This month, instead of the usual speed problem or stroke problem which is our traditional month opener, we're bringing you an example of a rarer species: the block problem. And this is not just any block problem; it's a block construction problem.

Having nothing at all to do with the building trades, a block construction problem challenges you to reconstruct the moves leading up to a block position. Let's take a closer look: our target position is shown below.

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play; White has Won

B:W31,28,27,26,23,22,18,10:B24,20,19,16,15,12,11,8.

In this position, Black is to move and the game is lost. Black is completely blocked and has no move. Your challenge is to come up with a full game, composed only of legal moves, that will lead to the block position shown. This is much more difficult than you might think, and could take an expert player an hour or more to do.

Are you up to the challenge, or are your mental processes blocked? Show your prowess as a builder by solving today's problem, then click on Read More to see how our position arose in an actual published game.

Solution

In a game from the olden-days publication Draughts Marvel, R. W. Hornbrook lost to T. F. Cleary as follows.