The young fellow above seems to be having some trouble with his lesson, at least judging by the state of the blackboard, the look on his face, and the number of books piled up beside him. Could those possibly be checker books, and might the bottom one be a library edition of Complete Checkers? We can't say for sure, but one can always hope.

In today's Checker School entry, we present a little lesson with a big payoff. The position is shown below.

J. WYLLIE
BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Draw

W:W27,24,19,17,13,K7:BK25,20,12,9,6,1.

What can White do here? The man on 17 is doomed and apparently White can only shuffle his king around and wait to lose. Yet there is an astounding draw here, one most worthy of the Herd Laddie. We call this a "little lesson" because Ben Boland was unusually brief in his commentary and there is only one sample game. Nonetheless we're certain you'll love this study, which is now approaching 150 years in age.

Give it a little try and then click your little mouse on the little Read More button to see the larger than life solution.

Solution

Text and lettered notes are taken as always from Ben Boland's Famous Positions in the Game of Checkers. Numbered notes are by the Editor, using the KingsRow computer engine.

27-23---A,3, 20-27, 17-14---4, 9-18, 23-14, 6-10---B, 13-9, 10-17, 9—6. Drawn---6.

Game: 11-15, 23-19, 9-14, 22-17, 6-9, 17-13, 2-6, 25-22, 8-11, 29-25, 4-8, 22-17, 14-18, 26-23, 18—22, 25-18, 15-22, 23-18, 22-25, 17-14, 10-17, 21-14, 11-16, 30-21, 16-23, 24-19, 8-11, 19-15, 12-16, 15-8, 3-12, 28-24, 7-11, 21-17, 23-26, 31-22, 11-15, 18-11, 9-25, 11-7, 16-20, 7-3, 25-30, 3-7, 30-25, 24-19, 25-22, 7-11, 22—26, 32—28, 26-22, 11-7, 22—25, 28-24, 5-9. Forms above position. W. Reid vs. J. B. Macindoe, Game No. 2, Glasgow, Feb. 19, 1870, the Draught Board, April 1871.

A---Corrects Macindoe, who continued; 7-2---1, 1-5, 19-15, 25-21, 24-19, 21-14, 15-11, 6—10, 13-6, 10-15, 19-10, 14-16. Black---2 Wins. W. Reid.

B---If 1-5, then 7—11. Drawn.

1---This move does win, but so does the immediate and obvious 27-23.

2---Misprinted as "White Wins" in Mr. Boland's book.

3---Did you see this amazing move?

4---And how about this one?

5---Misprinted as "10-17" in the book.

6---1-10 7-30 and it's an obvious draw.

James Wyllie first gave the above correction in the "Leeds Express," and later in "The Draught Board," Page 69, August 1871.