"We know you had a great time over Thanksgiving at your sister in law's place in Dickinson," Delmer said. "So tell us, are you going in for a repeat performance this Christmas? Maybe you can stay until New Year's Day!"

Everyone laughed, except the target of the remark, the elderly gentleman Sal Westerman.

The location was the Beacon Cafe in Bismarck, North Dakota. It was December 1955 and the holidays were just a week away. The occasion was the weekly meeting of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club, which met every Saturday afternoon from just after Labor Day to just before Memorial Day, with time out for the Thanksgiving and Christmas / New Year's holidays.

Sal was the club's informal leader, and the ones teasing him were the "boys" of whom all but one were at least 50 years old.

In our previous Beacon Cafe story, we recounted how Sal's wife, Sylvia, got him to go out to Dickinson for Thanksgiving at her sister in law Phoebe's home. Phoebe and Sal, as also recounted in previous stories, didn't exactly have a cordial relationship, what with Phoebe's constant criticism of Sal's checker hobby, among many other perceived shortcomings.

"No," Sal finally replied, slowly and deliberately, "we won't be going to Dickinson. Our daughter Joyce is able to get some time off from the law practice and will come over from Washington for a visit. We'll be staying home and spending our time with her."

Everyone commented as to how nice that would be. The boys individually commented on their own plans. Most of them would be home with family or going out to the family farm for several days. Louie the Flash, predictably, had a girlfriend lined up and would have Christmas at her place. He wasn't so sure about New Year's Eve, though, as he said "the relationship really isn't going all that well." That got another laugh from everyone, as Louie went through girlfriends as fast as a Cadillac went through gas.

Deana, the proprietess of the Cafe, would of course visit with family in Gackle and close the Cafe for about ten days. But when it came to Young Blaine, who had over the summer gotten married to his now-wife Moira, the teasing shifted away from Sal and onto Young Blaine.

"So then, Young Blaine," Wayne began, "are you taking Moira on a spectacular holiday vacation?"

Young Blaine turned a bit red. "Actually," he said, "that's something of a problem."

"What do you mean?" Dan asked. "You just buy a ticket to Paris or Rome and off you go! Problem solved."

"Uh, remember, I'm just an Assistant Engineer," Young Blaine replied, "and I can't afford that kind of thing."

"With you and Moira both working?" Dan added.

"Besides," Young Blaine continued, "neither of us have that much vacation time, especially after our honeymoon. But ... well ... that's kind of what Moira and I have been ... disagreeing about."

"Fighting, you mean?" Wayne said.

"Not exactly fighting ... well, okay, a little. Moira didn't think our honeymoon was long enough and she wants what she calls a 'continuation" and she wants it in Hawai`i."

"Oh, boy," Larry said, "get out your checkbook for that one."

"I know," Young Blaine went on, "and she says we have enough vacation to go for one week. But that hardly seems worth it, to spend so much money for just a week. I want her to wait for summer when we can go for two weeks, as we'll have more money and vacation time saved up. But she won't hear of it. 'Now or never' she says, and the 'never' part sounds kind of ... I don't know ... threatening?"

At this moment Sal chuckled. "Young Blaine," he said, "Moira is a new bride, and she wants to keep that special 'just married' feeling. You can't blame her for that. Certainly she's not threatenng you; she just wants to get your attention. Now, take it from me. You're only young once, and not even for all that long, and hopefully you're only newly married once. So go along with things. Make her extra happy. Take out a small loan if you must. Show her that she's at least as special after marriage as she was before. You'll never regret it."

There were nods around the table, and even Deana (who had never herself been married) chimed in.

"Uh ... okay ... " Blaine stammered, "but ... uh ... Sal ... shouldn't we be doing a checker problem or something?"

Sal chuckled once more. "Yes, Young Blaine, we should, and you've had enough teasing and free advice for one afternoon. Here you go, boys."

Sal laid out the following position on a couple of the checkerboards in the big booth in the back of the Cafe where the boys always sat. And of course Deana announced today's treat: apple strudel. The way it always worked was that the boy would attempt Sal's problem and if they solved it Sal bought the treats; if they couldn't, they bought treats for Sal and Sylvia.

Sal gave the boys an hour and soon they were in deep concentration.

---

A second honeymoon in Hawai`i over the holidays; that's quite a lot for Young Blaine to think about. While we don't know what you, our reader, will be doing over the holidays, we suspect it may not be a second honeymoon--- but who knows? Anything can and does happen in the world of checkers. Meanwhile, though, see how you do on today's problem, and then click on Read More for the solution and the brief, and possibly surprising, conclusion to our story.

Solution and Conclusion

An hour soon passed. Dan spoke for the group. "No luck, Sal," he said, "so we're buying."

"Thank you boys," Sal said. "Now here's how it's done."

Sal demonstrated the following solution.

18-23 27x18 24-27 31x24 12-16 20x11 8x29 Black Wins.

"Nice one," the boys all said, just as Deana arrived with a tray of strudel and more coffee.

Skittles, checker talk, and checker fun would go on until the Cafe's five o'clock closing time, and then the boys would break for the holidays. But at four o'clock, Young Blaine stood up and said, "I need to go now. The travel agency is open until five and I just have enough time to book tickets and a hotel ... in Honolulu."

---

Today's problem is due to one E. R. Wiley of Thorpe, Wisconsin. It was first published in 1908 and is said to arise from a Defiance opening. The problem is not so difficult and we're left wondering why the "boys" didn't solve it. Perhaps Young Blaine was just too distracted and the others weren't on their best game. Checkers is like that! Sometimes we see the solution and at other times it eludes us. But certainly it always holds our interest.