Checkers
Checkers is the name of several
different board games. All of these games are similar. In every
kind of checkers, the other player's pieces can be taken by being
"jumped" over.
"Checkers" is the American name. In
British English, and in various other English-speaking nations,
these games are called "draughts."
History
Checkers comes from a very old game
called Alquerque. Alquerque was played on a different kind of
board. Around the 12th century, a French person used a chess board
to play Alquerque. This was the first checkers game. Later, maybe
in 1535, a new rule was added: when a player can jump, he must
jump. This made the game more interesting.
Rules
Pieces when game startsIn most games of
checkers, there are two players. The players are at opposite ends
of the board. One player has dark pieces, and one player has light
pieces. They take turns moving their pieces. Players move their
pieces diagonally from one square to another square. When a player
jumps over their opponent's (the other player's) piece, he takes
that piece from the board.
English checkers
Most English-speaking people call
English checkers, "draughts." English 'checkers' is played on an
8x8 chess board. Only the dark squares are used (the light squares
are never used). For that reason, good players play differently in
the left and right corners.
Pieces The pieces are flat and round.
They are usually colored red and white. For this reason, the darker
pieces are always called "Red" and the lighter pieces are always
called "White." Some checkers sets have red and black pieces. Then
the red pieces are called "White" and the black pieces "Red." And
many sets simply use black and white draughts. There are two kinds
of pieces: plain (single) pieces and "kings". A king is made by
putting one plain piece on top of another.
Starting Position Each player starts with
12 pieces on the three rows closest to their own side. The row
closest to each player is called the "King Row". The darker colour
moves first.
How to Move
A player can move in two ways. A piece
can be moved forward, diagonally, to the very next dark square. But
if one player's piece, the other player's piece, and an empty
square are lined up, then the first player must "jump" the other
player's piece. In this case, the first player jumps over the other
player's piece onto the empty square and takes the other player's
piece off the board. A player can use one piece to make multiple
jumps in any one single turn, provided each jump continues to lead
immediately into the next jump. Sometimes a player may have the
option or a choice of which opponent piece he must jump. In such
cases, he may then choose which to jump.
Kings If a player's piece moves into the
King Row on the other player's side, it becomes a king. It can move
forward and backward. (Regular pieces can only move forward.) A
king cannot jump out of the King Row until the next
turn.
How the Game Ends
The first player who cannot move is the
loser. So if a player loses all of his pieces, he loses the game.
And if he cannot move, he loses (even if he has pieces). A player
may also resign (choose to lose). If nobody can lose, the game is a
draw.
|