The Master rode in a cart, handing out nuts to everyone. Part Three
Full version of the children’s counting rhyme:
The Master rode in a cart,
He gave out nuts to everyone.
Two to some, three to others —
You will be the director!
Training calculation and developing its depth is an extremely difficult but necessary task in preparing a strong player. It all starts with simple positions on a small board. The idea of Ambden is well known to any advanced draughts player. Other well-known techniques include: “The Fork”, “The Crossroads”, “The Lock” and many others. In Russian draughts, the wonderful publications by M. Fedorov and L. Vitoshkin, as well as other remarkable authors, help to train draughts players.
But what should you read and watch about international draughts on a large board? We decided to help our readers and turned to the well-known publication by Dutch draughts player G. Benning.
We are starting to publish small positions for homework. Today we are publishing the answers to our second lesson and giving new assignments for the third lesson. Let’s move on to the positions:
| We check the depth of our calculations and our skills in practical endgame techniques. | |
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Black starts and wins
White attacked the checker and quickly lost. But in order to win for Black, it was necessary to see the beautiful conclusion of the game on the main road and add an elegant study to one’s collection.
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White starts and wins It is very difficult to see the endgame associated with the “Crossroads” move in this position. It is also difficult not to decide to move the 20th checker first. After all, most novice checkers players would look for a win by first moving the 20th checker to square 15. Children often sigh and say, “If only the 44th checker were on the 39th, then I would have won!” But somewhere here lies the path to victory. 1. 44-39 1-7 2. 39-33 7-11 3. 33-28 11-17 4. 28-23 17-21 5. 23-19 21-27 This is the key position of the study. (If Black plays 5. ….. 21-26, White should play 6. 20-15! bringing the position to a final with the “Crossroads” move. If Black makes the mistake of attacking with 6. 19-14??, Black manages to escape with a draw thanks to an extra tempo.) |
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White starts and wins.
Having learned the winning move in the previous position, finding the win in this one seems quite simple. So: 1. 25-20! 3-9 (rather forced, as checker 11 does not have time to reach the saving diagonal) 2. 35-30! – an important move, we do not rush to move checker 20 to the corner, and now we know a little more about the winning mechanism! 2. ….. 11-17 3. 30-24 17-22 and this move is followed by 3. 24-19!, after which it will be easy for you to finish the winning move. |
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White starts and wins? Or not?
In the previous part, we incorrectly stated that White starts and wins. Here, despite White’s significant advantage, Black achieves a draw. Here is an approximate variation:
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| Here are the tasks for Lesson Three
Try to find all possible solutions on your own |
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Black starts and White wins |
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White starts and wins |
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White starts and wins |
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White starts and wins |
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White starts and wins |