The short term "run down" can mean several things in the rather flexible English language. That barn above certainly is run down, meaning dilapidated, neglected, in bad condition. If you're ill, you might be feeling "run down." And there are other meanings; a crime suspect might be "run down" by the police. A pedestrian, heaven forbid, might get run down in traffic. Or in baseball, a baserunner might be caught in a rundown (no hyphen) and tagged out.

In the game of checkers, a piece might get "run down" and captured. That's something of a hint for today's problem. Let's look at the run up to the run down.

If you search for this move in online databases, such as Checker Cruncher, you'll see one game in which this move occurs, and Black wins that one (there may be others that we didn't find). But actually 9-13 loses! Can you correct this? There are several moves that would draw here.

Alas, after the exchange, Black is in a loss. But White will need to demonstrate good cross-board skills and make a number of star moves to pull off the win.

BLACK

WHITE
White to Play and Win

W:W19,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,29,31,32:B1,2,3,4,6,10,11,12,13,14,20

The solution is a bit long, but don't let this problem run you down; instead, run down the solution and then run your mouse down to Read More to check your work.

Solution

At move 6, Black should have played 4-8 or 11-16 or 3-7 to keep an even game.

26x17 loses here!

In the actual game we've referenced, White played 24-8, which only draws, and eventually White made another error and lost. Such are the fortunes of the checkerboard.

2-9 is no better.

White Wins.

The chase is over. A classic winning technique; White engineered a breakthrough to get a highly mobile first king, and then simply chased Black until he had no good moves remaining. We hope you found this problem enjoyable and instructive.