Now that's quite a caper!

Today we feature the fifth in an ongoing series on capers in the Kelso opening, taken from Willie Ryan's classic Tricks Traps & Shots of the Checkerboard. There's a lot of action in this one and we think it's as good as the dance caper shown above.

Here's the runup, without commentary. (Annotations are presented in previous columns in this series.)

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Draw

B:W32,31,28,27,25,24,23,22,18,17:B15,13,12,11,10,9,8,3,2,1.

Black has a loose double corner, but there's definitely a draw here, though it's not so easy to get it. Can you find the right move and then correctly play out the rest of the sequence? Willie found one drawing move, but there are actually two--- not that that helps very much.

Don't dance around; jump right in and find the solution, then leap to Read More to see Willie's answer and commentary.

Solution

Numbered notes are by the editor, using Ed Gilbert's KingsRow computer engine and companion 10-piece endgame database.

1---Almost everything else loses. Willie starred 10-14, but in fact 1-5 can also obtain a draw, with this amazing line found by the computer and likely not considered by Willie: 1-5 18-14 9-18 23-7 3-10 27-23 2-6 25-21 6-8 31-27 12-16 and now 24-19! 15-31 32-27 31-24 28-3 11-16 and on to a draw, as 3-7 loses and White must play 3-8 or 23-18. Once again, checkers is shown to have incredible depth and scope.

2---31-26 is a possible try for a win, and is the computer's choice, but the man on 10 remains weak: 31-26 25-21 26-22 21-25 22-17 25-21 17-14 21-17 and now White must give a man back as both 28-24 and 27-23 lose. Continue: 14-9 17-14 10-6 1-10 9-6 to a draw.

J---"Fresh from the farm! When better eggs are laid, my hens will hatch 'em." We're not quite sure what Willie meant by this, but the play in this study was certainly enjoyable and enlightening.