It was August, which was usually the hottest month of the year in Bismarck, North Dakota, and 1955 was no exception. Although North Dakota is often rightly thought of as a very cold place, summers, though brief, could be scorching hot, with temperatures above a hundred degrees on some days.

Sal Westerman, the unofficial leader of the Coffee and Cake Checker Club, usually stayed in town during August. His wife Sylvia always went to Dickinson to spend two or three weeks with her sister Phoebe, and while she was away Sal would retreat to the relative coolness of his basement to read his checker magazines and do some study from his large checkers library. The Club didn't meet during the summer, and in fact their usual venue, the Beacon Cafe, closed down in August so the proprietress, Deana, could go to Gackle to visit with family and help with the wheat harvest.

But this year Sal decided to do a little travel as well. His nephew, Maurice Kamsky, ran a plumbing business in Jamestown, and was himself a decent amateur checker player. Maurice was always trying to get Sal to visit, and when he pointed out that Jamestown was having a first ever checker festival, Sal finally agreed to go.

So, on a Friday morning in early August, Sal gassed up the family sedan and rode east on Highway 10 toward Jamestown. The ride took around three hours and Sal finally parked in front of Maurice's modest house at about noon. Maurice saw Sal's arrival and rushed out to help Sal with his suitcase, getting him settled in the guest room before his wife Kate put out a lunch of pastrami sandwiches.

The three chit-chatted over lunch making mostly small talk. Sal wanted to talk about the checker festival, which would take place the following day, with lessons, casual play, and a rapid-play tournament in the afternoon. But before Sal could say much, Maurice said, "It's boy's night out tonight, Sal ... Friday night." Maurice looked over at his wife. "Right, honey?" he said.

"I suppose," Kate said with a bit of a sigh. "As long as you keep it to once a month. Anyhow, I'll go out for ladies night. That will be a lot more fun, I'm sure."

Maurice looked over at Sal and winked. "We'll have fun, too," he said. "Best you get a little rest after lunch as sometimes we have, well, a lot of fun."

Kate raised her voice ever so slightly. "Now, Maurice, watch the drinking, okay? There's that tournament tomorrow, you know."

"Oh honey, I'm not worried about the tournament." He turned and winked again at Sal.

"Well, yes," Sal said, "you have to remember I'm older and shouldn't make a late night of it."

"Aw, get in a nap this afternoon and you'll be good to go, you won't even notice the time," said Maurice. "Look, I need to get back to the shop. Dinner is usually around five-thirty and we'll take off after dinner at seven." Maurice got up, said good-bye, and headed out the back door. In a few minutes Kate and Sal heard his old pick-up truck pull out of the driveway.

"I think I will take that rest," Sal said to Kate. "Thank you for a nice lunch."

Dinner was pot roast with vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy, and lime Jello for dessert. Kate served coffee but it was obvious that Maurice really wanted to get going.

"Ready for a big night?" he asked Sal.

"Well, I don't know," Sal replied, "I know you'd like me to go with you on your boy's night out, but I really wanted to study a little checkers before the tournament tomorrow."

"Ah, no worries Uncle Sal, you'll win in a breeze. Let's go!"

Reluctantly, Sal put on his jacket and Fedora and followed Maurice out to his pickup.

Within moments they were on a seedy part of Jamestown's Main Street. Maurice pulled up in front of a wide storefront with a sign over it that only said "Island Bar."

"Island Bar?" Sal asked. "Seems kind of odd."

"You'll see. This ... uh ... this kind of bar is sort of ... its own thing, if you know what I mean."

Maurice held the door open for his uncle to enter, and the scene that greeted Sal was like something from a movie shot during the Roaring Twenties. The large bar room was crowded and filled with smoke. Nearly all of the patrons were men, and then Sal saw why. At the front of the room was a sort of raised stage, and on the stage were a dozen or so young girls dressed in, shall we say, a provocative fashion. A piano player was playing just below the stage and the girls were all dancing in an approximation of a Folies Bergere manner.

Sal stopped and turned to Maurice. "I don't think this is quite appropriate for me," he said, "and probably not for you either."

"Hey, come on Uncle, it's just good fun. Anyhow I have a surprise for you a little later. Let's have a couple of drinks first and enjoy the show. Something a bit different is good for a guy sometimes ... "

"But I don't ... "

Maurice had already found a vacant table and had pulled out a chair for Sal.

A waitress, dressed in approximately the same way as the girls on stage, arrived almost at once.

"Beer," Maurice said.

The waitress nodded and looked at Sal. "What'll you have, hon?" she asked.

"Hon?" Sal muttered under his breath but then continued, "Coca Cola, please. Just a small glass."

The waitress, whose name tag read "Candy," replied "If you say so, hon, but a shot of whiskey would do you good and loosen you up some." She bustled off before Sal could say anything further.

Maurice had his beer, and several more, while Sal nursed his Coca Cola and got increasingly irritated by the smoke and the noise. He didn't pay any attention to the stage show, but Maurice watched it eagerly and let out cheers and yells from time to time. Finally, he looked at his watch and said to Sal, "Nine o'clock. Time for your surprise."

"More like time to go home," Sal said but Maurice got up from the table and motioned for Sal to follow. He led his uncle to a door in a corridor at the very end of the bar room.

Sal entered and to his surprise saw about half a dozen checker boards and an equal number of games going on. The players all had glasses of beer or liquor at hand and were evidently drinking steadily.

"What's this?" Sal asked.

"Checkers, what else?" Maurice replied. "This is the big time, way bigger than the tournament tomorrow. There you just get a ribbon or something. Here you can win ... big ... if you're good enough and have the courage to play."

"You mean play for stakes?" Sal said.

"Big stakes. Serious play, serious money."

"And serious drinking? That doesn't go with good play ... "

"Tell these boys that. Or better, don't tell them as they might not take too kindly to it."

"I'm leaving," Sal said. "You can drive me or I can call for a taxi, but one way or the other, I"m leaving."

However just at that moment, one of the games finished. The winner looked up and saw Sal. "Well lookie here," said the man, who had a gruff look, a lined face, and some of the attributes of a heavy drinker. "New blood. Kind of an old codger but if Maurice brought him here, maybe he'll have what it takes to play me."

"That's Mike Laury," Maurice said in a low voice. "He's pretty good."

Laury stood up. "Ain't you going to answer me, old timer? You in or are you chicken? A hundred bucks says I can take you."

"Sorry, I don't play for money," Sal said, "but thank you for the offer."

"Scared are ya? Now listen up and listen good. Maurice brought you here and anyone who comes here plays. Thems the rules and a hundred is our usual stake."

"I said I don't play for money," Sal replied, "and I don't have a hundred dollars on me in any event. So I'll be going now."

"You ain't goin' nowhere!" Laury said. "Maurice'll give me a marker for your hundred, won't you, Maurice?"

Maurice said, "Yeah sure, why not. But I'm warning you, my Uncle Sal is darn good. In fact he's the ... "

"Good is he? Well I'm better. Now get over here and sit down, old man, before I make you."

Sal's temper started to rise, something that was quite rare. "Now look here, you, I don't have to ... okay, you know what? You want to play so badly, we'll play. My nephew tried to warn you."

"Ha ha ha! Warn me did he? About what? That you'll have a heart attack while you're drinking soda pop? Let's go!"

Sal sat down and the game began. Laury was surprisingly good, especially for someone who had half a dozen empty shot glasses at this side. After a while, the game reached the following position with Sal to play.

Sal thought for a little bit and the said, "You were warned, Mr. Laury, so fair is fair." Sal then made his move.

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We'll guess that none of our readers has ever been to a 1955 dive bar in Jamestown, North Dakota, where checkers was played in a back room for high stakes; after all, our story is fictitious. But could you have defeated an ornery old cuss like Mike Laury, who despite everything else had talent? We suggest you don't drink six shots of rotgut before trying this problem (none would be the right amount). See how you do and then click on Read More to see the solution and the rest of the story.

Solution and Conclusion

Sal moved 18-15 and play continued as follows.

1.	...	18-15
2.	24-28	...

Black temporarily goes a man up. The move looks odd, but there aren't any better options, and most players would take the two for one, and the White win will still take careful play.

2.	...	15x6
3.	2x18	13-9*
4.	5x14	17x3

Evens the material count.

5.

18-23

26-22*

Moving out the King first will only draw after Black plays 21-25.

6.

19-24

...

White will now get a second king and win by capturing the bridge piece in most variants. Here's one way; there are of course others. Explore further on your computer if you wish; it's a good demonstration of winning technique.

6.	...	22-17
7.	24-27	3-7
8.	27-31	7-11
9.	31-26	17-14
10.	26-22	14-9
11.	22-18	9-6
12.	18-22	11-16
13.	22-26	16-20
14.	26-31	6-2
15.	31-26	2-6
16.	26-31	6-10
17.	31-27	10-15
18.	27-31	20-24
19.	31-26	15-18

White Wins.

"I can't believe it," Laury said, "this old coot done beat me. Just can't believe it."

"You owe me a hundred dollars," Sal said, but just then Maurice spoke up.

"I tried to tell you, Mike, my uncle is state champion. You never had a chance against him, but you insisted on playing."

A look of surprise swept over Laury's face. "State Champ? You brought a ringer in here?" He turned his look to Sal. "I ain't paying you nothing. State Champ? That ain't fair. You're a gol-dang cheat!" Laury swept all the pieces off the board and onto the floor in an angry gesture. "I've got a good mind to ... "

A couple of other players came over and grabbed Laury by his arms. "No fightin', Mike, you know the rules, and you better pay up too," one of the players said and went on, "You don't pay, you don't never come back no more."

Fuming, Laury pulled out his wallet and threw a hundred dollar bill onto the now empty checkerboard. "I'm outta here," he said, "I ain't playin' with no more cheaters and low life old fossils."

Sal picked up the hundred dollar bill and then turned to Maurice. "This money will go to charity," he said, "and we're going home now, nephew. Right now. And in a taxi. You've had too many beers to be able to drive safely."

Maurice just nodded his head, led Sal out of the back room, and had the bartender call them a taxi.

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Today's problem came from actual play sent to us by regular contributors Lloyd and "Gosh Josh" Gordon.