The Checker Maven
The World's Most Widely Read Checkers and Draughts Publication
Bob Newell, Editor-in-Chief
Published every Saturday morning in Honolulu, Hawai`i
Noticing missing images? An explanation is here.
New Year's Edition 2015
PickPik CC0
The New Year will soon be welcomed in, with great parties and joyous celebration--- and, we must admit, an occasional overindulgence. So our New Year's problem is usually an easier one, to take into account the possibility that some readers may have ... a headache.[1]
Without further ado, then, here's the setting.
BLACK
Black to Play and Win
B:W28,K9,K8:BK30,16,14,10.
Here we go again: Black is a man up, why isn't it an obvious win? But a closer look shows that White has two kings and the Black men on 10, 14, and even 16 look vulnerable. How will Black win it?
Can you solve it, or does it just give you a headache? Try it out and then click on Read More for instant relief.
[1] If you are of age and choose to enjoy adult beverages, please don't drive. We urge our readers to stay safe and not endanger themselves or others.
[Read More]You can email the Webmaster with your comments on this article.
Holidays 2014
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The holiday season is upon us, and whatever holiday you celebrate, The Checker Maven wishes you the best of the season. May you enjoy family and friends, peace and contentment, not only during this special time but in every day to come.
Checkers can be a part of our celebrations, too, and we've selected a problem suitable for the longer leisure hours of the holidays. (That's another way of saying it isn't all that easy.)
Here's the setting, as published almost 90 years ago.
BLACK
Black to Play and Win
B:W32,30,20,18,14,6:BK31,23,21,17,10,8,7.
Well, you say, what's so hard? Black is up a piece and has a king! Oh ... wait ... White is about to get a king, and that Black man on 10 is looking a little shaky ... maybe the Black win not so easy after all.
It will take quite some visualization skill to solve it, but we're certain you'll find the result pleasing.
When you've given it your holiday best, click on Read More to see the solution.
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10th Anniversary!
This week The Checker Maven reaches the unbelievable milestone of 10 years of continuous on-time weekly publication, with no missed issues and no missed deadlines.
Originally, we had planned to stop here; our business plan called for 10 years of publication and beyond that, we didn't know. But we're going to try for another five years, and G-d willing we'll be able to do it. If we get that far, it will truly be the end of the line.
The last several years have been a struggle, with eyesight difficulties placing greater and greater limits on what we can do, but happily we've been able to keep going.
We're also thankful that we've kept our core readership. We only have about half the readers that we did at our peak, but we still have thousands every week and we still can claim to be the most widely read "straight checkers" publication anywhere.
We also lay claim to having written more checker fiction than anyone else, ever, and though it's not a crowded field, we still think we've done pretty well.
Although we don't get a lot of correspondence--- checker players aren't big on that--- we are happy to have heard from nearly every corner of the world (we're still waiting for Antarctica and the Space Station to check in, but they're about all that's left).
It all comes down to our readers, though; without you, there would be no point and we wouldn't have lasted a year. We hope you'll keep coming back every Saturday morning, and we hope you'll find something that you like. It's been quite a journey, and we owe it all to you. Thanks for staying with us for so much longer than we ever would have expected.
Below, please find our 10th Anniversary problem offering. It's a lead-in to our next serialized story, due to begin some time next year.
BLACK
WHITE
White to Play and Win
W:W32,30,27,26,24,22,21,18,14,10:B20,17,16,13,11,8,7,5,3,1.
When you're ready, click on Read More to reveal the action-packed solution.
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Thanksgiving 2014
Stockvault.net CC0
We say it year after year, and we'll say it again. We love the Thanksgiving holiday, with its American spirit, its interdenominational theme, and its emphasis on family, gratitude, and peaceful celebration. We hope your Thanksgiving will be filled with happiness and become the source of great memories for the years ahead.
We won't break our habit of turning to great American problemist Tom Wiswell for our Thanksgiving week problem, either. Mr. Wiswell, in addition to being a great checkerist and problem composer, epitomized the best of what makes America what it is.
Mr. Wiswell called this problem "All's well that ends well" and that seems most fitting.
WHITE
White to Play and Draw
W:W15,18,23,26,27,29,31:B2,6,8,10,12,13,17.
Solve Mr. Wiswell's intriguing problem, then treat yourself to our usual Thanksgiving recommendation: a little more of that delicious pumpkin pie.
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Push 'Em Back
"Push 'Em Back" is a rallying cry urging your team of choice to defend the goal line in the game of American football. The Checker Maven staff are certainly not football fans, but we thought of this expression when reviewing the problem presented below.
WHITE
White to Play and Win
W:WK30,K28,27:BK20,18,K12.
It's definitely on the easier side, and the title provides a rather large hint. You're invited to tackle this one; don't punt on it. Find the solution and then click on Read More to check your answer.
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Make Haste Slowly
"Make haste slowly" is a saying that comes from the original Greek σπεῦδε βραδέως (we hope your browser displays Greek characters properly) but is better known in the Latin translation, festina lente.
We've always found the concept of "making haste slowly" to be rather interesting. What does it mean, exactly? Does it admonish us to hedge our bets? To proceed directly but with caution? To hurry up and wait?
Adages are often like that; they can mean any number of things.
This month's speed problem may perhaps clarify "making haste slowly," at least from the point of view of the game of checkers. While you need to solve the problem within the time limit of 20 seconds, you will have to carefully visualize and work out the sequence of moves, and that will take the typical checkerist a little time (though certainly not all that much time).
Click below to display the problem and start the clock, then come back and click on Read More to verify your solution.
November Speed Problem (Not so hard; 20 seconds)
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The Fastest Ever
Just amazing. This train is going at about 357 miles per hour, setting a record for the fastest ever. It's the French Train Grande Vitesse and it's a marvel of rail technology.
This month's speed problem is also the fastest ever; though very easy and far from a checker marvel, it's a test of checker intuition. The trick will be to spot the solution within the allowed time limit. This is a "solve at a glance" problem for a player with even moderate experience.
But if you're a newcomer to our game of checkers, you may take a little longer to see how it's done. That's fine, too; it's the process of looking for a solution that's important.
Here we go: click below and think fast! Then come back and click on Read More to see the easy answer to our "fastest" ever speed problem.
October Speed Problem (Very easy; 5 seconds)
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A Familiar Position
The yoga position shown above, we must opine, looks like rather a difficult one, yet the person in the photo seems to have taken it on quite willingly.
In checkers, difficult positions are generally avoided rather than sought. In the diagram below, Black is definitely in such a situation, and may have to go through contortions to find the way to a draw. But, like the yoga position, there is a way to do it.
BLACK
Black to Play and Draw
B:W30,27,24,23,22,19,5:B21,13,12,11,10,6,1.
Can you make the necessary twists and turns? If you're a knowledgeable "book" player, the position may indeed look familiar, and you'll likely know how to do it. If it's not familiar to you (yet), it is a good one to learn, so either way, give it a try. If you find yourself in knots, you can always click on Read More to see the run-up, solution, and notes. While you're at it, just for a little additional fun, you might also try to name the yoga position in the photo.
You can email the Webmaster with your comments on this article.
Checker Poetry
Public Domain
The Checker Maven has, we believe, has written and published more original checker fiction than anyone else has ever done. But we've produced very little checker poetry.
Checker poetry used to grace checker books and checker columns, and some of it was very good indeed. The poems often cleverly incorporated problem situations in their verses.
The poem below, kindly provided by Liam Stephens and John Reade, and originally penned by one William Brogan, has been edited slightly to remove an inappropriate ethnic reference and to correct an obvious printer's error.
by Wm. Brogan
There used to live a player
In the town where I was born
Who studied checkers late at night
And early every morn.
This chap was never known
To do a tap of work,
And the neighbours all described him
As a useless lazy jerk.
But opportunity they say
Knocks once at every door.
And Jake was soon to have a chance
To put some gold in store.
A stranger with great riches
Came to this little town,
And he claimed to be a player
Of considerable renown.
He had a roll of greenbacks
That looked like a load of hay,
Said he “This roll I’ll gamble
‘Gainst Jake if he will play.”
Then the town folks they got busy
And they mortgaged home and land,
And they covered every dollar
That the stranger had in hand.
Then the old town hall was hired,
And they called on Lazy Jake.
Saying “ Come and beat the stranger
And we’ll give you half the stake.”
The mayor of the little town
Declared a holiday,
So all the interested ones
Could come and see the play.
The game was quickly started,
Deep silence ruled the place,
And a look of stern defiance
Hovered o’er each player’s face.
The stranger moved quite rapidly
As though he knew his stuff,
While Jake was playing slowly
For he found the going tough.
The following position
Came up and all was done.
So if you are a checkerist
Then show how Jake has won.
WHITE (Jake)
White to Play and Win
W:W30,25,13,6:BK31,24,17,15.
(Originally published in Wood’s Checker Player, Vol 6, No 3, October 1942.)
And two points White will score
So when you are all finished
Below click on Read More.
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Labor Day 2014
Public Domain Pictures CC0
Labor Day 2014 will be on Monday, September 1, and each year The Checker Maven takes the opportunity to join in honoring American workers, the men and women who work hard day in and day out to make America the great nation that it is. Whether you're a business executive, police officer, gardener, nurse, construction worker, or belong to any of the thousands of other occupations that make up the American workforce, you're worthy of our salute. In America, all honest work is respected, and rightly so.
Checkers was once the mind sport of the working class and many of the great masters were American workers. One of them was steelworker Asa Long, and today we present a position taken from one of his games.
| 1. | 11-15 | 23-19 |
| 2. | 9-14 | 22-17 |
| 3. | 7-11 |
Forms the Whiltier opening.
| 3. | ... | 25-22 |
| 4. | 11-16 | 26-23 |
| 5. | 5-9 | 17-13 |
| 6. | 3-7 | 29-25 |
| 7. | 7-11 | 24-20 |
| 8. | 15-24 | 28-19 |
| 9. | 11-15 | 20-11 |
| 10. | 15-24 | 27-20 |
| 11. | 8-15 | 30-26 |
| 12. | 4-8 | 20-16 |
Book play up to here, where the KingsRow engine now gives 31-27 instead.
| 13. | 12-19 | 23-16 |
| 14. | 8-11 | 16-7 |
| 15. | 2-11 | 26-23 |
| 16. | 11-16 | 31-26 |
| 17. | 15-18 | 22-15 |
| 18. | 10-19 | 25-22 |
| 19. | 1-5 | 22-17 |
| 20. | 14-18 | 23-14 |
| 21. | 9-18 | 17-14 |
| 22. | 16-20 |
WHITE
White to Play and Draw
W:W32,26,21,14,13:B20,19,18,6,5.
You definitely have your work cut out for you in this one. Can you labor hard enough to find the White draw? When you've completed the job, clock out by clicking on Read More to see the solution.
You can email the Webmaster with your comments on this article.
The Checker Maven is produced at editorial offices in Honolulu, Hawai`i, as a completely non-commercial public service from which no income is obtained or sought. Original material is Copyright © 2004-2026 Avi Gobbler Publishing. Other material is public domain, AI generated, as attributed, or licensed under CC1, CC2, CC3 or CC4 and the various CC options. Information presented on this site is offered as-is, at no cost, and bears no express or implied warranty as to accuracy or usability. You agree that you use such information entirely at your own risk. No liabilities of any kind under any legal theory whatsoever are accepted. The Checker Maven is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Bob Newell, Sr.
