The holidays have sped by as they always do; there's the long run-up, a week or so of family fun and frolics, and then--- it's over, and we face that winter letdown and months of solid, virtually uninterrupted work, school, or what-have-you.

Fortunately, there's a bright spot for readers of The Checker Maven. For some little while, the father and son team of Lloyd and Josh Gordon, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, have been replenishing our stock of speed problems, with positions from their own games and of their own design. We're presenting the first of these today.

Photo by Mrs. Lloyd Gordon

Josh and Lloyd generally assemble problem positions that vary from easy to medium in difficulty, making them perfect for speed problems. This month we'll start with an easy one. You won't have a lot of trouble solving it, and it's quite clever and pleasing. Ten seconds will be plenty of time, we think, although perhaps you may disagree!

When you're ready, click on the link below to show the problem and start the clock. Then come back here and click on Read More to verify your solution.

January 2014 Speed Problem Easy; 10 seconds

Thank you, Josh and Lloyd, for sending these problems, and we hope that the rest of your Eastern Ontario winter won't be too tough.

Solution

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

B:W32,31,30,28,24,22,17,14:B15,13,12,11,10,8,5,2.

What's interesting about this problem is that Black has a man at risk on square 10, and it takes a little insight to see how to win in spite of this.

15-19! 24-6---A 2-25 30-21 13-22 Black Wins.

A---14-7 11-16---B 24-15 2-25 30-21 13-22 Black Wins.

B---Josh and Lloyd suggested 5-9 here, which also wins. 11-16 is preferred by KingsRow.