Checkers Puzzle for 12 September 2026 — Red to move
An easy promotion breakthrough puzzle for 12 September 2026: Red to move. Find the combination, play the replies and explore the explanation.
(UTC) · House rules: backward captures and flying kings
Select a piece, then its destination. You can also drag or use the keyboard.
Attempt 1 · 0 day streak
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 4 men on 5, 11, 13 and 21; Black has 7 men and a king on 17, 18, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 (king on 17). Red has 3 fewer men and 1 fewer king than Black. Red has a man in Black's half of the board against 0 coming the other way. Red has 3 legal full turns to compare: 3 capture lines and 0 quiet choices.
Solution: 13x22x31. Red jumps 13x22x31, removing the man on 26 and the king on 17 and crowning on 31. After this combination, Red has 3 men and a king and Black has 6 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 28-24 11-15 18x11 31-26 23-18 26-23 18-15 23x32. Trace both landings, 22 and 31, before moving the man on 13. This route removes a king on 17 as well as the man on 26, then crowns the capturing piece. Red still has fewer pieces afterward. The point is the change in the kinds of pieces on the board, not a claim that Red has won a simple counting contest.
Alternative 13x22x15: one sample line is 13x22x15 28-24 5-9. Red's 13x22x15 removes the man on 18 and the king on 17. The board then has 4 men for Red and 6 men for Black. Alternative 21x14: one sample line is 21x14 18x9 5x14. Red's 21x14 removes the king on 17. Black's 18x9 removes the man on 14. Red's 5x14 removes the man on 9. The board then has 3 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.
Practise this promotion breakthrough idea: Promotion and kings.