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© Copyright 2003, Jim Loy
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others. But, this article will eventually be part of a book that I am writing.
So, please do not distribute it widely.
If you need help reading checkers notation, please print out the numbered board.
This game was played on ItsYourTurn.com game service. Some of the players use handles instead of their real names. The style of checkers here is go-as-you-please.
A while back, six of my tournament games disappeared. It would seem that the previous round of the tournament was not really over; some game that had prematurely ended had been reinstated. At first I was a little upset, as I thought I was winning all of these matches, but these things happen. Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, the future's not . . . wait a minute, I can't sing. Anyway, here are the six games, which may be interesting. They are somewhat typical of games on ItsYourTurn.com, and may be educational:
1. Jim Loy - frank
11-15 24-20 8-11 23-19?! (highly unusual,
and may even lose?) 15-24 28-19 11-15 27-24 9-14 22-17 4-8 17-13 5-9! (I
think Red is winning here, but I can't prove it) 20-16? (25-22 or 26-23
are much better, and I'm not sure of the win in either case) 8-11 24-20
15-24. The game ended here, and the Red win is fairly simple. White put
himself in a high-pressure situation by making a non-book move in the opening,
and then lost in a tough position.
2. frank - Jim Loy
9-13 22-18 11-16? (a near loss) 18-14
10-17 21-14 16-20 24-19 13-17?(A) (a published loss) 25-21 7-11 19-16
12-19 23-7 2-11 29-25. The game ended here. The player with the huge
checkers library has a great advantage.
A - 6-10 25-21 10-17 21-14 1-6 29-25 6-10 25-21 10-17 21-14 2-6 30-25 (or 26-22) 13-17* 25-21 8-11 23-18 or 26-22 draw PP.
3. D. Lawley - Jim Loy
11-16 24-19 16-20 23-18. The game
ended here. There's not much to say about that game; it's still a draw.
4. Jim Loy - D. Lawley
11-15 23-18 8-11 21-17?? (this
abortion is even found in Churchill's Compilations) 9-14. An easy win.
This kind of carelessness is common on the WWW.
5. John Freeland - Jim Loy
10-15 21-17 9-13? (weak) 17-14
6-10? (a published loss) 23-18* 10-17 25-21 1-6 21-14 6-10 29-25 10-17
25-21 2-6 21-14 6-10 14-9* 6-23 27-18. I was just copying the winning moves out
of the book. Continue 12-16 24-20 15-19 32-27 10-15 27-24 8-12 18-14
WW.
6. Jim Loy - John Freeland
11-15 23-18 8-11 24-20 4-8 28-24
(I misread this as 27-24, and was studying the wrong pages of the books,
which could have been a disaster) 12-16 27-23 (not in any book) 8-12
(a near win) 32-28 9-13 21-17? (loses) 6-9! 25-21 9-14 18-9 5-14
24-19 [30-25 (23-19 loses) 1-6 22-18 15-22 25-9 13-22 26-17 6-22 RW]
15-24 28-19 11-15. The game ended here, and Red should win.
And so you see, the major factor in my wins (in these games and others) would seem to be my huge checkers library, and the fact that I spend the time to do the research. Only games 1 and 6 required any checkers skills on my part, and I put in some study time on those two games. Most people don't know what is published and what isn't, and I guess they cannot be blamed for that. But there are some people (including a few ACF members) who intentionally make bad moves in order to get out of the books, but this doesn't work very well either. The safest way is to follow the book and take your draws (and a few wins and losses).