The Master was riding on a cart, giving everyone nuts. Part 2

17.10.2025

The full version of the children’s counting game:

The Master was riding on a cart,

He was giving everyone nuts.

Two for one, three for two —

You’ll be the director!

Training calculation and developing its depth is an extremely difficult, but necessary task in the preparation of a strong player. It all starts with simple positions on a small board. The idea of Embden is well known to any advanced draughts player. Other techniques such as “Fork”, “Crossroads”, “Locking”, and many others are also well-known. In Russian draughts, the excellent publications by M. Fedorov, L. Vitoshkin, and other authors help to train draughts players.

But what about reading and watching international draughts on a large board? We decided to help our readers and turned to the well-known publication of the Dutch shashist G. Benning.

We are starting to publish small positions for homework. Today, we are publishing the answers to our first lesson and providing new tasks for the second lesson. Let’s move on to the positions:

	In the first part, we have placed several positions for warm-up. In all positions, White starts and wins. We are testing the depth of our calculations and our skills in practical endgame techniques.
Chart 1	“Het eindspel”, J.F. Moser< idea J.J.H. Mertens 1941 White starts and wins How to approach the solution of positions in the endgame? What advice can a coach give to his student? How to teach to correctly and accurately evaluate small positions? … Difficult task. Everyone chooses their own algorithm of action. We have offered our students our small approximate algorithm of action, consisting of questions that need to be asked to yourself before solving the problem. Our algorithm of action is approximate and has a recommendatory character: Answer yourself on the position in the end: “Are you escaping?”, “There is an ordinary draw position, but there is a nuance”, “I feel with my whole body – there is a win! ” (the state of intuition and body sensation is trained sometimes for years, sometimes it does not come, even at the end of a career) Which of the opponents is closest to the queen’s square? How many fields is your piece ahead of your opponent’s piece? What are the queen’s squares and diagonals that you can “force” your opponent’s checker to occupy in order to use the maximum number of ideas? Which queen’s squares and diagonals are currently safe for your opponent? Are there any situations where you can win using simple winning techniques, such as “Crossroads”, “Fork”, “Chain”, “Loop”, or others? Find an idea! Try to find a winning idea by evaluating each opponent’s move through a logical chain of comparisons: “Possible move” – “Impossible move”. If you don’t see a win, try to find the most difficult path for your opponent to reach a draw. The solution to the first position was one of the easiest, as the idea was quite clear: 1.8-2 Let’s consider two possible answers: 35-40 (А) 2. 2-35 40-45 3. 35-44 3-9 4. 44-50 9-13 5.12-7 13-19 6. 7-1 (В) 1… 3-9 2. 12-7 35-40 3. 2-35 40-45 4. 7-1

Chart 2	idea P. Groeneworld White starts and wins The solution to this problem involves a difficult decision that White must make. Which of the three pieces should be moved first? Surprisingly, it is the move of piece 45 that leads to victory. 1.45-40 6-11 2. 40-34 11-17 3. 34-29 17-22 4. 29-23 22-27 5. 26-21 27×16 6. 23-19 16-21 7.19-14 21-27 8.14-10 27-32 9.10-5 32-38 10. 5-37 8-13 11. 37-26 13-18 12. 39-33 38×29 13. 26-32 9-33 14. 3-9 18-23 15. 9-14 23-29 16.14-20 29-34 17. 20×38 34-39 18. 38-49 Based on this solution, you can also find a winning strategy for other black answers.
Chart 3	White starts and wins Based on the second position, the solution is not easy to find, but the idea is visible. 1.34-29 17-22 2.29-23 22-27 (А) 3.26-21 27×16 4.23-19 16-2 15.19-14 21-27 6.14-10 27-32 7.10-5 32-38 8.5-37 (В) 2…8-12 3.23-19 22-28 4.19-14 28-32 5.14-10 32-38 6.10-5
Chart 4	White starts and wins Slightly changed the algorithm of moves, but the main task in solving this position is to consolidate knowledge. Since a hasty move 1. 26-21?? leads to a draw. 1..34-29 18-22 2. 29-23 8-12 3. 23-19 22-28 4.19-14 28-32 5.14-10 32-38 6.10-5 12-17 7. 26-21 17×26 8. 5-37

Chart 5	White starts and wins In this position, unlike the previous ones, the 21-st (the one closest to the queen’s square) decides first how to arrange the black pieces for victory. The 45-th piece secures the winning ending in the second move. 1.21-16 11-17 2. 45-40 12-18 3. 40-34 18-23 4. 48-42 23-28 5. 34-29 28-32 6. 29-23 17-22 7. 23-18 22×13 8.16-11 13-18 9.11-7 18-22 10. 7-2 22-27 11. 2-16 27-31 12.16×38 31-36 13. 42-37
	We offer the tasks of the Second lesson
	Black starts and wins

	White starts and wins

	White starts and wins

	White starts and wins