Practically Practical's Cotinuation

[Bill Salot]

Problem Composing Contest #18 Co-Winner "Practically Practical" was questioned as to whether there was a sound win after the stroke.

Sune Thrane's 124-move continuation has been animated without most of the pop-up notes (We are working on that).

You might enjoy seeing the mind-boggling maneuvers unfold in animation. Go to the contest page, and click the animation button under "Practically Practical".

[Bill Salot]

Jason was able to add all of the many pop-up notes to the animation of "Practically Practical".

Has there ever before been anything like this? Don't miss is it!

[tgf]

I would probably go 1...17-14 2.10x17 26-22 3.17x26 30x16 4.21x30 31-26 5.30x23 27x4 6.7-10 16-12 7.6-9 4-8 8.9-13 8-11 9.13-17 11-16 and this is a very different game

[MostFamousDane]

I would probably go 1...17-14 2.10x17 26-22 3.17x26 30x16 4.21x30 31-26 5.30x23 27x4 6.7-10 16-12 7.6-9 4-8 8.9-13 8-11 9.13-17 11-16 and this is a very different game

Yes that is also valid - it leads to the more or less the same thing though.

[George Hay]

Continue from above 10. 17-21, 32 27; 11. 21-25, 27 23; 12. 25-30, 23 19, the position is now the same as after move 23 (note M)
on the Practically Practical animation.
--George Hay

[Alex_Moiseyev]

I have no idea - it is a win for white or not. But anything else is bad for white, so - I wouldn't think much here trying to calculate a win and move ahead with 17-14 etc . White play and strategy is easy:

1) Crown all or as much as you can Kings.
2) Avoid 4th position and other man down draws.

AM

[tgf]

That was my point - after 1116 I can terrorize black king on the left side while bringing up more kings on the right.
And your other point is also correct - one must shoot there.
And the third point - what does it matter, win or draw, we are judging the shot mechanism, and it was very practical and worked out naturally.

[tgf]

By the way - I cast my vote for the Dreamer by Roy Little, it had a finesse about it, no boom-boom-boom

[Bill Salot]

Gentlemen:

I appreciate all of your comments. They illustrate how each of us can look at the same position and see something different. That's why we probably never will see a contest problem get every vote.

In my view, playing games and composing problems have different objectives.

When playing a game, you want to win, or at least draw, and you try to make your best moves to achieve the best result, even if there is more than one way to achieve it, and even if you don't know what the ultimate result will be. From that perspective, proving whether the continuation of "Practically Practical" is an irrevocable win or not is of little importance.

When composing a problem, the best of several solutions is not sufficient. It must be the only solution. Perfection is the goal. From that perspective, proving whether the continuation of "Practically Practical" is an irrevocable win or not is critical. It spells the difference between it sharing the problem contest win and being disqualified. If somehow someone in the future upsets Sune's win, the problem will have to be disqualified after the fact. I doubt that Sune will let that happen.

What did you think of the marathon animation and its pop-up notes?

[George Hay]

Hi Bill, don't get me wrong, I like the animation, but the commentary is the most important thing and holds up fine without the animation.
I like playing problems out to the last move for a win, or even drawing out the draws. For me this is good practice, and also I can see it!
Checkers is a game of strategy, not just a collection of tactics! In a winning position, you must think ahead to avoid a man down draw, or worse!

--George Hay