LOC Public Domain

The Cakewalk goes back a long way, and is intimately connected with Black history and pre-Civil War southern plantation life. But today, a Cakewalk is something of a carnival game, something like musical chairs but with a cake as the prize. The word has also come to mean something that is extremely easy to do or accomplish.

And no, today's column doesn't have anything to do with our ongoing Coffee and Cake series; we've chosen the title Cakewalk because today's problem is very easy indeed. It's so easy that we've resurrected our long-neglected Javascript timer.

Expert players will take longer to read the terms of the problem than they will to solve it; an instant solution is likely. Even intermediates will solve it just about at once. Beginners may have to reflect a few seconds but they too should not have much trouble.

Why such an easy problem? Well, we present hard ones week after week and once in a while we think it's good to go in the other direction. Players of all levels should find a home in our columns. The position was sent to us by regular contributors Lloyd and Josh Gordon of Toronto and arose over the board.

So here we go. Click below to show the problem and start the clock.

Cakewalk (very easy)

Got it? Of course you did. But click on Read More all the same, just to be sure.

Solution

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W18,19,22,24,26,30,32:B1,2,3,7,11,12,15

11-16 18x11---A 16x23 26x19 7x23 Black Wins.

A---19x10 7x23 26x19 16x23 Black Wins.

Not even close to the "Coffee and Cake" category, but if you'd like to treat yourself, please feel free to join us!