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Nine Men Hall

From the problem cellar

Six men's morris problem #505

EasyDark · mill in 2

Setting up the board…

Dark plays now and needs a closed mill in no more than 2 turns of its own.

The task

To move
Dark
Difficulty
Easy
Goal
mill in 2

Placement is still going on: 6 men for Light and 4 for Dark, counting those still in hand. An easy one: the mill comes on your second turn, so look for a move that makes two threats or forces a reply you can use.

What to look for

  • Placement phase: men are still coming onto the board, so a man in hand can block or threaten anywhere.

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.

Show the key move

The key move is d3. The main line runs: d3 · a1-a3 · c2-d2xc1.