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Checkers - from ancient Egypt to the present

This, along with chess, is a classic and the elite of intellectual board games. For many centuries, checkers-type games have appeared all over the world from West to East, gaining more and more popularity.

Board and checkers

Interesting: The first mention of such a game comes from Ancient Egypt. International championships have been held since the nineteenth century.

Features and varieties of checkers

The main distinguishing feature of all checkers is that the game takes place on a lined field with equivalent figures, chips. Each checker piece, unlike chess pieces, has the same appearance and moves in exactly the same way as the others.

There are usually two opponents, sometimes more. Dice, the throw of which determines the element of chance, as, for example, in backgammon, are not here - it all depends on the attentiveness and intelligence of the players.

As a rule, table checkers are used, but there are floor and street options that differ only in size. You can play giant ones, for example, on the lawn of the park or at a party.

How they walk

The game has many varieties: Russian, English, international, Chinese drafts and others. They differ both in appearance and rules. The size of the field, the number of cells on it (from 64 to 144), and whether the pieces move on black cells or on white ones can vary.

The most famous variety of checkers in Russia and in the post-Soviet space. The game goes between two participants on a two-color field of 64 cells, similar to a chess one, with the same markings: 8 Latin letters (A-H), 8 numbers (1-8).

What is included

The set includes the actual checkers, round "washers" of light and dark colors, usually white and black, and a checkerboard. Depending on the price and desire, you can purchase classic wooden checkers, budget plastic ones or from other, more original materials, such as glass or metal.

Road option

Cheap sets usually come with a cardboard checkerboard. Professionals (and just lovers of more or less aesthetics) buy wooden boards. Road sets are made in a metal box, to which chips are magnetized.

A budget option

For a professional game, you also need a control, the so-called chess or checker clock with two dials and a mechanism for switching between them.

Rules and purpose of the game

The goal is to "eat" or "lock" all enemy checkers. And do not allow the enemy to do this to you.

How to arrange checkers

The starting arrangement of the checkers on the board is three rows each, occupying all the dark cells. The board is placed in such a way that the leftmost cell of the player is dark. There are 12 whites on one side and 12 blacks on the other. At the beginning of the game, all the pieces are simple, but in the course of the game they have a chance to go king.

How they walk and beat

The same location of checkers limits their maneuverability. They move strictly diagonally along the dark squares to a free neighboring dark field. In one move, you can only take one step and only forward.

If the checker is next to the enemy one and there is a free cell diagonally behind that checker, then the rules oblige it to take, “eat”. To do this, the chip is transferred through the enemy and placed on a free cell, and the opponent's chip is removed from the field (but only at the very end of the move, which consists of two half-moves - white and black).

If there is an opportunity to take one or more "units of military equipment", then it must be used. Please note that you can hit both towards the edge of the enemy, and in your own direction.

Who goes first

Brazilian variety

White starts. The right to move white is usually played by lot. Or the players agree among themselves if the party is unofficial.

How the lady walks and beats

When a checker reaches the opposite edge of the field, it becomes a king, and a king in checkers is a piece as privileged as a queen for chess. To distinguish it from the rest, it is either turned over, or a second “puck” is placed on top.

The queen moves diagonally for any number of squares in any direction. When she eats an opponent's checker, she can stand on any free cell on this diagonal. True, she still beats according to the basic rules and cannot jump over two or more nearby chips.

If several pieces are eaten during a move, then it is necessary to calculate the "route" so as not to take the same one again - this is prohibited.

What to do if there is nowhere to go?

Announce the end of the party, of course. The game is considered won in the following variations, in which one of the opponents:

stripped of all figures;
deprived of the opportunity to walk, that is, there are chips, but they are all locked;
says he gives up;
overdue the turn time if the game is running with a clock

In addition, the game is considered to have ended in a draw if:

one of the participants offers a draw, and the other agrees;
a stalemate has developed where no one can make a move;
three times in a row one alignment was repeated on the board;
a participant with three kings did not take the opponent's only king in 15 moves;
players moved only kings for 15 moves and did not take a single piece during this time;
a number of other cases where the alignment of forces has not changed for a long time.

Another option is giveaways.

Giveaway, or reverse Russian checkers, is played according to the same principles as regular checkers, with one important exception: it is necessary that your pieces are already out of the game or are locked.

To do this, you need to specifically expose yourself to a blow, forcing the enemy to “eat” you.

Game strategies

There are secrets worth remembering if you are just learning:

English

English drafts, or checkers, are popular in about 30 countries around the world, mostly English-speaking and former British colonies. They are similar to Russians, but the rules are slightly different:

only black squares are numbered. Accordingly, the record of the move will look not, for example, a 3-b 4, but 21-17;
ordinary chips do not hit back, only the king is allowed;
the "black" player goes first;
the king can move and hit in any direction, but only one step, like a regular piece;
when a checker becomes a king, its move ends, even if there is an opportunity to beat further.

For checkers, a working algorithm has been developed that allows you to never lose a game, reducing it to a draw or winning.

International variant

In the countries of Europe, Africa, China and on the territory of the former USSR, the so-called international checkers are well known.

Equipment

In international games, a checkerboard 10 by 10 cells is used. Only black squares are numbered on it, as for checkers. There are 20 rounds of each color in the set.

Another variant of the international variety

Purpose and rules

The basic rules are similar to the rules of Russian drafts, but there are a few differences:

figures are arranged in 4 rows of 5 pieces only on black cells;
digital rather than alphanumeric combinations are used to record the process;
a checker becomes a queen only if its move ended on the last line, if the move continues, then the transformation does not occur;
with several options for taking chips, one is chosen for which it is possible to “eat” the enemy more at a time.

The game is considered won in the following cases:

one of the participants has lost all checkers;
cannot make a move, as it is "locked" from all sides;
admits to losing.

Accordingly, the goal of the game is to take all the opponent's chips or drive him into a corner.

Brazilian

Brazilian, they are also small Polish checkers, are common, as the name implies, in Brazil and Poland.

Accessories

The board for checkers is taken 8 by 8 cells with the numbering of cells along the vertical edge from 1 to 8, and along the horizontal - marked with letters from A to H. There are 24 chips - 12 of each color.

Rules, victory and strategy

They play according to the rules of international, not Russian drafts, adjusted for the size of the field and the number of chips. White starts to move.

The strategy is to try not to be exposed to the blow and avoid "locking", but to drive the opponent to his edge and attack him. It is more advantageous to stay near the sides of the board and try to make at least one of your pieces king as soon as possible.

Standard victory conditions:

"eat" all the opponent's chips;
do not leave the opponent a single checker on the field that is not locked;
hear from the second participant an admission of defeat.

Pool

In the US and Jamaica, pool checkers or just pool is often played. It is very similar to English checkers.

What do you need

The game requires a board with numbered black squares - from 1 to 32. You can take a set for English checkers. A set of 24 figures is used.

Rules and victory

The board is positioned so that the black square is at the bottom left. In Jamaica, they walk on white diagonals, in other countries - traditionally on black ones. The right of the first move was given to the "black" player (and it's not about political correctness - the American Pool Checkers Association has existed since 1961, and then the fight against racism was only gaining momentum).

Checkers move strictly one square diagonally forward, but they can hit both forward and backward. The queen moves around the field and "eats" enemy chips in any direction. By the way, the “take as many as possible” principle does not apply here, that is, with several attack options, you can choose the one that you think is necessary, and not the one that leaves a larger number of other people's pieces.

Becoming a queen, a checker ends its move on the last line. If the attack continues, which can be beneficial under certain conditions, then the status does not change.

To win, it is necessary, as usual, to deprive the enemy of the opportunity to continue, or to force him to admit defeat.

Italian

Well known in Italy and North Africa. They have a number of features that are worth paying attention to.

Game accessories

The board is taken 8 by 8 cells with numbered black cells, on which chips are placed in three rows on each side. They require 24 pieces of two colors.

Purpose of the game and rules

The goals of the party are standard, but the rules should be read more carefully.

But Chinese drafts are not a bit like Russian or international ones. Not by the rules, not by appearance. Moreover, they are not from China, as it turned out, but from Germany.

Moreover, the Germans made it at the end of the nineteenth century on the basis of the American game "Halma", it was first called "Stern-Halma". The modern combination "Chinese checkers" was invented by American businessmen in 1928 in the name of marketing.

Completeness

A special field in the form of a six-pointed star with cells has been made for playing Chinese checkers. 60 chips are placed on it - 10 chips of 6 different colors. Chips can be of different shapes, but more often - columns or balls.

How to play

The party does not require "eating" opponent's pieces. The goal is to move all your chips to the opposite edge of the star (house or yard). This must be done in fewer moves than opponents.

2, 3 or 6 people can participate. If two play, then they take 15 chips for each, if there are three or six - 10.

In your year, a token can be moved to an adjacent cell or jumped over one of your own or enemy tokens. If there is an opportunity to jump further, then it must be used.

Other varieties

In an attempt to diversify the game, they come up with many new options and remember the old ones. For example, someone is not satisfied with the traditional square board - he dreams of playing oval checkers or three-dimensional checkers, not two-dimensional ones.

Or take mini-checkers, a box with which you can simply put in your pocket and take with you - such sets quite exist.

Pillar

In addition, you can play the following types of checkers:

Go is sometimes called the Japanese variant of checkers, but this is a game with fundamentally different rules and has a more ancient history, going back several thousand years to China. So you can answer “go” to the question “Japanese checkers, 6 letters” so that the crossword puzzle converges, but know that its compiler does not understand anything about them.

Go is played on a special board, a goban, with biconvex stones of black (181 pieces) and white (180 pieces) colors. They are placed at the intersection of lines on the goban (grid 19 by 19). The goal is to fence off with your stones a larger area on the board than the opponent.