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Frosted Board

Puzzle #21: Mill

  • DifficultyMedium
  • To moveDark
  • TaskMill in 3
  • Main line5 half-moves

Dark to move, with 7 light and 8 dark men in the game. Placement is over; from here on a turn means sliding one man to an adjacent free point.

Your job is to close a mill in at most 3 of your own moves, and it has to work against every defence, including the opponent closing a mill of their own.

What the position is about

  • sliding phase — Every man is on the board; a move is one step along a line to an empty neighbour.
  • counter-mill — The defender can close a mill too and will take a man; the solution still works after that hit.

Finding the way in

Three-move mills usually need a quiet first move that builds two separate threats; check what the opponent can close in reply before you commit.

Take your time. There is no clock on the result, and a wrong move is simply taken back so you can look again.

Show the first move

Start with f2-d2. Played out against the stiffest resistance, the whole line goes: f2-d2 c5-d5xf6 f4-f6 g1-d1 f6-f4xg7.

Solve it and the next puzzle of the same game is one tap away. Your solved puzzles are ticked in the list, in this browser only.