"Please don't tell me you're thinking of another cruise," Marvin said.

"Oh, no, dear," Priscilla replied, "not in the least. After all, how could we top that cruise to Panama we took over Thanksgiving? That was marvelous, wasn't it?"

Priscilla, as our regular readers know, is Priscilla Snelson, the wife of Marvin J. Mavin, and the CEO of the giant international conglomerate Rust Belt Holdings. Marvin is the superstar Captain of the Detroit Doublejumpers, a team in the National Checker League, and one which has been a many time winner of the World Series of Checkers.

In our previous story, Marvin and Priscilla cruised on Luxury Lines from Miami to Panama, a voyage in which Marvin was coerced into giving checker lessons and directing a checker tournament. The cruise experience was much more to Priscilla's liking than to Marvin's.

"No, dear husband, we have a special invitation for Christmas dinner, and it's interesting that you should mention our cruise, as the invitation stemmed directly from someone we both met on-board."

Marvin was instantly wary. "Whaddya mean, Prissy?"

"Don't call me Prissy! How many times must I tell you that! But ... anyhow ... you remember that nice gentleman who sat next to you at Thanksgiving dinner at the Captain's table?"

Marvin in fact did remember all too well.

"Well," Priscilla continued, "wouldn't you know it, but he has a home nearby! Normally, of course, he works on Wall Street in New York, but he has a getaway mansion in Grosse Pointe and goes there for the holidays. Isn't that grand! You surely remember Nicolas N. Nickelson, the hedge fund manager?"

"Um ... uh ... like, are you sayin' that this stuck-up rich dude invited us and stuff?"

"Yes, he did! He and I got to be friends over drinks while you were doing your checker duties, and we'll be going to his vacation mansion for Christmas dinner!"

"I think even a cruise would be better than that," Marvin muttered under his breath. Then, aloud, he said, "Please tell me he didn't invite us for New Year's Eve, too?"

"Oh no, dear, that would have been nice, but he has to be back in New York to entertain clients from Qatar and Monte Carlo. In any case, we'll be joining my business friends for New Year's Eve at a private party one of them is putting on in Aspen."

Marvin was speechless, and perhaps that was just as well.

It was Christmas Day. Priscilla and Marvin had slept in and, just after breakfasting on a Christmas special of caviar served on poached eggs, they had exchanged gifts. Priscilla gave Marvin a diamond encrusted Swiss watch, even though she knew Marvin rarely wore a watch. "It's the thought that counts," she told him. In turn, Marvin gave Priscilla the keys to a brand new Mercedes, as her current Mercedes was already a good 18 months old, and by Priscilla's standards was due for replacement.

A cozy afternoon passed but at around 4 o'clock Priscilla reminded Marvin that it was time to change into dinner clothes. "Cocktails at 6, dinner at 8," she announced, "and I doubt that Mr. Nickelson would care to be kept waiting."

"Dinner clothes?" Marvin said. "I ain't got no ... "

"No, no," Priscilla interrupted. "Not a tux, just a dinner jacket, a white shirt, and a black bow tie. You've got several dinner jackets from other occasions. Just look in the back of your closet; I had one freshly dry-cleaned and pressed for you. Wasn't that considerate of me?"

Priscilla's limo proceeded at a stately pace down the quarter-mile long driveway of Nicholas Nickelson's vacation mansion, smartly turned into the loop at the top of the drive, and came to a gentle halt. Immediately liveried footmen opened the doors of the limo and showed Priscilla and Marvin to the enormous entryway.

Mr. Nickelson himself greeted the arriving couple just inside the door. "Dear sweet Priscilla," he exclaimed with a smile, kissing her once on each cheek. Then he turned to Marvin and, with seeming reluctance, offered a hand. "And you must be, of course, yes, that checker playing husband." His handshake was perfunctory at best. "I remember you from the cruise. You were a hired hand, weren't you, what with ... what did you do ... give lessons or something? Some sort of minimum wage job? Or did you just work for food?" Nickelson laughed. "Imagine that!" he said. "I can see the sign! 'Will teach checkers for food!' How marvelous a sight that would be!"

Marvin glanced over at Priscilla, who merely warned Marvin with a look not to say anything in return. But Nickelson wasn't quite done. "Maybe I can introduce you to some of my hedge fund friends! Perhaps they'd give you a hot dog in return for a lesson! But I'm in the business of making money for myself and my clients. Scads of money. So we have to play chess, not checkers."

"That old line again?" Marvin said, unable to hold back. "I heard that at from all those CEOs this past summer and I had to straighten them out!" (Please see our previous Checker Maven story.)

"Oh," Nickelson said, "did you teach some CEOs? Did they feed you well? Hamburgers, even? Or are you happy with instant ramen!" He laughed again.

"Dude, do you play checkers?" Marvin said it almost in a growl. Priscilla grabbed his upper arm and squeezed hard in further warning. But it was too late.

""Course I do," said Nickelson with a laugh. "Who doesn't? It's a kid's game, right, we all learned it as kids, except apparently----" Nickelson paused to look Marvin in the eyes--- "some of the kids never grew up! Ha ha ha!" He paused a moment. "But anyhow, did I invite you to this party? Why are you here?"

Priscilla finally spoke up. "Marvin is my husband, don't you remember? You invited us as I recall."

Nickelson reflected a moment. "Yes, 'spose so," he said, "but I didn't think you'd actually bring him. I thought we were going to, you know, have a nice little night of private time upstairs, just you and I. What do you think, Marvin, wouldn't that be nice ... for Priscilla and I to have a little alone time, upstairs?"

Marvin made a fist, pulled back his arm, and was about to connect with Nickelson's nose when Priscilla yanked him back. "No violence, honey," she said. "I think I mis-estimated Mr. Nickelson quite badly. You were quite insulting, sir, and I tried to get Marvin to remain polite with you, but you've pushed things too far and your suggestive talk insulted me as well. So here's what I propose. Instead of Marvin slugging you in the nose and knocking you on your fat tail, but probably getting arrested for doing so, how about the two of you play a nice little game of checkers? You say you're this superior chess person, so surely you'd win a simple game against someone whom you say isn't even a real grownup?"

Nickelson glared. "Sure," he said, "I'll take on your child husband, but let's make it worthwhile. What do you say we stake $100,000 on the game?"

"Oh, no," Priscilla said, "let's make it even more interesting. $500,000. And you get draw odds. You win the bet if Marvin loses or draws."

"Honey, gee," Marvin said, "draw odds? That's takin' a risk ... "

"You'll win," Priscilla said, "or I'll be the one breaking your nose."

"Let's do it," Nickelson said, and then announced the terms of the match to the partygoers. One of the event staff set up a checkerboard and the crowd gathered around to watch.

The game began. Nickelson played a reasonably decent game and the position came down to the one shown below with Marvin to move.

"A cool half million," Nickelson said, "for you can't possibly win this one. Half a million, why, that's a week's worth of my earnings! It will be nice to have!"

---

A lot is on the line; half a million dollars, and definitely ego and prestige. Marvin surely must be feeling the pressure. There's no pressure on you, though; solve the problem at leisure without (we hope) any risk of losing a lot of money and status, not to mention getting punched in the nose. When you're ready, click on Read More to see the solution and the conclusion of our story.

Solution and Conclusion

Marvin played 18-14 and the game continued.

18-14* 17-21---A 22-18 2-7 14-9 7-10 9-6 11-16 6-2 16x23 26x19 13-17 2-6 White Wins.

A---Many variations are possible after this point.

"I lose," Nickelson mumbled. "I can't believe it, I lost in such a simple stupid game to a simple stupid guy who looks like a bum and never grew up."

"Pay, pal!" Marvin and Priscilla said, almost in unison.

"But ... but ... " Nickeson stuttered " ... I can't. I had a bad week and ... you know ... liquidity problems ... "

"Fine," Priscilla said, "you'll hear from my team of lawyers first thing on the next business day. It's going to cost you a lot more than a half million when we throw in slander and everything else they can think up."

"Okay ... okay ... I ... "

"Marvin, dear, I think it's time to go now. We can have a nice Christmas dinner at Le Menu Magnifique; they always have a table available for me."

Marvin was more the burger and fries type, but he replied, "It's bound to be better than whatever our 'chess not checkers' friend will be serving. Yeah, let's go. And Nickelson, old boy, better keep an eye on that nose of yours, so nothin' happens to it."

---

This position was published in the Philadelphia Ledger around 1921 and is attributed to L. S. Hart, Jr. The run-up is interesting and so we present it below.

1.	10-14	24-20
2.	11-15	22-18
3.	15x22	25x18
4.	6-10	26-22
5.	8-11	27-24
6.	3-8	24-19
7.	11-16	20x11
8.	8x24	28x19
9.	9-13	18x9
10.	5x14	22-18
11.	1-5	18x9
12.	5x14	29-25
13.	4-8	31-26
14.	8-11	25-22
15.	11-15	32-28
16.	15x24	28x19
17.	14-17	21x14
18.	10x17	23-18
19.	7-11	...

Played perfectly to here, but 7-11 loses while 7-10 or 2-6 draws. White now wins with 18-14*! as shown above.