The ACF Website wishes a big congratulations to Ed Atkinson, Harrisburg, PA, the composer of Surprise Arising, which was voted the winner of
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #37.
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #37.
CONTEST RESULTS:
Among the 6 Double Jeopardy strokes, Surprise Arising, a pure stroke, by Ed Atkinson, came from behind to win with 6 votes. Liam Stephens (Ireland) chose the winner for his 5th consecutive contest, stretching his lead on the Problem Evaluation Ladder. Also publicly voting for it were Gene Ellison and Lloyd Gordon (Canada), who called it "the most imaginative".
King Me, a deferred stroke, by Bill Salot, came in 2nd with 4 votes. Voting for it were George Hay, Kathy Wirthwein and Brian Hinkle, who called it "artistically created and entertaining".
In 3rd place with 2 votes was Every Which Way, a deferred stroke, by Roy Little. The votes were by Slava Gorin (Russia) and Wilma Wolverton, who called it "So simple, but amazing".
The backup problems by each composer trailed with one vote each: Silver Bullet, a deferred stroke, by Ed Atkinson (Richard Marlowe voted for it); plus pure strokes Boxing Lesson, by Bill Salot, and Traffic Jam, by Roy Little (Gary Ellison voted for it). Mr. Little showed integrity by disqualifying his Traffic Jam as soon as he remembered it had been published as No. 34 in his book, "Roy Little's Checker Problems!" (2015).
All 3 composers had one problem in the top 3 and another in the bottom 3. Overall, the pure strokes and the deferred strokes ended up about even.
The contest site had 352 visitors; 15 voted.
Here is how this contest was introduced:
Contest 37 resembles Contest 35 featuring counter-intuitive moves that put two White pieces in simultaneous jeopardy. But this time, the entries have fewer pieces and shorter solutions, are all White wins and offer a wider variety of ideas. As usual, composers entered only original unpublished problems.
These entries fall into two unidentified technical categories of three entries each. So, in addition to determining the most popular problem and its composer, a third objective of Contest 37 is to learn which of the two categories is favored most by you, the voters.
Contest 37 is also the first salvo of a 3-way challenge match between 4-time Problemist of the year, Roy Little, and perennial challengers Ed Atkinson and Bill Salot. Each of them entered one problem in each of the two categories in this contest.
Whether you are a steady fan of these contests or a visitor, if you cannot solve all six settings, please at least review the animated solutions, then vote for the one problem that most appeals to you.
If you want to get on the evaluation ladder, tell Bill Salot how you voted. His address is below the diagrams. Picking the winner puts you on the way to the top of the ladder. The current ladder is shown on "2017 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW".
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