Sharon Mollerus CC BY 2.0

The fellow above is committing a felony and we sure hope he gets caught. The poor woman victim is going to have a nasty surprise, and a lot of headaches, when she realizes her wallet is gone, with all her cash, credit cards, and documents. Theft, especially from someone vulnerable, is truly reprehensible.

However, in our game of checkers theft might bring you praise instead of jail time, although the victim still isn't going to be happy. In this, the 64th of Bill Salot's amazing problem solving competitions, theft--- of the checker variety--- is the theme. You can access the contest problems here. Do try all the problems and be sure to vote for the one you think is best.

Mr. Salot sent us a "teaser" problem to introduce the concept.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W19,21,22,27:B7,10,13,20

A rather nice little challenge, so try it and don't rob yourself of some real solving pleasure. When you're done, you can steal a look at the solution by clicking on Read More.

Solution

*19 16, 10-15, *27 23, 15-19 (or 7-10 first), *23 18, 7-10, *18 15, 10-14, *15 10---A, 20-24, *10 6, 24-27, *6 1, 27-31, *1 5, 31-26, *5-9, WW

A---Not 15 11, *20-24, 11 7, *24-27, 7 2, *27-31, 2 6, *14-17, 21 14, *31-26, 22 18, *26-22, Drawn.

This problem is by Jim Loy. It won Contest 10, April 2013, and corrected Tescheleit's Master Play, vol. 3, p.163, v.9A.

Now, on to the contest problems!