Checkers Puzzle for 28 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 9 men on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 and 25; Black has 7 men on 21, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31 and 32. Red has 2 more men than Black. Red has a man in Black's half of the board against 0 coming the other way. Red has 8 legal full turns to compare: 0 capture lines and 8 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: 25-29. Red plays 25-29, crowning on 29. After this combination, Red has 8 men and a king and Black has 7 men. The game continues from this position. One continuation from the search is 26-23 6-10 32-27 5-9 24-19 2-7 31-26 10-15 19x10 7x14.

Alternative 8-11: one sample line is 8-11 26-22 25x18. Red's 25x18 removes the man on 22. The board then has 9 men for Red and 6 men for Black. Alternative 6-10: one sample line is 6-10 26-22 25x18. Red's 25x18 removes the man on 22. The board then has 9 men for Red and 6 men for Black. Compare these sample lines with the solution and check other legal replies before judging the resulting position.

Play a real game