We hope that your holiday season is going well, and that it is filled with everything you might wish for. Our holidays definitely include time for checkers, and today we'd like to turn to someone who was without doubt one of the greatest American players of his day, Samuel Gonotsky.

Mr. Gonotsky suffered from poor health made worse by his reputed lack of interest in taking care of himself, and a perennial lack of money. Had he lived beyond his twenties, who knows what checker mountains he might have climbed?

Today, let's look at one of his relatively few problem positions.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W27,25,17,13:B19,18,12,10.

This one will require some thought, so maybe it's one to try to solve with that cup of coffee after dinner or a slice of leftover mince pie. It's up to you how to go about it, but the main thing is to enjoy. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution.

Solution

13-9 12-16 9-6 10-15 3. 6-2---A 19-23 2-7 23x32 7-10 16-19 10-14 18-23---B 25-22---C 23-26 14-18 26-30 18x11 Drawn.

A---6-1 loses: 6-1 16-20 1-6 19-24 and now if 6-10 then 24x31 10x19 18-23 19x26 31x13 Black Wins.

B---19-23 seems to also draw.

C---Gonotsky's play ends here, with the draw in plain sight.

We hope this challenging and practical position added a little to your holiday enjoyment.

The best of the holidays to one and all from the staff of The Checker Maven.