This column will appear on July 4, 2020, and as always we delight in celebrating America's birthday. We make no apologies for being devoted American patriots.

America (and the world) have had a very tough time this year. But the American way is not to throw our hands up in the air and say, "Oh poor us! We did a terrible job handling the crisis! We'll never recover!"--- although shamefully there are some who are doing just that. We believe the American way is to do what Americans have always done: face up to the crisis, work our way through it, and carry on. We will recover, just as we always have. It may take some time and there may be substantial pain along the way, but we'll do it. We're Americans and that's what Americans do.

We always like to celebrate the Fourth with a problem from Tom Wiswell, a man who was both a great patriot and a great checkerist, and we'll do the same today. It's a deceptive three by three which Mr. Wiswell called Tempo.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W14,30,31:B3,12,22

Solve this problem at any tempo you wish, and at the right time, click on Read More to see the solution.

Solution

Solution and lettered notes are by Tom Wiswell.

14-10 12-16 10-6 16-20---A 6-2 20-24 2-6 3-7 30-26!---1 22-25 26-23 25-30 6-2 7-10 23-18 30-25 2-6 White Wins

A---3-7 leads to an interesting variation that may easily arise in crossboard play. 3-7, 6-2, 7-10, 2-7, 10-14, 7-11, 16-20, 11-15, 20-24, 15-19, 24-28, 19-23, 28-32, 23-26, 14-17, 26-23, 17-21, 23-26, 22-25, 31-27 W. W.

1---6-2 or 6-9 only draw (Ed., KingsRow)

And now, enjoy and celebrate the 4th of July!