"The Best Checker Champions Fall Short "-answer

[Mr. Checkers]

Some checkerboard problems (14 pieces in different positions) just leave our very best checker champions perplexed and talking to themselves. Days and weeks of serious study just don't seem to help them any. You can forget about computers--they won't help you solve this. The solutions are many, but visualizing what they are is something else altogether. There is a very high degree of difficulty in trying to solve this problem so most give up trying, but a few do succeed in doing so. "Checker Trivia question of the Day". Why is this checkerboard problem so hard to solve? (Cont.)

[Palomino]

I've been thinking about this one, I had pretty much given up on it as being too hard for me, then what I think is the answer just popped into my head. If I'm correct the answer will never be found in a checker book.

Regards, "Pal"

[Mr. Checkers]

That assumption is correct Pal. (Cont.)

[Mr. Checkers]

There are at least 78 possible solutions to this checkerboard problem, but all you have to do is visualize one of them to solve it. (Cont.)

[Mr. Checkers]

I don't think that this problem will make it into Alex's new book--"6th" because its to difficult. (Cont.)

[Palomino]

I know what this checker problem is but hard for me to diagram it here and I might add I have never worked out any of the solutions for it, but I think it would be a great bonus feature for Alex's book if it could be somehow added inside the back cover for instance.

Regards, "Pal"

[Palomino]

I've gone to a lot of work to find the answer to this one. I think you will find these things interesting. If any of you have children or grand-children that like checkers you will enjoy solving these checkerboard problems together.

http://www.timepassagesnostalgia.com/&s ... =-1&rd1ir=
http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~museum/Vir ... pentomino/
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~kass/checker.pdf
http://www.puzzles.ca/diy_puzzles/pdf/c ... puzzle.pdf
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~rh5k-isn/Pu ... kerboard2/
Try building a checkercube from a checkerboard
http://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/prod302.htm

Regards, "Pal" Bucker

[Mr. Checkers]

Over the past 150 years many novelty companies have put out checkerboard puzzles consisting of 12, 14, 15 pieces. The pieces were irregular in shape and the object was to put them together to form a perfect "checkerboard". Easily done, not so. There were at at 78 different solutions to many of these, but most people that have tried putting them together ended up giving up. (Cont.)

[Palomino]

Click on the following link and try to arrange the pieces to form a checkerboard.

http://www.puzzles.com/PuzzlePlayground ... Hard14.htm

Regards Pal" Bucker