Checkers Puzzle for 20 October 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 3 men on 11, 12 and 27; Black has 2 men and a king on 1, 17 and 22 (king on 1). Red has 1 more man 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 5 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 5 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: 27-32. Red plays 27-32, crowning on 32. After this combination, Red has 2 men and a king and Black has 2 men and a king. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 1-5 32-28 22-18 12-16 17-13 16-19 13-9 19-24.

Alternative 12-16: one sample line is 12-16 1-5 27-31. Red crowns on 31. The board then has 2 men and a king for Red and 2 men and a king for Black. Alternative 11-16: one sample line is 11-16 1-5 27-31. Red crowns on 31. The board then has 2 men and a king for Red and 2 men and a king for Black. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

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