Champions at checkers, according to Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle, learn everything needed to become great detectives. Become a winner! Learn to find alternative solutions to problems, break down complex situations, and keep control of your long-term strategy. Here's everything you need to know to leave your opponent gasping in surprise. Dozens of strategies take you, move by move, through many entire games. Start with the basic moves that put you on the winning track. See how to protect your pieces, get kings and use them well, and block your opponent. Fight for control of the center of the board, set up multiple jumps, and avoid the "dog hole." You even learn to play computer checkers, with move-by-move replays of great recent man-versus-machine contests, plus Internet sites where you can pit yourself against "Chinook," the world computer checkers champion.

BIG BONUS: The back cover is a specially designed fold-out game board. Open it up, put down the pieces, and practice all the techniques and strategies as you go through the book. 128 pages, 78 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.