On one of those hot, hot summer days in the Northern Hemisphere, the best thing to do is relax and cool off, as the young lady in the photo is enjoying doing. There are days when we just don't want to be bothered with any amount of effort or exertion.

Even we have to admit that on hot summer days, our attention can be drawn away from checkers. So today we've got an easy problem sent to us by regular contributors Lloyd and Josh Gordon of Toronto. It's one of those settings for which you'll either see the solution immediately, or you'll go astray at the outset.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Draw

B:W6,16,21,30,32:B3,7,14,18,24

Experienced players will make short work of this, and the rest of us will get it with a little thought. Keep your cool, see how quickly you can solve it and then click on Read More to check your line of play.

Solution

14-17---A 21x14 7-11 16x7 3x17 to a straightforward draw.

A---What makes this problem interesting is that, believe or not, every other move loses!

7-11 16x7 3x10 6-2 10-15 2-7 15-19 7-10 and Black loses a man.

7-10 6-2 10-15 2-6 15-19 6-10 and Black loses a man.

18-23 (or 18-22 or 24-28) 6-2 7-10 2-6 10-15 6-10 and Black loses a man.

The key point is that Black's arrangement of men on 7, 14, and 18 make him vulnerable and there is only one way out.

We hope you enjoyed this nice little problem, and we hope you are having a nice little summer.