The ACF Website wishes a big congratulations to Jim Loy, Bozeman, Montana, the composer of Tectonic, which was voted the winner of
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #34.
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #34.
Messrs. Borghetti and Scarpetta practiced for their World Title Match by solving all of the problems in Contest 34.
The contest featured two problems, Tectonic and Buddy, that combined the Zugzwang theme with multiple, ever-popular, deferred strokes. The other problems were strokeless challenges.
The winner, Tectonic, by Jim Loy, received 7 votes. It had the most pieces and the longest solution. It arose in a 1908 Northampton Mail Tourney, where J. Ball played correctly for 6 moves before overlooking the final stroke and conceding a draw to lucky A. Collings. Wilma Wolverton, Gene Ellison, Liam Stephens and Sergio Scarpetta voted for Tectonic. It was Liam's 2nd consecutive correct pick, putting him at the top of the Evaluator Ladder.
Tied for second, with 5 votes each, were Buddy, by Roy Little, and Twofernuthin', by Bill Salot.
Buddy packed the second longest solution into the second fewest pieces. The losing side faced a choice of three different strokes by which to self-destruct. Its 5 votes were all anonymous.
Twofernuthin' was favored by Brian Hinkle, Rich Beckwith and Michele Borghetti. Bill thinks they were the smartest judges. Brian called it "crazy good".
Firstborn, by George H. Slocum, received 3 votes, but was disqualified because of prior publication. It was Slocum's very first published problem, pretty good for a beginner. It appeared in the Wichita Eagle, 6/17/1888 (recently found by Jim Loy). Editor J. T. Denvir added that Slocum "would rather solve and compose problems than play checkers".
Fourth, Self-Destruct, by Liam Stephens, had 2 votes. It was setback from a position in a game that he won. George Hay voted for it. Yes, Liam voted too, but not for his own problem.
Last with zero votes was Echo Chamber, by Ed Atkinson, a last minute substitute and a fine example of Zugzwang. It had the fewest pieces and the shortest solution.
The contest showed increased activity with 356 visitors. 22 of whom voted, the most votes since Contest 26.
Here is how Contest 34 was introduced:
Zugzwang is a German term meaning "compelled to move". It describes a situation, borrowed from chess, in which the obligation to make a move in one's turn is a serious, often decisive, disadvantage. The side in Zugzwang would like to pass, but cannot.
Zugzwang arises more often in checkers than in chess and can occur at any time.
The following deceptive checker gems are arranged in order of decreasing size. Five are wins; one is an escape.
One occurred in a game and corrects published play (guess which one).
One is by the famous George H. Slocum (guess which one).
Animate them all, enjoy them all, but please vote for one, the one you deem best.
Then if you want to get on the World Champion Checker Problem Evaluator Ladder, tell Bill Salot how you voted. Bill's address is under the diagrams.
Currently Jim Somers, Liam Stephens and Brian Hinkle are at the top of the Problem Evaluator Ladder.
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