DRAUGHTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12853, 29 April 1905, Page 4 (Supplement)

DRAUGHTS.

SOLUTION OF. PROBLEM No. 1311. Position: Black men on 2, fi, 7, king 22; White men on 9, 13, 17, 20, 21. Black to play and ' draw. 7—ll 15—1!) 32—27 24(4)27 9(e) 5 lli—l B—ll 21(5)17 6— 9 19—24 27—33 27<Gg)3l 13— G 11— 8 11—15 17—14 32—13 24—28 23—27 13— !i 6(1) 1 B—3 15(2>18 22(f)18 11—15 28—32 27—24 2— 7 20—1G 3— 8 ' 18(3)22 Drawn. '.!)• 5— 1 10— 7 20—16 7— 2 2— 9 11—15 22—25 2t>— 1— 7—lo 16—11 2— 3—14 15—18 25—30 17—13 6_lo • —15 11— 7 Drawn. J3—l7 18—22 30—26 (2) 15—19, 27—32. I—6, 2—9, s—l, 9—14, -23, 13—9. Drawn. - (3) 1-0 (7), 2-9. 5-1, 24-19, 1-6, IS—24, 18—22, 5'4—19, 21-17 (d), 19—23, 6—l, 23—26. Drawn. (4) 24—19, 21—17, 19—23 (b), 17—14, 13—9, 22—18, 23—19, I—6, 9—13, 14—9, 13—17, 6—lo, 17—13, 9— 18—22. White wins. (5) 1— 2—9, 31—17, 27—23, s—l, 23—25, 23—31, 13—22. Drawn. (6) 27—24 (e), I—G, 2—9, s—l, 24—27, I—s, 37—23. White wins. (7) 18-14, 13-9, 14-10, 9-13 (a), I—6, 2—9, 10—15. 9—14, s—l, 13—9, I—s. Drawn. (a) It 24—19, White wins by 106. (b) If 19—15, White wins by 21—17; if 19— White wins by I—6. (<•) 27—23, name as variation 4 at (b). (d) 6— 19—23. Drawn. (e) 17—14, 22— 9—5, 6—9, 13—6, 2-13. Drawn. (f) 14—10, .14. Drawn. <g) The only move to draw. PROBLEM No. 1313. (By the late Mr. B. Holding, Manchester.) Black.

WIIITB. White to play anil win. BRITAIN V. AMERICA. The British team had an exceptionally rough passage to America, ami did not land at -New York until Monday", the 13th, two days later than expected. This necessarily delayed the opening of the match, and play did not commence until Wednesday. The results of each day'* play are given below, lint no particulars are forthcoming, even the personnel of the American team. Despite any ill-effects irom the unfavourable voyage the British team took the lead in scoring on the first day, coming out with the substantial lead of six games, and they steadily increased their advantage until at the end of the first five days' play the match was a foregone conclusion in favour of Britain. The results of each day's play are shown in the following table: — BRITAIN. AMERICA. Wins. Draws. Wins. Wednesday ... ... 9 2S 3 Thursday ... ... 5 29 *> Friday 1- '-'3 "> Saturday 10 -S - Monday i 3-1 3 Tuesday <> 3d u Wednesday (a.m.) ... 2 * 11 47 179 24 Composers of draughts problems should, says Mr. Richard Atwcll, avoid positions which are crowded and intricate. The value of draughts problems is that they familiarise players with strategical combinations that are likely to arise in practical play. Speaking generally, any position in which only men are used is a natural position; if kings are employed they should be placed near the king row of their crowning; and positions should rarely contain more than 12 pieces. A study of re corded play will show that games art- practically finished before many kings are obtained.

In the annual team match, Boston v. New Englaud, played at the American House, Boston, U.S.A., on February 22, Boston was again victorious. There were 101 boards in play, by far the largest gathering since the matches were instituted. The final score reads:—Boston, lGti; Kew England, 101; drawn, 110: total, 377 games.

The Leeds Mercury has received an interesting and characteristic letter from Mr. Bert Titus, the noted player of Western America'. Incidentally he remarks:—Personally I do not aspire to high honours; yet I do think that if anyone can reach out for the world's championship and get it, I am the one." During the past twelve months Mr. Titus has been engaged giving exhibitions of simultaneous play at the Minneapolis Museum. Playing games on twelve boards simultaneously, he has many a time " got through" ito'J games a day, without losing a single game. He says he would be pleased to play K. Atwell an " endurance contest." .