Twelve men's morris problem #504

The task

To move

Dark

Difficulty

Easy

Goal

mill in 2

All men are on the board and the game is in the movement phase: Light has 10, Dark has 8. 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

• Movement phase: men only step to neighbouring points, so check which of them are actually free.
• Two threats at once: one move should leave two mills, lines or captures that cannot both be stopped.
• The opponent may strike back with a mill of his own; your line has to survive that.

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.