Light to move, with 6 light and 6 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.
Before you touch a piece, list every forcing move you have and every threat the opponent has; the answer is almost always on that short list.
Show the first move
Start with d1-d2. Played out against the stiffest resistance, the whole line goes: d1-d2 f4-e4xd2 d3-d2 a7-a4 d2-d1xd7.
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.