Checkers Puzzle for 27 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 6 men on 2, 4, 5, 13, 19 and 27; Black has 5 men and a king on 3, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 30 (king on 3). Red has 1 more man and 1 fewer king than Black. Red has 2 men in Black's half of the board against 0 coming the other way. Red has 9 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 9 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 5 men and a king and Black has 5 men and a king. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 26-23 19x26x17 21x14 32x9 30-26 2-6 25-22 9-27.

Alternative 2-6: one sample line is 2-6 22-18 19-24. The board then has 6 men for Red and 5 men and a king for Black. Alternative 27-31: one sample line is 27-31 3-12 4-8. Red crowns on 31. The board then has 5 men and a king for Red and 5 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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