Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #54
2020-11-21 through 2020-12-31
So far 152 visitors have viewed this contest 511 times.

The ACF Website wishes a big congratulations to Ed Atkinson, the composer of Sidewinder , which was voted the winner of
Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest #54.
The quartet of problems in Contest 54 were so well matched that one voter called it a 4-way dead heat. All 4 entries were original, previously unpublished, piece-up settings that required 5 sacrifices to set up a quadruple jump into a piece down spread eagle win. But the voters managed to separate them with no ties to close out 2020. All 4 composers were previous contest winners.

Ed Atkinson's Sidewinder won with 7 votes, including votes by Gene Ellison, George Hay, Mark Sokolovsky, and Liam Stephens (Ireland).

Roy Little's Ricochet was 2nd with 4 votes by Richard Beckwith, Lloyd Gordon (Canada), Slava Gorin (Russia), and Ingo Zachos (Germany). How is that for international flavor?

Leo Springer (Netherlands) entered the 3rd place, Cross Country, which received 3 votes, including Kathy Wirthwein's vote.

Bill Salot's last place Twin Peaks received 2 votes including one by Leo Springer (Composers agree not to vote for their own entries).

Contest 54 had 152 visitors, 16 of whom voted.

The Voters' Ladder underwent a shake-up. It now stands as follows:

1 - Mark Sokolovsky, picked 4 winners in 5 tries (80%)
2 - Liam Stephens (Ireland), 12 wins in 22 tries (55%)
3&4 tie - Leo Springer (Netherlands) and Wilma Wolverton, both picked 3 winners in 6 tries (50%)
5 - Gene Ellison, 10 wins in 21 tries (47.6%)
6 - Kathy Wirthwein, 9 wins in 19 tries (47.4%);
7 - Slava Gorin (Russia), 7 wins in 16 tries (44%)
8 - George Hay, 9 wins in 22 tries (41%)
9 - Richard Marlowe, 2 wins in 5 tries (40%)
10 - Lloyd Gordon (Canada), 6 wins in 17 tries (35%)
12 others have either picked fewer than 35% winners or voted in fewer than 5 contests.

Please join us in the contests being planned for 2021.

Contest 54 was introduced as follows:

This quartet of entries houses a bunch of commonalities: five White sacrifices leading to equivalent sweeps and into equivalent finishes, all piece-up wins, all different, all original, all unpublished, all tough, all by long-time composers, including the defending champion composer and
three former champions.

If you can solve one of these settings, the clues it demonstrates will help you solve the others. The world, including the composers, would love to know which of these offerings you think is best. Tell us by voting.

Compare your choice with that of other voters. See the fireworks animated. Test your evaluation skills with those on the voters' ladder. Review past contests. Enter your own unpublished composition in a future contest. All of the fun-filled details are spelled out on this web site.
Sidewinder
Composed By: Ed Atkinson
Current Votes:
White to move. White Wins
View Animation
Trunk*26 22A, 25-18, *31 26, 6-13, *26 22, 18-25, *27 23, 19-26, *2 7, 12-19, *11 8, 4-11, 7 21BWhite Wins
ANot 9 5, *25-30Draw
BQuadruple into Spread Eagle
Cross Country
Composed By: Leo Springer (Netherlands)
Current Votes:
White to move. White Wins
View Animation
Trunk*12 8A, 3-12, *26 23, 19-26, *9 6B, 12-19, *27 23, 18-27, *22 18, 15-29, 6 22CWhite Wins
ANot 16 11, 18-14 (or 13-17 first), 9 18, *13-17, 22 13, *15-31, Draw..................... Not 9 6, *19-23, 26-19, 15-31, *22 15, Draw....................................................... Not 9 5, *18-14, 5 1, *14-17, 25 21, *17-14, 27 23, *19-24, Draw
BNot 27 23, *12-19 (18-27, *9 6, 12-19 is Trunk, WW), 23 7, *26-30, 25 21, *30-25Red Wins
CQuadruple into Spread Eagle
Twin Peaks
Current Votes:
White to move. White Wins
View Animation
Trunk*26 22, 17-26, *7 2, 10-17, *19 15, 26-10A, *18 22, 28-19B, *2 6, 17-26, 6 22C, 1-6, *11 15D, 6-9, *15 18White Wins
A28-10, *18 22, 26-19, *2 6, sameWhite Wins
B17-26, *2 6, 28-19, sameWhite Wins
CQuadruple into Spread Eagle
DNot 11 7, *6-9Red Wins
Ricochet
Current Votes:
White to move. White Wins
View Animation
Trunk*26 23A, 17-26, *23 18, 15-29, *19 16, 12-19, 24 15, 10-19, *13 9B, 6-13, *11 7, 2-11, 8 22C, 20-16, *28 24, 16-11, *24 19, 11-7, *19 15, 7-2, *15 10White Wins
ANot 25 21, *17-14, Draw................................................................................... Not 28 32, *17-21, RW
BNot 11 7, 2-11, 8-22, *6-10 (not 20-16, *13 9, WW), 13 9, *10-15, 9 6, *15-19, 6 2, *20-24, 28 32, *19-23, 2 7, *24-27, 7 11, *27-31, 11 15, *23-26, 15 18, *26-30Draw
CQuadruple into Spread Eagle
Please enter your original, unpublished, dual-free problems in future contests by sending them at anytime to:
Bill Salot
1006 Elmwood Drive
Colonial Heights, VA 23834-2905

or at wjsalot@comcast.net.