It was April and the common saying about "April showers" had taken on a new meaning for Marvin J. Mavin and the Detroit Doublejumpers of the National Checker League.

The Doublejumpers were in Portland, where the old Portland Playpen Arena was still in service for the matches of the Portland Pitchers. The Arena was showing its age. Seating capacity had been reduced about 25% during bad weather because of leaks in the dome roof. The playing field itself had numerous wet spots, and play would have to take place not in the center of the field, but off to one side where the pitch remained dry.

Of course the fans were not happy and neither was team management, who saw declining ticket sales and revenue. Portland has a lot of rainy weather and it was becoming quite a problem.

Portland city government promised to build a new stadium in order to keep the team from moving to another city. Tucson, Arizona, had made an offer and pointed out that there weren't rainy weather problems or even leaky roofs to worry about. Of course Portland had promised a new stadium for a couple of years and allowed as how they could surely get it built in less than 20 more years--- or maybe a little longer than that; they didn't really know.

The irony was that Portland had been playing quite well this season and would likely make the playoffs, which were just about a month away. But fans just didn't want to come out and sit on wet seats and have a non-optimal view.

So it came about that in the first match of a three-match series, the weather was bad even by Portland standards and attendance was only about 8,000 in a stadium that was supposed to seat 50,000. But the show must go on, and on first board Marvin met up with an old foe, D. Rock Noodle, who had played first board for the Pitchers for quite a little while. Ever since they had first met, Marvin had been avoiding D. Rock's crusher handshakes, despite D. Rock's taunting.

The roof leaks were pretty bad on such a rainy day and the playing area had been set up in a slightly less wet area along what would have been the foul line in left field in a baseball stadium. Even there, the ground was slightly wet and the grounds crew had put down a tarp. Stadium management thought of erecting a tent roof over the area but that was finally vetoed as it would restrict the view of the fans even more. There was always the option of moving the match indoors to one of the conference areas but that would mean issuing full refunds plus additional vouchers as compensation to all ticket holders and management couldn't bear the expense.

The starting whistle blew and the call "Play Checkers!" rang out. The teams were surprisingly closely matched. Boards 2 through 4 produced draws; board 5 was a Doublejumper win, leading to a score of 2.5 to 1.5 in favor of Detroit. Everything was now up to Marvin and D. Rock on board 1. If Marvin could draw, the score would end at 3-2, giving the Doublejumpers the win. However if Marvin lost, the score would be 2.5-2.5, and since tie-breaks went from highest board to lowest, the loss on board 1 would give the match to the Pitchers.

The game reached a very tense position with Marvin to play. Both players were short on time, even with the 40 moves in two hours time control, and it looked like things could go either way.

Marvin, though, had an idea. With just under a minute left on the clock, Marvin reached out ...

There was a loud crack high overhead in the stadium dome roof, and all at once a torrent of water poured down directly on board 1! Both Marvin and D. Rock were knocked from their chairs and the board swept off the table.

Marvin and D. Rock picked themselves up. Both of them were soaked through, and rain continued to pour down through the new, large hole in the roof.

The referee, Willy Will Wilson, blew his whistle. "Game over!" he called out. "Win for Black!"

"Hey, ref, wait a minute," Marvin said, all the while trying to shake off some of the water from his arms, legs, and head, "I was going to make my move and draw the game. How do you get a win for Black here?"

D. Rock laughed. "Sorry, pal," he said. "The ref knows the rules. Game adjourned. And since we passed the four hour mark, Rule 3.1415926 says in time scramble situations, disruption of the board results in a loss for the player on move. You lose, fella."

"The rule was quoted correctly," said Willy Will. "After four hours the board is not reset. Player on move loses. Black wins." He blew his whistle again for good measure.

Within seconds the Doublejumper coach, Baba Dudut (who had replaced Davey Anderson after the controversial events we recounted in last fall's stories), was on the field, confronting the referee. "Just a minute there!" Baba said. "We didn't reach four hours. Look at the clocks. We're still in the first time control. Marvin had 48 seconds left and D. Rock had 54 seconds. And besides, upsetting the board was an act of nature, not deliberately done by my player!"

Baba Dudut reached down and pulled the game timer out of the sodden mess that the pitch had become. But the clock was completely filled with mud. "Oh ... well never mind, look at the stadium clock!" he told Willy Will.

"Stadium clocks are unofficial," Willy Will said, "and rule 3.1415926 doesn't take into account deliberate or non-deliberate board upsets. Do I need to blow my whistle again? Black wins and Portland wins. Clear the field, everyone. Go change into dry clothes."

"I'll appeal!" said Baba. "You'll regret this! You should have let us finish the match indoors!"

Willy Will did not reply, and Marvin looked as if he was about to speak, but Baba turned to him and said, "Not a word from you! You'll just say something dumb and make things worse!"

Meanwhile D. Rock continued to laugh and the few fans that were still in the stadium, all of them Pitcher fans, were hooting and hollering.

Willy Will blew his whistle one last time and ordered everyone off the field, making threats of fines and suspensions.

"Oh, go blow your horn!" Baba said in disgust as he took Marvin by the elbow and led him to the dugout exit.

"Coach, I coulda ... " Marvin began but Baba cut him off. "I don't want to hear it! Coulda, shoulda, well, you shoulda been faster and made your move before the roof cracked! You haven't heard the last of this!"

Marvin shrugged his shoulders. "Gee, how was I supposed to know that the roof ... "

"A player should always be aware!" Baba snapped. "No matter what!"

To be continued.

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We'd say Marvin is in hot water again but the rainwater that soaked him was probably pretty cold. Did Marvin have a draw on the board before the "April showers" ended the match? (Do you think rule 3.1415926 is fair?) See what you can work out and then click on Read More to get the answer.

Solution

32-28---A 27-32 10-14 31-27---B 14-5 8-12 5-1---C Drawn.

A---10-14 27-24 14-5 24-19 Black Wins.

B---9-13 23-27 White Wins.

C---5-9 27-24 28-19 32-27 Black Wins.

This problem is attributed to Milton Johnson, an Illinois composer; it was published back in 1951.