The Checker Maven

But Is It Worth Your Job?

20251110-fired.jpg
Creazilla CC0

In 1892, John T. Denvir was working at a lucrative $2,000 per year job. During the lunch hour, he would go to his checker club to play a few games in the space of the one hour lunch period. One day, he played a rather brilliant game against Lucius S. Head, which however caused him to return to work an hour late. He fully expected to be fired, and considered himself very lucky indeed to have gotten off instead with a stern scolding.

Here's the runup to the critical position:

11-16 23-18 10-14 18-15 16-19 22-17 7-10 24-20 9-13 26-22 5-9 30-26 8-11 15x8 4x11 27-23 2-7 23x16 12x19 32-27 11-15 20-16

WHITE

BLACK
Black to Play and Win

If you can solve it, you certainly have excellent visualization skills. Check your solution against our animation, which includes the whole game.

A brilliancy indeed, but is it worth your job?20050904-symbol.gif



04/30/05 - Category: Problems
You can email the Webmaster with comments on this article.



The Checker Maven is produced at editorial offices in Honolulu, Hawai`i, as a completely non-commercial public service from which no income is obtained or sought. Original material is Copyright © 2004-2026 Avi Gobbler Publishing. Other material is public domain, AI generated, as attributed, or licensed under CC1, CC2, CC3 or CC4 and the various CC options. Information presented on this site is offered as-is, at no cost, and bears no express or implied warranty as to accuracy or usability. You agree that you use such information entirely at your own risk. No liabilities of any kind under any legal theory whatsoever are accepted. The Checker Maven is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Bob Newell, Sr.