British Draughts Federation

Week 002: March 31st 2001 by George Miller

The Twilight Zone

This ballot was christened the "twilight zone" when Dennis Cayton started his campaign to expand the current 3-move deck.  It has always been at the forefront of analysts' minds as it has so often been knocked out, only to be rescued by the many players that have been working on the so called barred openings these last 5 years.  Elbert Lower, Brian Hinkle & Bert Vanderpool are three prolific analysts whose play has helped re-evaluate these wonderful openings.  Here, Vanderpool knocks out the published draw, only for Lowder to rescue one of the published ways to lose!

9-13, 24-20, 11-16, 20-11, 8-15, 23-18, 3-8, 18-11, 8-15, 22-18 (a), 15-22, 25-18, 4-8, 28-24, 8-11, 29-25, 5-9, 25-22, 10-15, 27-23, 6-10, 32-28, 1-5, 24-19, 15-24, 28-19, 11-15 (b), 18-11, 7-16, 22-18, 16-20* (c), 30-25, 20-24, 25-22, 2-6, 21-17, 24-28, 19-16, 12-19, 23-16, 28-32 (d), 26-23, 32-28, 16-12, 28-24, 12-8, 24-28, 8-3, 28-24, 3-8, 24-28, 23-19, 28-24, 8-3, 24-15, 18-11, 9-14, 3-7, 14-21, 7-14, 21-25, 22-18, 25-30, 11-8, 30-25, 8-3, 6-9, 31-26, 25-30, 26-23, 30-26, 23-19, 26-23, 19-15, 23-19, 14-10 draws, Elbert Lowder.

Notes

(a)     The other strong attack in this ballot. For 27-24 here see last week's article".   The endings can be difficult, but Elbert's play makes it much easier to find the right way to draw.

(b)     Not 9-14, 18-9, 5-14, 22-18, 11-15, 18-11, 7-16, 26-22, 2-7, 22-18, 14-17, 21-14, 10-17, 19-15, 16-19, 23-16, 12-19, 18-14, 19-24, 14-9, 17-21, 9-6, 7-10, 15-11, 10-15, 11-7 (b1), 24-28, 7-2, 28-32, 2-7, 15-18, 7-10, 18-22, 10-15, 22-25, 6-2, 25-29, 2-6, 29-25, 15-18 white wins, Bert Vanderpool.

(b1) Correcting Cayton's Compilation where 14-10 was played to a draw.

(c)     10-14 had been starred in Cayton's Compilation, continue 26-22, 2-7, 30-26 (but the immediate 19-15 is a white win), 7-10, 19-15, 10-19, 22-17 to a draw by Nigel Proffitt.

(d)     Correcting 10-15, 18-11, 6-10, 11-7, 9-14, 7-2, 14-21, 2-6, 10-15, 6-10, 15-19, 10-15, 19-24, 16-11, 28-32, 22-17, 13-22, 26-17, 5-9, 11-7, 9-13, 17-14, 21-25, 7-2, 25-30, 2-7, 13-17, 15-19 white wins Proffitt v Morris by mail.

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