Notes from devoted students and their childhood draughts setups. Part Two

Driving through the beautiful town of Kuldīga in Latvia, one can’t help but think of Rudolf Tomass. As a child, he seemed simply enormous—a man in glasses who could stop any opponent with a single glance. Rudolf played draughts professionally in the town. He was an extraordinary personality, and because of this, people’s attitudes toward him were mixed. On the one hand, he had a tendency to dominate everything, was categorical, and had a tough personality; on the other hand, he was a great and highly active promoter of checkers, who showed and opened up the world to children from Kuldīga and the surrounding regions. He regularly drove children to all tournaments in Europe in his own car. He trained many students and instilled in them a love for draughts.

It is also worth noting the system of “cues” developed by him and his students. Thanks to this clever system, a student could play like a true master simply by watching the coach closely. For example: if the coach scratched behind his right ear, move the right checker; if he rubbed his nose, look for a combination. Of course, all of this could have been invented by other coaches who feared competition.

Rudolf was the coach of Evita Zile, who for a long time placed in the top ranks at European and World Championships for women. She was a European champion.

Beautiful Kuldiga… Rudolf Tomass died at a checkers tournament in Saaremaa. They said it was a blood clot. His students were there. After he passed away, the checkers scene in Kuldiga fell apart, and they all faded away. The only student who was given a spot at the Children’s Center managed to lose it all. Now he sits in the prestigious federation, twiddling his thumbs. And we, remembering Rudolf, have pulled out a few positions and are solving them, sipping delicious coffee, near the bridge over the Venta River, which flows all the way to Ventspils.

Today we retrieved some problems from the archive of the famous coach V.K. Adamovich. We used to solve them when we were little kids taking our first steps in checkers. Viktor Kuarovich gave each of us one, and we tried to find a forced win. We invite you to do the same.

	White’s move. A forced win.
	White’s move. A forced win.
	White’s move. A forced win.
	White’s move. A forced win.
	White’s move. A forced win.