Nick Kendrick CC 2

The old expression "all roads lead to Rome" stems from the long-ago empire of Rome once being the center of everything. Today, the saying generally means that there can be many ways to achieve the same goal.

We can apply this to our game of checkers, too. Here's a relatively easy speed problem that can be solved via multiple initial moves, but the play leads to the same result in all cases.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W30,23,21,16,13,10:B19,9,6,3,1

Can you find the "roads to Rome"? We think you can, and when you have, click on Read More to check your solution.

Solution

There are many variations on the following solution, but they all amount to the moves being taken in a different order; the end result won't change. White can win with 21-17 or 16-11 or even 16-12; in each case the final winning position is the same. You can try it out and see for yourself. We'll just show one "road to Rome" below.

21-17 6x15 13x6 1x10 16-11 19x26 30x23 White Wins.

Thanks to regular Toronto based contributors Lloyd and "Gosh Josh" Gordon for sending this along. Do all roads lead to Toronto?

Credit: Clashmaker CC 2