The ACF Website wishes a big congratulations to Roy Little (Oklahoma), the composer of Catapult, which was voted the winner of
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #20.
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #20.
Roy Little's "Catapult" won handily with more votes (11) than the other 3 entries combined (10). "Catapult" had a bit of everything: a natural, kingless setting; a deferred triple triggered by a 2-way sacrifice followed by another deferred triple triggered by a double sacrifice. It was the only entry with no significant variations. Are the judges telling us something?
Jim Loy's "Alarm Clock", the other natural, kingless setting, was second with 4 votes. It had the most star moves (9). It threatened one triple at the outset and executed another at the end; tick, tick, tick, bzzz! As usual, Jim's entry corrected recorded play as follows: 9-14 22-17 5-9 17-13 1-5 25-22 14-17 21-14 9-25 29-22 10-15 24-19 15-24 28-19 7-10 22-18 11-15 18-11 8-24 27-20 10-15 32-28 4-8 31-27 15-19 23-16 12-19 27-24 2-7 24-15 7-10 15-11 8-15 20-16 15-19 16-11 10-14 26-22 14-17 22-18 17-22 (corrects 3-7?, R. King vs. P. Schwartzberg, 2014 National, R9 G1 Masters) 18-14 19-23 28-24 23-27 24-19 (now same as "Alarm Clock" at 8, 15-19, cols. rev.)
Ed Atkinson's "Slingshot" and Bill Salot's "Uncovered" tied for third (and last) with 3 votes each.
Like "Catapult", "Slingshot" featured two deferred strokes in tandem. A deferred triple was followed by afterplay leading to a clever deferred 2-way double. But, as Ed says, a slingshot is no match for a catapult.
"Uncovered" had the fewest pieces and offered 2-way triples, allowing Red to choose its poison. A pushaway and double sacrifice uncovered each triple.
Contest #20 had 307 visitors. One out of every 14.6 of them voted.
Contest #20 was introduced as follows:
Contest #20 - Special Deferred Triples
The Year 2014 began with a contest of 5 deferred triples each featuring UP TO 6 star moves. It ends here with 4 even better deferred triples. This time each problem features AT LEAST 6 star moves. These are special because of their masterful foreplay, afterplay, or both. Look for some mind-bending moves in every one of them, including in their notes.
Please see the beautiful details in animation, and vote for the one you deem best.
| Current Votes: | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| White to move. White Wins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Current Votes: | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| White to move. White Wins | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| Current Votes: | |||
 | |||
| White to move. White Wins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| Current Votes: | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| White to move. White Wins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|