Shown above are the board and pieces for the game Konane, also commonly know as "Hawaiian Checkers" even though the game has nothing at all to do with checkers! Still, it's an excellent game of skill, and has been played in Hawai`i since ancient days.

Seemingly less common in Hawai`i is our own game of checkers; we can't find any history of formal competition and there is certainly no officially recognized state champion. But local checker fan Geoffrey Pang is about to change all that. He's organizing and sponsoring an honest-to-goodness checker tournament in Mililani, on the island of O`ahu, on July 24, 2010, at the Mililani Town Center. The tournament is informal (and not an official American Checker Association event). If you're on O`ahu on the 24th, we encourage you to play. There is no entry fee. Simply contact Geoff at gpang_abm@msn.com to let him know you're coming, and show up at 9:00 AM. The tournament will take place at the beautiful outdoor location shown below. The Checker Maven will be on hand to cover the event, and we'll publish the results in a forthcoming Saturday edition.

Now, for today's column, we really couldn't come up with a Hawaiian-themed checker problem. But after a little thought, we decided that given Hawai`i's storied history of kings, queens, and other royalty, a problem involving many kings might be just the ticket; and fortunately, we were able to locate one. It's diagrammed below, and a festival of kings it surely is.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:WK10,28,K32:BK11,K18,K19,K20.

This one is really easy enough to have been a fifteen second speed problem, but in Hawai`i, we're hardly ever in a hurry, so take your time, then click on Read More to see the royally simple solution.

Solution

10-15 19x10 28-24 20x27 32x16 White Wins.

A`ole pilikia --- no problem, bra!