Dark to move, with 3 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.
A mill is not enough here: win the game within 2 moves, leaving the opponent with two men or with no legal move.
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.
- double threat — The key move creates two threats at once, and one reply cannot stop both.
Finding the way in
In the winning endings the opponent is short of men or of room. Count their legal moves after each of yours: taking away the last free point wins as surely as taking a man.
Play the position in your head from the opponent's side: what would you do against your favourite move? If there is a good answer, try the next candidate.
Show the first move
Start with d2-d3. Played out against the stiffest resistance, the whole line goes: d2-d3 g7-a7 d3-d2xa7.
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.