,K2:BK22,18,K15,3,1.

But what is interesting, though, is that if White plays 2-6 the game is lost, yet that's the move one might make reflexively. This one is somewhat longer and a bit more difficult, and can't really be called a speed problem.

Diagram 2
WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W32,K21,10,7,K6:BK22,18,K15,3,1.

Don't sell out; instead, double down on these two problems, then click on Read More to see the solutions.

Solution

First diagram:

32-27 (or 32-28) 15x6 2x9 3x10 9-14 10x17 21x23. Drawn.

Second diagram:

2-6 18-23 7-2 23-26 2-7 26-30 7-2 30-26 2-7 26-23 7-2 23-19 32-28 19-16 2-7 22-18 21-17 15-11 7-2 18-14. Black Wins. (Variations in play are possible.)