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Checkerboard I
Checkerboard I is the 72nd level in Chip's Challenge Level Pack 2. It was created by Dale Bryan. It is extremely likely that this level would be considered the single hardest level in CCLP2, or at the very least come in second to Cloner's Maze. Checkerboard I is almost impossible without assistance, and while a map is very helpful, it is still finger-breaking work to complete.
The "checkerboard" contains 61 blocks, which will easily not be enough if you attempt the level without a clear plan. If you do use a map, only 58 are required, but the quickest solutions do use all the blocks. Filling in the water located at [13, 3] and [11, 3] will save time, plus choosing which bombs to destroy can make a difference. In total, 29 blocks are needed in the water section (one to reach a socket), 28 or 29 in the bomb section, two as extras for the water section, and one more block to explode a bomb located in front of the path to the exit.
Counting one used block as one space (rather than conventional directional notation), follow these paths: build 3L across cell 3; 5L, 4U, 3L and 9D from water cell 6 through cells 5, 2, 1, 4 and 7; 5L and 2D through cells 9 and 8, and the last block will be taken onto the force floor and D 2R D 2R 8D to remove the bomb. In the bomb section, Chip builds 6D through cells 1 and 4, simply D to access the top half of cell 2, and then through cells 3 and 6 to several forks: cell 9 builds 4D, and cell 5 builds 4L, then first 2U into the bottom half of cell 2 and then 2D 5L through cells 8 and 7.
Chip must watch out for shortcuts through blue walls, Mixed Nuts-style block pushing and other diagonal arrangements, and removing some blue walls in the checkerboard to make other blocks move faster. The full 451 route is shown, with requisite annotations guiding Chip through each step and explaining each major move. A 453 route exists, but its details are unknown - yet it is certain that the bold difficulty will be a full 5.
Fix for Lynx
The boots hidden under the sockets and the fake suction boots on [14, 17] are the only barriers to Lynx play. For this version, make the following changes: remove all the hidden boots, change the fake suction boots to a wall, and doctor the final section slightly.
Replace the force floor at [8, 17] with flippers, move the fire boots to [14, 29] and remove the suction boots at [14, 31], and add an east force floor at [11, 31]. This allows this section to be done in the same number of moves as a hypothetical Lynx ruleset where any tile combinations are allowed.
Be warned that in Lynx, blue keys are erased by all objects and yellow keys are block-acting walls, so if you wish to make the level more compatible overall, change all the keys and locks to red. Checkerboard I was obviously not designed with Lynx play in mind.
Trivia
The record for this level went unconfirmed for 11 and a half years (4204 days). It was the longest unconfirmed record at the time. The public solution was missing two seconds, but a new route was released that is only missing one second. The final second can be discovered by finding two separate improvements on the block pushing. The first improvement of [2] moves has to do with how to clear the last fake blue walls in the upper area without losing any time, and the other [2] moves are not in the large block room at all. These are both tricks that should not be too difficult to spot as the trickiest optimization in the level is already shown, namely how to best get all the blocks through the two doors that are in the SW corner of the block room.
Full level map
Walkthrough
- This route is a 451.0, compared to the 451.4 TWS; despite this flaw (pointed out within it), it contains a vast variety of techniques, shortcuts and secrets, not just for Checkerboard I, but for Chip's Challenge as a whole.
| Previous Level | Current Level | Next Level |
|---|---|---|
| ← Mads' Rush II | Checkerboard I | Bumble Boy → |