Yann Caradec CC BY-SA 2.0 cropped

In order to avoid reuse of the "golf stroke" pun, we've gone with a tennis stroke instead. The point is that winter in North America seemed especially tough this year (or at least so we hear[1]), and we'd bet that many of you are happy to be able to get out and make a few strokes on the tennis court or golf course.

But, as a checker fan, surely you'll come back in at the end of the day, and, perhaps after dinner, want to take on a checker stroke, one of those mind-bending fantasy problems that may not be practical but certainly provide great visualization practice. With that in mind, here's one that we would not call easy.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W24,22,20,19,18,17,14,13,9:BK28,27,26,K25,K21,8,7,1.

Take a swing at this rather entertaining position, then swing your mouse over to Read More to see the solution.

[1] This year we did not have snow in Honolulu(!) although the temperature did get as cold as 62F/17C.

Solution

9-6 1x10 14-9 21x5---A 13-9 5x16 20x2 25x18 2-6 28x19 6x15 WW.

A---21x16 20x2 25x18 2-6 28x19 6x15 WW. This less likely continuation was probably not what the composer had in mind. Does this spoil the problem or make it unfair? We don't believe so.