Public Domain

Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson was an interesting character to say the least. After an abruptly terminated military career, he went on to become a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, such as the book shown above, published in 1943, which analyzes the strategies of the Axis powers. Notably, some accounts point to him as the founder of DC Comics.

But sometimes the hard way is the only way. The 65th in Bill Salot's stunning "Unofficial World Championship" checker problem contests is here, and it bears the title Strategic Non-Strokes. Bill says these positions are "won the hard way" without resorting to a big stroke. We won't say the wins are "ground out"--- that reminds us too much of doing long division by hand in grade school--- but technique and insight is definitely required.

You can view all the problems on the usual contest page. Try them all and then be sure to vote for the one you think should be the winner.

As an introduction to the contest, have a look at the problem below.

D-Day by John Acker
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W18,K19,22,31:B10,12,13,K28

Can you win this ... the hard way? Or any way? See how you do and then let your mouse click hard on Read More to see the solution and notes. After that, head on to the contest page for four more great problems.

Solution

*31 27, 28-32, *27 24, 32-28---A, *24 20---B, 28-32, 20 16---C, 32-28---D, *16 11, 28-32, *11 7---E, 32-27, *7 2---F, 12-16---G, 19 12, 27-23, *2 6, 23-14, 6 15, 14-18, *15 10, 18-25, *10 14---H, 25-21, *12 16, 13-17, *16 19, 17-22, *19 23, 22-25, *23 26, 25-29, *26 30, 29-25, *14 18, White Wins.

A---32-27, *24 20, 27-32, same.

B---Not 19 16, *28-19, 16 23, *12-16, Draws.

C---19 23 and 19 24 waste time.

D---32-27, *18 14 (not 16 11, 12-16 or 27-31, Draw), 10-26, *19 15, WW.

E---Not 11 8, 12-16 (or 32-27 first), 19 12, *32-27, Draws.

F---Not 7 3, *12-16, 19 12, *27-23, Draws.

G---27-31, *19 23, 12-16, *2-6, WW, but 2-7, *16-19, Draws.

H---Now American Position.