PICRYL CC0

It's the month of June and in some parts of North America it's the "June Bug" season. The June Bug is related to the scarab, and there are some 100 varieties of this insect. It makes a brief appearance usually in May and June each year, hence the name "June Bug" (or sometimes "May Bug"). They are widely considered to be a pest harmful to trees and lawn.

What's that got to do with checkers, and our (more or less) monthly speed problem? Take a look at the diagram below.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:WK2,K7,10,26:B1,3,K14,K17

So, you say, it's pretty straightforward, right? What's the point of a problem with such an "obvious" solution? Well, then--- this one could indeed "bug" you if you get it wrong. Experienced players won't have any difficulty. But the rest of us might, shall we say, get, um, bitten[1].

Solve it quickly and then let your mouse crawl over to Read More to see the solution.

[1] June bugs don't actually bite humans, but allow us this small artistic liberty.

Solution

14-18---A 7-11 17-21 2-7 1-5---B 11-16 18-15 7-2 15x6 2x9 5x14 Black Wins.

A---No point in 17-13.

B---This is the trick that will "bug" you if you get it wrong. If Black goes after the piece on 26 right away with 21-25 then 11-8 3-12 10-6 1-10 7-23 and White gets the draw.

Thanks to regular contributors Josh and Lloyd Gordon of Toronto for sending this one to us.