The Checker Maven
Jump to navigationA Well-Rounded Gentleman
You may never have heard of him, but Theodore "Ted" Bullockus was one of those well-rounded fellows who was good at both checkers and chess. Mr. Bullockus was born on May 29, 1917; we don't have any further information about his life and career, although he apparently was born in the Bronx, where his Lithuanian parents lived. Mr. Bullockus passed away on October 11, 2008, in Sun City, California (now part of the Menofee retirement community).
We could only find one grainy photo of this gentleman, taken during a chess tournament some years back. But he must have been quite capable. We located this checker study of his, based on a Wood Mail Tourney game (players unknown). Here's the run-up.
| 1. | 9-14 | 22-17 |
| 2. | 5-9 | 17-13 |
| 3. | 1-5 | 24-19 |
| 4. | 11-16 | 28-24 |
| 5. | 16-20 | 32-28 |
| 6. | 8-11 | 19-16 |
| 7. | 12x19 | 24x8 |
| 8. | 4x11 | 23-19 |
| 9. | 11-15 | 19-16 |
| 10. | 15-18 | 16-12 |
| 11. | 10-15 | 26-23 |
26-22 would have drawn, but now Black has a win. Can you find it?
BLACK
Black to Play and Win
B:W12,13,21,23,25,27,28,29,30,31:B2,3,5,6,7,9,14,15,18,20
Match wits with Mr. Bullockus and see how you do. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution.
Solution
| 12. | 15-19 | 23x16 |
| 13. | 18-22 | 25x18 |
| 14. | 14x32 | ... |
At this point Black has a win, but it takes some more work to demonstrate it over the board.
| 14. | ... | 21-17 |
| 15. | 32-27 | 31x24 |
| 16. | 20x27 | 28-24 |
| 17. | 27-31 | 24-20 |
| 18. | 7-10 | 29-25 |
| 19. | 9-14 | 25-21 |
| 20. | 14-18 | 16-11 |
| 21. | 18-22 | 11-8 |
| 22. | 31-27 | 8-4 |
| 23. | 22-26 | 30x23 |
| 24. | 27x18 | 4-8 |
| 25. | 18-15 | 20-16 |
| 26. | 2-7 | 17-14 |
| 27. | 10x17 | 21x14 |
| 28. | 7-11 | 16x7 |
| 29. | 3x17 |
At long last the Black win is clear.
We hope you enjoyed this problem, which shows that good studies can often come from lesser-known but still skilled checker players.
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