Checkers Puzzle for 11 September 2026 — Red to move

The idea

A breakthrough brings a man to the far row and crowns it as a king. The new king can move along open diagonals in either direction and capture from a distance, which can change the position substantially. Crowning alone does not guarantee a win: the king may face an immediate capture, or the opponent may have active kings of their own. Look for a clear route to the promotion row, then inspect the reply from the resulting board. On this site crowning ends the turn, including a capture chain. A newly crowned piece cannot continue jumping until a later turn.

Red to move. Red has 7 men on 5, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 19; Black has 7 men on 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26 and 27. Both sides have the same number of men and kings. Red has a man in Black's half of the board against 0 coming the other way. Red has 4 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 4 quiet choices.

Solution: 19-24 26-22 24x31. Red plays 19-24. Black's best reply is 26-22. Red takes 24x31, removing the man on 27 and crowning on 31. After this combination, Red has 6 men and a king and Black has 6 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 23-19 16x23 18x27 31x17 27-23 11-15. The important change is the route of the man from 19 through 24 to 31. The first step takes nothing; the later jump removes the defender on 27 and reaches the crown row. Keep those two jobs separate when calculating. Black has several choices after 19-24, so 26-22 is the selected defence, not a compulsory quiet reply.

Alternative 14-17: one sample line is 14-17 21x14 19-24. Black's 21x14 removes the man on 17. The board then has 6 men for Red and 7 men for Black. Alternative 13-17: one sample line is 13-17 18-15 19x10. Red's 19x10 removes the man on 15. The board then has 7 men for Red and 6 men for Black. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

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