Checkers Puzzle for 21 October 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 5 men on 5, 20, 29, 30 and 32; Red has 4 men on 2, 3, 6 and 22. Black has 1 more man than Red. Both sides have a man across the middle. Black has 7 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 7 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: 5-1. Black plays 5-1, crowning on 1. After this combination, Black has 4 men and a king and Red has 4 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 6-9 32-27 9-14 27-23 2-7 1-15 7-10 15x25.

Alternative 30-25: one sample line is 30-25 3-7 25x18. Black's 25x18 removes the man on 22. The board then has 5 men for Black and 3 men for Red. Alternative 32-27: one sample line is 32-27 6-9 5x14. Black's 5x14 removes the man on 9. The board then has 5 men for Black and 3 men for Red. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

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