Checkers Puzzle for 28 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 3 men on 12, 20 and 24; Red has 6 men and a king on 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 and 16 (king on 16). Black has 3 fewer men and 1 fewer king than Red. Black has a man in Red's half of the board against 0 coming the other way. Black has 3 legal full turns to compare: 3 capture lines and 0 quiet choices. A capture chain is one turn, even when the piece changes direction. Look at its final landing square before committing to the first jump.

Solution: 20x11x4. Black jumps 20x11x4, removing the man on 8 and the king on 16 and crowning on 4. After this combination, Black has 2 men and a king and Red has 5 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 10-14 24-19 13-17 4-29 7-10 19-16 3-7 12-8.

Alternative 20x11x2: one sample line is 20x11x2 10-15 2x9. Black's 20x11x2 removes the man on 7 and the king on 16. Black crowns on 2. Black's 2x9 removes the man on 6. The board then has 2 men and a king for Black and 4 men for Red. Alternative 12x19: one sample line is 12x19 7-11 19-16. Black's 12x19 removes the king on 16. The board then has 3 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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