2. Winning Checker Tactics

It is not easy for the beginner to realize that the compulsory nature of checker captures profoundly affects the tactics used in the game.

The point is this: since you know your opponent must accept any capturing opportunities you set before him, you can plan certain sequences that will win material for you or have other favorable consequences.

Suppose, for example, you could offer one of your men in such a way that when your opponent captures it, you will have a position in which you can win two men in return.

This is, in fact, the most common tactical stroke in checkers— the two-for-one shot. Diagram 8 shows how it is done.

Diagram 8 (White to play and win)

The possibility of a two-for-one shot is suggested here by Black's vulnerable diagonal formation.

BLACK            WHITE
--------                20-16!
11-20               18-4 (K)

The two-for-one shot. White wins easily.

Even a three-for-one shot is possible—more spectacular, but less likely. Again, the diagonal set-up gives the show away. (See Diagram 9.)

Diagram 9 (Black  to play and win)

Here Black "pitches" the man on 6 to win.   (A pitch in checkers is a sacrifice.)

BLACK                       WHITE
6-10!                             15-6
8-29 (K)                          

Black wins. Note how Black set up the three-for-one shot by weakening White's diagonal pattern.

A refinement on this idea is to bring about the vulnerable diagonal set-up where it does not yet exist. Diagram 10 shows such a situation.

White has a three-for-two shot by playing the correct first move. Black's moves are all forced replies.

BLACK                       WHITE
--------                          19-15!

And not 28—24? first, for after . . . 20—27 in reply, White must recapture 32—23, spoiling the intended shot. In fact, Black then continues . . . 9—14 winning.

11-18               28-24
20-27               32-5

Diagram 10 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

White wins. Now we can appreciate the power and ingenuity of his opening sacrifice 19—15!

Diagram 11 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Another form of the two-for-one shot is shown in Diagram 11. Again White begins by forcing a capture.

BLACK                       WHITE
-------                           24-19!
15-24                            28-12

White  wins.   His  two-for-one  shot  was  made  possible  by Black's forced capture.

In Diagram 12 we see the same idea operating in a much more refined form.

Diagram 12 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

White's first move confronts Black with a hidden menace.

BLACK                       WHITE
                                     21-17!

If Black sees the threat, he can play . . . 9—14, but in that case White wins easily after 17—10.

22-25             17-14!
9-18               15-29

White wins. This is an impressive example of how the obliga­tion to capture can prove disastrous.

The two-for-one shot often turns up as a winning resource in what would otherwise prove to be a troublesome position. Diagram 13 provides a spectacular example.

Diagram 13 (Black to play and win)
BLACK

WHITE

Black must lose the man on 23 or the man on 24. As the beginner sees it, there is nothing to be done, and he must reconcile himself to the loss. The more experienced player tries to figure out how he can turn the coming capture to his advantage.

BLACK                       WHITE
27-31 (K)!......             --------

Obviously White cannot choose 19—26 now, as . . . 31—13 in reply wins at once. So he selects the other capture.

                        --------                                    19-28
        ............... 20-24!!                                    -------

With this beautiful pitch Black establishes a neat win.

                        --------                                    28-26
       .....            31-13                           --------

Black wins. An exquisite line of play.

In Diagram 14 also we see a fantastic pitch which leads the opponent to destruction.

Black is on the point of establishing an easy draw by ad­vancing his man on 18 to the King row. And there seems to be no way to stop him. Yet White finds a way.

                           BLACK                   WHITE
                           --------                      11-15!!

To the beginner, this bit of fireworks comes as a complete surprise.

                           19-10               28-24!

Diagram 14 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Everything falls into place for a killing three-for-two shot.

                                                BLACK                        WHITE
                                                --------                          22-18!

White wins. A delightful bit of sly tactics, in which White's first startling move shows what imagination can achieve in checkers.

In Diagram 15 White's winning play has an even more mysterious prelude.

White is so far behind in material, that he seems to be hope­lessly lost. Actually, he can force a scintillating win.

                           BLACK                        WHITE
                           …….                            22-18!!

Sacrificing two men, to begin with.

                        14-16                           32-27!

Setting up a delightful multiple shot.

                       31-24               28-3 (K)

White  wins.   Remarkable  play,   which  shows  the  amazing opportunities that lurk in harmless-looking positions.

Diagram 15 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

BLACK                                    WHITE
…….                                        22-18!!

Sacrificing two men, to begin with.

14-16                                       32-27!

Setting up a delightful multiple shot.

31-24                                       28-3 (K)

White  wins.   Remarkable  play,   which  shows  the  amazing opportunities that lurk in harmless-looking positions.

Some of the most spectacular tactical effects occur when you block your opponent's men in the corner squares. Diagram 16 and the next few diagrams show some of the droll effects that you can achieve by this technique.

Diagram 16 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

White's first  move is incomprehensible to those unfamiliar with corner blocking tactics.

BLACK                       WHITE
-------                          27-24!
19-28                           26-23!
19-28 

The point. Black has nothing left but . . . 32—27, whereupon White wins with 23—32, leaving Black without a move.

InDiagram 17 we see a much more refined version of the same idea.

This is a highly instructive position because it cannot be solved by "good common sense." The plausible-looking moves get White nowhere.
White's man on 26 is attacked. What is he to do about it?

If he plays the banal 26—23; . . . 18—27, 32—23; Black simply continues . . . 28—32(K) and the game is a clear draw.

And on 10—15; . . . 30—23, 15—22; . . . 23—19, 22—18; . . . 19—24, 18—15; . . . 24—20, 15—19 Black slips out with . . . 20—24.

Instead, relying on the double corner block, White plays an amazing move:

BLACK                         WHITE
--------                            10-14!!

Diagram 17 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

This looks nonsensical, as Black captures on 23 and covers the attacked man on 18.

       .....                        30-23               --------

But now a second sacrifice:

                                                -------              32-27!
                                                -------              14-23
                                               23-32                --------

White wins, thanks to the double corner predicament of Black's forces; this is the identical concluding position of the previous example.

Strictly speaking, the term "block" applies to positions where the trapped pieces cannot move altogether. This will be illus­trated in Diagram 19, but in Diagram 18 we have an example in which Black loses (despite his numerical superiority) because of the unfortunate immobility of his forces.

In order to bring about the position he wants, White must pitch the man on 31.

BLACK                       WHITE
--------                         31-26!
23-30(K)                     17-21
30-26                           -------

Diagram 18 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Diagram 19 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Catastrophic—but forced!

------               21-23
29-25             23-18

Or White can play 23—26 with the same effect.

25-21               18-22

White wins. Black has no moves! Without the blocking pos­sibility, White would, of course, have been hopelessly lost.

As we would expect, there are many refinements of the corner block idea. In Diagram 19 this stratagem requires a very clever prelude.

At first sight White is lost, but he hits upon an heroic way to turn the tables.

BLACK           WHITE
-----                 19-15!

Sacrificing two men to set up the single corner block.

BLACK           WHITE

11-25                    32-27

Now White wins because he has the move.

4-8 8-              27-23
11                    23-19

White wins. Black must let his last mobile man be captured and is then left without moves. This is an impressive example of the single corner block.

Here is a refinement on a two-for-one shot, in somewhat unconventional form.

Diagram 20 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Naturally White disdains the colorless 26—23, which leads to a lifeless draw. Instead:           BLACK             WHITE

-------              26-22!
17-26                27-31!
17-27                         

White wins. Black must play . . . 30—25, allowing White to reply with the devastating 31—29.

The beginner often overlooks the fact that in even endings with Kings, it is possible to win as shown in Diagram 7. Take Diagram 21 as a simple but impressive example of an even position that can be reduced to a forced win.

Diagram 21 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

Making proper use of this economical possibility often means the difference between victory and defeat, or, as in this case, between a clever victory and a careless draw.

The inexperienced player, seeing that his King at 22 is threatened, might simply move it away and conclude, "It's a hopeless draw!" Actually, White has an easy win!

BLACK                WHITE
-------                       8-11!

Giving Black a choice of two captures, either one of which loses quickly. Thus, if ... 15—8, 22—15; . . . 8—12 (any other Black move is answered conclusively in the same way), 15—11 and wins.

18-25                    11-18
25-30                    -------

Other Black moves are no better.

18-22                     --------

White wins.

An even finer example of this principle is seen in Diagram 22. Thoughtless play will only draw.

Many a beginner handling the White forces would happily play 15—11?, going on to get a new King while Black does the same thing and the game ends in a draw.

But there is more to the position. White's King has bottled up the Black King. How can White maintain this situation and actually strengthen it? This is how:

BLACK           WHITE
-------               10-14!

By attacking the man on 17, White gives Black no time to free his King.

17-22                15-10!

Splendid! Note the economy of force applied by White: the man on  10 imprisons a King

Diagram 22 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

And now for the second point: Black will get another King, to be sure, but White will be able to trap this King.

BLACK                       WHITE

22-26                    14-18
26-31(K)                18-23

White wins. Both Black Kings are trapped, thanks to the forceful economy of White's play.

A particularly beautiful example of utilizing the same eco­nomical technique is seen in Diagram 23. The position finally forced by White is similar to the previous one, but it takes some smart finessing.

Diagram 23 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

White has blockaded the man on 13 and the King on 29. But White seems to be on the point of losing, for his man on 10 is attacked and White appears to have no saving move.

Thus, if 10—6, Black has the "breeches" attack . . . 14—10. And if White tries 10—7 in the position of Diagram 23, Black has the "breeches" attack . . . 14—18. What is White to do? He can win by an extremely subtle sacrifice.

BLACK           WHITE
-------              22-26!!

Forcing Black to capture.

17-7            26-22!

Re-establishing the blockade. Although White is a King down, he must win.

7-3                  15-11
13-17        ...... -------

An attempt to escape, but after White captures, he will still be able to trap the Black King now on 29.

-------              22-13
20-25                13-17
25-21               17-22

White wins. Beautiful play, beginning with White's brilliant finesse 22—26!

Diagram 24 (White to play and win)
BLACK

WHITE

Time and time again, it is important in the endgame to know who has the move—that is to say, it is important to know whether you can reach a position in which you control the last move, so that you can make a move that bottles up all your opponent's remaining men. Diagram 24 is a fundamental ex­ample.

White plays 15—11, winning at once, as Black's remaining man is trapped.

Hence we say that in Diagram 24, with White to play, he has the move. He controls the last move.

On the other hand, suppose that in Diagram 24 it were Black's turn to play. Then he would have the move, as he would play . . . 3—7, trapping White's last man.

From this you must not conclude, however, that because it is your turn to play, you always have the move. In fact, you may lose just because it is your turn to play. This is illustrated in Diagram 25.

It is White's turn to play, but Black has the move. Thus, if White plays 18—15, Black wins with . . . 2—7. And if White plays 18—14, Black wins with . . . 2—6. (Note also, that if in the position of Diagram 25 White's man is at 17 and it is his turn to play, he still loses!)

Suppose there are more men on the board. Can we see quickly who has the move? Is there a reliable system for cal­culating this play?

There is such a system, and it applies to positions in which —there are no Kings on the board or the Kings are bottled up —material is even —the opposing men are bound to fight against each other.

Diagram 25 (White to play)

BLACK

WHITE

(The last point means that if you have a Black man at 1 and a White man at 32, there is no point in calculating the move, as no problem of opposition need necessarily arise.)

Now to our system. At the beginning of the game, White's men on the row nearest him are placed on 29, 30, 31, and 32. If you draw imaginary lines through the vertical rows starting with these squares, as in Diagram 26, the four marked rows constitute "White's system."

Diagram 26 (Whites system)
BLACK

WHITE

Now let us see how this shapes up in the Black camp. At the beginning of the game Black's men nearest him are placed on 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you draw imaginary lines through the vertical rows starting with these squares, you get the set-up of Diagram 27.

Just as we have four vertical rows making up a group of squares we call "White's system," so the remaining four vertical rows make up a group of squares we call "Black's system."

Now, subject to the limitations mentioned on page 46, we can state these three rules: if it is your turn to play, and there is an odd number of men (of either color) in your system, you have the move. If it is your turn to play, and you have an even number of men in your system, your opponent has the move. If there are no men in your system, and it is your turn to play, your opponent has the move.

In Diagram 24, for example, it is White's turn to move, and he has one man in his system. Therefore White has the move, and he wins.

In Diagram 25 it is White's turn to move, and he has no men in his system. Therefore Black has the move, and he wins.

Now turn to Diagram 28, for a more complicated example of how to calculate the move.

Diagram 27 (Black’s System)
BLACK

WHITE

Diagram 28 (White to play and win)
BLACK

WHITE

Counting up, we find there are three men (two White and one Black) in the White system. Consequently, White has the move and will win—if he makes the right first move.

But how is he to determine which man to move first? To do this, White must be ready to put a man on 19 as soon as Black puts a man on 11. Also, White must be ready to put a man on 22 as soon as Black puts a man on 13 or 14.

But it takes White two moves to reach 22, while it takes him three moves to reach 19 from 32. Consequently his first move must be 32—28 or 32—27.

By comparing the right sequence with the wrong sequence, we shall see why this distinction has to be made. First, the right sequence:

BLACK           WHITE
--------                        32-27!
4-8                          -------

Threatening . . . 8—11, so that White must play 27—24 or 27—23.

------               27-23

If now . . . 5—9 (threatening . . . 9—14), 30—25! (30—26 also wins); . . . 8—11, 23—19; . . . 9—14, 25—22 and White wins both Black men.

8-11                 23-19
5-9                   30-25
9-13                 25-22

White wins.
Now for the wrong sequence (from Diagram 28):

BLACK             WHITE
--------              30-25?
4-8!                 32-27
8-11                --------

If White now plays 27—23, Black reaches the King row by playing . . . 11—16 followed by ... 16—20. White has spoiled
his chances of winning.

--------              27-24
11-15!              25-22

To stop . . . 15—18!

5-9                  ----------

The position is a draw, as 24—20 is answered by ... 15—19, and 22—17 by ... 15—18.

In Diagram 29 White does not have the move, but by a dexterous maneuver he can get it and win easily.

Diagram 29 (White to play and win)

BLACK

WHITE

It is White's turn to play, and there are two men (one White, one Black) in his system. Therefore Black has the move. But by offering an exchange, White can obtain the move.

BLACK                       WHITE
-----                             26-23!
18-27                             31-24

Now White has the move and wins.

BLACK                       WHITE
8-11                     24-19

White wins. This is still another example of the effective ways in which you can exploit the obligation to capture.

We conclude this chapter with a masterly display of checker tactics. At first sight Black ought to win easily, as he is ahead in material. Actually the win is difficult and requires a great deal of finesse.

If it were White's turn to play, Black would win on the spot, as all of White's men would be lost. As matters stand, however, Black must give up the blockade.

Diagram 30 (Black to play and win)
BLACK

WHITE
BLACK                 WHITE
11-16!                     12-8

If now ... 16—20?, 8—3(K)?; . . . 15—19!, 23—16; . . . 20—11 and Black wins.

However, on ... 16—20? White plays 23—19! This draws after . . . 15—24, 8—3(K); . . . 24—27, 3—7; . . . 27—31 (K), 7—10; 31—26; . . . 10—17 etc.

(Note that if ...15—19?—instead of ... 6—20?—White draws with 22—18!)

                            16-12!                      -------

So that if White plays 8—3(K) there follows . . . 15—19!, 23—16; . . . 12—19 and Black traps White's King, for example 3—7; . . . 19—15, 7—2; . . . 15—10 and wins.
                            --------                     23-19!

White makes a determined effort to draw, the idea being . . . 12—3?, 19—10 and he gets a King by 10—6 etc.

                            15-24!                     8-3(K)

Even now White is not without resources, for if ... 24—27? (an unwary beginner's move), 3—7; . . . 27—31 (K), 7—10 and White draws, as shown previously.
                            12-8!!                      ----------
This exquisite move wins for Black.

BLACK           WHITE
-------              3-12
24-27              12-16
27-31(K)         16-19
31-26               -------

Black wins. A clever ending, with a great deal of finesse. Study this ending until you are thoroughly familiar with its subtle details.

In this chapter we have explained some of the basic elements of checker tactics—the two-for-one shot, the "breeches" attack, corner blocks, the value of the move, etc.

Repeatedly we have seen that the most plausible move is not always the best. A little thought, a little care, will often trans­form a seemingly barren position into a neat win. Checkers is a game in which economy of force pays special dividends.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...