Candy Checkers

The year, 1896. The place, Helsinki, Finland. The Checkers World Championship is underway,  and Hugo Dahl -- arguably the greatest checkers master who ever lived -- is facing off against Pietra Dachkovitzna, the young upstart from Minsk.

Dahl is employing the complex Ottoman Defense, while Dachkovitzna is taking a chance with the rarely-seen Klondike Maneuver. After an excruciating 7 hours of head-to-head action, Dahl switches to the Heisenberg Offensive (Variation B) and all hell breaks loose. Dachkovitzna, ill prepared for such insanity, counters with a Kornblatz, but it is of little help. Dahl presses on with a Heisenberg, incorporating K-Shifts and inverted Hauner-Manleys. The crowd goes wild.

In desperation, Dachkovitzna counters with T-Splits, Stacked 7's, and even a Worftuffle Reversal which draws blood and, according to some, briefly suspends time. But Dachkovitzna is out of his league, and he knows it. There is no hope. None at all.

Or is there?

To the amazement of the thousands in attendance, and those following on close circuit telegraph, Dachkovitzna performs a move never seen in the anals of checkerdom -- In one swift motion, he grabs all of Dahl's pieces and eats them!

Pandemonium fills the arena. Women faint. Grown men weep. Finnish King Ikea, who was in attendance, immediately abdicates and opens a small furniture shop.  

The judges convene to discuss this unexpected turn of events. Dachkovitzna's disqualification seems all but certain. But wait! The massive rulebook makes no mention at all about eating opponent's pieces. To the amazement of the checkers world, Dachkovitzna is declared the victor!

Hugo Dahl's protests fall on deaf ears (since, according to tradition, all checkers officials are deaf). He storms out of the arena in disgust, retiring from the sport forever and refusing to wear either red or black for the rest of his life.  

Dachkovitzna receives the coveted Blattenberry Cup and the accompanying twenty-four dollars in prize money.

The entire saga was immortalized in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be Kinged" (which was altered greatly in the screen version staring Michael Caine and Sean Connery).

And now, thanks to Candy Checkers, you can relive that amazing tournament --  and conduct many more of your own! Each colorful box opens up into a 5"x5" checkboard and contains edible checker pieces in tasty apple and blueberry flavors. You get 1.6 ounces of candy, with plenty of pieces for a few games of edible checkers.