It was Saturday, April 9, 1955, the day before Easter Sunday. It was the regularly scheduled meeting day of Bismarck, North Dakota's Coffee and Cake Checker Club, informally led by the respected elderly gentleman Sal Westerman. The club met every Saturday from just after Labor Day until just before Memorial Day, with a brief break for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

But today there was a problem.

The club invariably met at the Beacon Cafe, a popular local spot run by championship baker Deana Nagel. Saturday afternoons post-lunch were typically slow and Deana welcomed the Club and was friends with all of the "boys" (all but one of whom were over 50 years of age). However, this year Deana closed up for the Easter weekend. It was something she hadn't done in prior years but this year, she wanted to spend the weekend in Gackle, North Dakota, where her aging grandmother had come from Iowa for a rather rare visit.

Of course Sal could hardly blame Deana; certainly she should visit with her grandmother. But that left open the question of what to do about the club. The "boys" had discussed it the prior week and didn't come up with much in the way of a solution. The public library was a possible option but coffee and treats were not permitted on premises. There were other cafes and coffee shops but the boys were used to meeting at the Beacon.

"We could go to Bob's Big Boy," Delmer had suggested the previous week. Big Boy had just opened the prior year and was a popular spot. But Wayne pointed out that they didn't have indoor seating. A couple of other options were reviewed. The general feeling was not to go to a bar or a hotel lounge, and restaurants tended to be too busy.

It must have been Louie the Flash who suggested gathering at Sal's home.

"Oh, I don't know," Sal had said, "I'd have to ask Sylvia." Sylvia was Sal's wife of many decades. "And our house is pretty small."

"Hey, I've visited you and your basement is set up for checkers," Dan said. "We can all squeeze in, and we can go pot luck on bringing the treats."

Sal said he would think about it and that evening he asked Sylvia, who agreed, if a bit relucantly. "Whatever makes you happy, Sal," she said, "but just don't expect me to bake for everyone. I have an idea those boys of yours can really eat. And drink coffee, too."

The day arrived, and right on the dot of 1 PM the boys started to arrive. Delmer was first, followed by Wayne, Dan, Louie the Flash, and Larry. They all brought sacks of baked goods and thermos of coffee. The last to arrive was Ron, who brought a large mixed flower bouquet for Sylvia, to recognize her generosity in opening her home to the Club.

It was a bit of a tight fit in Sal's basement, but he had gotten out a large folding table and folding chairs and there was just enough room for everyone. The boys drank coffee and munched on treats and talked checkers until finally Sal said, "Okay, let me put out a checker problem for you to solve. No one needs to buy treats today so solve it just for fun.

Sal went over to a large bookshelf which was overflowing with checker books, magazines, and newspaper clippings. He laid out the following position from a diagram in one of the magazines.

"This is a good one," he said. "Take your time and see how you do."

The boys dug in at once and the discussions became quite animated. Nearly an hour went by until Ron said, "We've got it, Sal!"

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Sal's basement den looks like a nice place to be solving a checker problem. We hope you have a comfortable environment, too. Join the "boys" in solving this one, and click on Read More to check your solution.

Solution

Ron played out the following moves.

19-16 12x19 23x16 10x19 16-11 8x15 26-23 19x26 28x1 9-14 22-17 White Wins.

"Very good," Sal said, "you've got it!"

Skittles games and more checker chatter went on until about 4 PM when Dan said, "We've appreciated your hospitality, Sal, but it's time to wrap up."

Sal looked puzzled. "But we usually meet until almost five," he said.

"We know," Dan replied, "but we don't want to wear out our welcome, nor do we want to impose a burden on Sylvia. We'll be back at the Beacon in a week and we can stay later then."

All of the boys offered their thanks to Sal, and then again to Sylvia as they made their way out.

A few days later, Sal and Sylvia received a $10 gift certificate in the mail for Bob's Big Boy. The certificate was signed by all of the boys in the Club.

"Your club is made up of very nice people," Sylvia remarked.

"Of course," Sal said, "they're checker players!"

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Today's position was derived from a correction to #966 in Gould's Problem Book.