Yates, R.D. - Wyllie, J.

[Black "Yates, R.D."]
[White "Wyllie, J."]
[Date "1876"]
[Event "New York 1876, game 47"]
[Round "47"]
[Site "New York"]
[Result "1-0"]

Robert Yates was an American player born in 1857 and became world champion at the young age of 18. Tragically he died of typhus on a voyage in 1885 while still in his twenties. He was buried at sea.

James Wyllie is a checker legend. Born in Edinburgh in 1818 he won numerous championships and was nicknamed "The Herd Laddie". A dynamic player, he claimed to have never studied or read a book on the game. He died in 1899.

1.11-15  23-19    2.9-14  27-23    3.8-11  22-18    4.15x22  25x18x9    5.5x14  29-25    6.6-9  25-22    7.9-13  24-20    8.1-5  22-18    9.14-17  21x14    10.10x17  18-14    11.17-22  26x17    12.13x22  28-24?

The first mistake. Better is 23-18 2-6 19-15 7-10

13.2-6  32-28    14.12-16  19x12    15.6-10  14-9    16.5x14  30-26

Black is a mile ahead here and looking at the endgame database we can already see that it is a win.

17.11-15  26x17    18.14x21  31-26    19.10-14  26-22    20.21-25  24-19    21.15x24  28x19    22.25-30  19-16    23.30-26  22-18    24.26x19  18x9

With the magic of endgame databases we can see that Black can now win in 105 moves at most. In checkers, as in chess, we're talking about "ply" here, or half-moves, not full moves (which would be a move by both players, e.g. 1. 11-15 24-20)

25.19-15  9-6    26.7-10  6-2    27.10-14  2-6    28.14-18  6-9    29.18-23  9-6    30.23-27  6-9    31.27-31  9-6    32.31-26  6-9    33.26-23  9-6    34.23-18  6-9    35.15-10  9-5

16-11 would have prolonged the game, 83 moves to a Black win instead of 41 with the move played.

36.10-6  5-1    37.6-2  1-5    38.18-15  5-9    39.15-10  9-5    40.10-6  16-11    41.6-10  5-9    42.10-15  9-5    43.15x8 

1-0 Black Wins



Created by CheckerPlayer