Unofficial World Championship Checker Problem Composing Contest 50

[Bill Salot]

Correct me if I am wrong. I count 914,819,352,480 possible 3x3 settings on a checker board. Landmark Contest 50 on this web site has 5 of them.

These 5 are special in that they represent some of the best work of current and past World Champions in the art of checker problem composing.

They are presented in alphabetical order, with 3 wondrous wins preceding 2 dramatic draws, all in celebration of this, the 50th consecutive contest for the coveted title.

Solve them if you can. Check your work against their animated solutions. With the press of a button, vote for the one that impresses you most.

If you are so inclined, test your judgmental skill by e-mailing your vote to the address below the diagrams. This will automatically get you on the Voters' Ladder. Climb the ladder in future contests by coming back and picking more winners.

Compose a little magic on the checkerboard. Enter it in a future contest. Become a World Champion on your first try. It has been done by several players: Roy Little, John Acker, Leo Springer, Wilma Wolverton, Mark Sokolovsky . . . who will be next?

This is safe and virus free.
It's the place for us to be.
Yes on that we do agree.

[George Hay]

And...may I add, another first try winner (in Contest #1) was Bill Salot.

--George Hay

[chipschap]

In honor of Bill's 50th contest, and his inestimable contributions to the game of checkers, The Checker Maven today has an extensive interview with Bill. It covers the history and future of the contests, provides statistics and insights, and much more, including a challenging and most unique checker problem composed by Bill.

Thank you Bill, and not just for the interview. You've been an inspiration to me personally.

[Bill Salot]

And...may I add, Bob Newell corrected my count of the number of possible 3x3s. It should be 41,757,327,360.

[chipschap]

I've revised and corrected my calculations. For anyone interested in geeky math, see

http://www.bobnewell.net/filez/mbyn.pdf

But it's far easier to just say there are "lots of 'em."