Checkers Puzzle for 15 September 2026 — Black 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.

Black to move. Black has 7 men on 12, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29 and 30; Red has 8 men on 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17, 20 and 23. Black has 1 fewer man than Red. Red has 3 men in Black's half against 1 coming the other way. Black has 3 legal full turns to compare: 3 capture lines and 0 quiet choices.

Solution: 21x14x7 3x10 12x3. Black jumps 21x14x7, removing the men on 17 and 10. Red must take 3x10. Black takes 12x3, removing the man on 8 and crowning on 3. After this combination, Black has 5 men and a king and Red has 5 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 9-14 26x19 20-24 19x28 10-15 3x17. The first double jump is only the beginning. Black lands on 7, Red recaptures from 3, and a different black man then jumps from 12 to 3 to crown. Stopping the calculation after two captures would miss the point of the exchange. Track which piece occupies each landing square after every complete turn.

Alternative 21x14x5: one sample line is 21x14x5 23-27 5-1. Black's 21x14x5 removes the men on 17 and 9. Black crowns on 1. The board then has 6 men and a king for Black and 6 men for Red. Alternative 26x19: one sample line is 26x19 17x26 30x23. Black's 26x19 removes the man on 23. Red's 17x26 removes the man on 22. Black's 30x23 removes the man on 26. The board then has 6 men for Black and 6 men for Red. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

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