Checkers Puzzle for 20 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 9 men on 5, 17, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 31; Red has 8 men on 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16 and 19. Black has 1 more man than Red. Both sides have a man across the middle. Black has 9 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 9 quiet choices.

Solution: 5-1. Black plays 5-1, crowning on 1. After this combination, Black has 8 men and a king and Red has 8 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 6-9 1x24 8-11 17-14 9x18 26-23 2-6 23x14. Black crowns on 1 while retaining nine pieces in total. The first move does not capture anything, even though the sample continuation later contains a long king capture. Separate the one-turn puzzle solution from that longer example: the solve ends at the promotion, and subsequent choices belong to the continuing game. The 28-24 example instead gives up the man on 24 and leaves the man on 5 unpromoted.

Alternative 28-24: one sample line is 28-24 19x28 27-24. Red's 19x28 removes the man on 24. The board then has 8 men for Black and 8 men for Red. Alternative 26-23: one sample line is 26-23 19x26 31x22. Red's 19x26 removes the man on 23. Black's 31x22 removes the man on 26. The board then has 8 men for Black and 7 men for Red. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

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