CHECKERS

OBJECTIVE:  The objective of checkers is to get as many pieces from your opponents as possible.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 players

MATERIALS: 8×8 game board and 24 discs (12 of 2 colors)

TYPE OF GAME: Strategy Board Game

AUDIENCE: OLDER KIDS AND ADULTS

THE HISTORY

Checkers (Draughts) is an ancient game. The earliest known variation of the checkers game was found in Ur, Iraq and carbon dated to around 3000 B.C.E. In Ancient Egypt, around 1400 B.C.E., Egyptians played the popular game named Alquerque, which used a 5×5 board. This game was so well loved in the ancient world it spread to the western world where it was played for thousands of years.

In France, around the year 1100, the idea of playing checkers on a chess board was born. In doing so, the number of pieces expanded to 12 per side of the board. After this modification, the game was called “Fierges” or “Ferses.” After, it was quickly discovered making jumps mandatory increase the vigor of the game, this version was called “Jeu Force.”

THE PLAY

Below are the standard United States rules for Checkers.

1. Checkers is a two player game. Each player starts with 12 colored discs (of the same color). Typically Checker discs come in sets of black and red.
2. A Checker board has 64 squares of alternating colors, 32 light and 32 dark squares.
3. Players place their discs (pieces) on the dark squares on their side of the board.
4. Black has first play, after turns alternate.
5. Moves can only be made on black squares, so the pieces move diagonally. Pieces can only move in a forward direction, toward their opponent.
6. If you are moving your disc forward, and not capturing your opponent’s piece in the move, you may only move it forward one square.
7. In a capturing move, a piece leaps of the opponents piece in a diagonal line, landing on a dark square on the other side. While you can only capture one piece per jump you can make multiple jumps in a single turn, if the positioning of the pieces allows.
8. After a piece is captured, it is removed from the board, and collected by the opponent.
9. If you have the ability to jump your opponents pieces, you must. However, in the even there are more than one capture possible from a single square, you may jump whichever piece is preferable.
10. Once a piece reaches the first row of their opponents side of the board (conversely, the row farthest from the player who controls the piece), that piece is kinged, or becomes a king, and is crowned with a piece that had been captured by the opponent. King’s stand twice as tall as a single piece.
11. Kings can only move diagonally as well, however they can move forward or backward as opposed to single pieces.
12. Kings can also jump both forward and backward (diagonally) in the same turn, a multi-direction multi-jump.
13. The game is won when the opponent is unable to make a move. This can happen one of two ways: the entirety of a player’s pieces were captured by the opponent, or a player’s pieces are all blocked from moving.

VARIATION

Suicide checkers, or as it it sometimes called Anti-checkers, is played reverse of regular checkers. The winner of checkers in this variation is the player whose pieces are all captured first or is unable to move legally.

International draughts is Bongdo different than US checkers. Draughts is played on a 10×10 board with 20 pieces per player as opposed to an 8×8 board with 12 pieces per player. This game also observes a rule known as “Flying Kings.” Flying Kings can move across multiply squares as long as they are unoccupied. In the event there is more than one path to capture your opponents pieces, one must use the path that results in collecting the most checkers. If during a move, you land in the king row but are still able to jump backwards, you must jump backward and the checker is not kinged. In order to be kinged the piece must land exactly in that row.

Canadian checkers uses a 12×12 board and 30 checkers per player. The same rules as international draughts apply.

Brazilian checkers uses an 8×8 board and uses rules similar to international draught rules.

Italian checkers uses an 8×8 board. The central difference between Italian and US/UK checkers is that regular checkers are not allowed to jump kings.

TOURNAMENTS

The World Checkers/Draughts Championship is an English drought tournament (also known as American Checkers or Straight Checkers) organized by the World Checkers/Draughts Federation. The tournament allows players to compete to be the World Champion. The first men’s championship was held in the 1840’s, and the first women’s championship was held in 1993.