Nine men's morris problem #534

The task

To move

Light

Difficulty

Hard

Goal

win in 2

One side is down to three men and flies: Light has 3, Dark has 3. A hard problem: not a mill but the whole game, usually by leaving the opponent with two men or without a move.

What to look for

• Flying: a side with three men can jump anywhere, which makes single threats easy to stop.
• Two threats at once: one move should leave two mills, lines or captures that cannot both be stopped.
• Defend first: the opponent has a threat of his own that must be neutralised on the way.

How the answer is checked

There is exactly one first move that forces the result; any other first move allows the defence to escape. Moves that keep the forced result are accepted later in the line, and a move that loses it is taken back with a short note.