Draught Games set, Guide Draughts Sets
Guide to Playing, Rules and the History of Draughts
Guide to Variations of the Game
There are many variants of the game of Checkers or Draughts across the world but the English game is played on a chessboard (or sometimes called draughtsboard) by two players sitting opposite each other. this version is also the most popular globally. The game is normally called draughts in Europe
Despite online and video game version fo this wonderful game, the demand for craftsmen-made wooden family games like this continures to increase.
Sales of indoor draughts Games continue to grow at Jaques as many more Indoor Games are added to the range.
History of Draughts
Although the exact origins are unknown it is believed the game evolved from a game called Alquerque played in ancient Egypt as early as 600 B.C. This is thought to be the beginning of the game
There are many variants of the game across the world but the English game is played on a chessboard (or sometimes called draughtsboard) by two players sitting opposite each other. As with Chess one player has white playing pieces and the other player has black playing (the player with the black draughts pieces moves first unless decided otherwise).
The wooden draughts Pieces move diagonally and the aim of the game of is to capture opponent's pieces by jumping over them.
Playing
The object of the game is to capture all of your opponent's pieces or block them so they cannot be moved. Pieces are always moved diagonally, 1 square at a time, towards the opponent's side of the board. You play the entire game on the black squares, you do not need the white ones.
You can capture an enemy piece by hopping over it. Capturing is also done on the diagonal. You have to jump from the square directly next to your target and land on the square just beyond it. Your landing square must be vacant. The piece captured is removed from the board. If you are able to make a move that results in a capture then you must.
You can capture more than 1 piece on a single move so long as the jumping piece has vacant landing spots in between. You cannot take 2 in a row you must land and "take off" again. The pieces are removed. If you are able to make a move that results in a capture then you must.
If you can get a piece all the way to the other side of the board, that piece becomes a king. Place a previously captured piece on top of the existing draughts piece in order to distinguish it from your other pieces. This piece can move backwards or forwards diagonally. Towards the end of the game all the pieces will be Kings, which changes the strategy significantly.
PLAYERS
Draughts is played by two, on the same board that is used for Chess, with pieces (called draughts) in the form of thick discs. All the draughts are alike in form but are provided in two colours, the darker being used by the player “Black” and the lighter by “White”.
THE PIECES
Each player has 12 pieces of his own colour. To begin a game, the Black pieces occupy squares 1-12 and the White pieces occupy squares 21-32 as shown in the diagram above. All the pieces move solely on the dark squares. At the outset, all pieces are single men. A single man may later become a king, as explained below.
THE PLAY
Black moves first, and thereafter the players move alternately. A player loses the game if he cannot move in turn; usually this is because all his pieces have been captured, but it can also come about because all his remaining pieces are immobilised. Many games are drawn by agreement, when few pieces remain and neither player has an advantage sufficient to win.
NONCAPTURING MOVE
A single man may move only forward on the dark diagonal, one square at a time (when not capturing).
CAPTURING MOVE
The capturing move is a jump. If a White piece stands adjacent and forward to a Black piece, and if the square back of the White piece on the same line is vacant, the Black piece jumps over it to the vacant square, and then the White piece is removed from the board.
If a piece makes a capture, and then is on a square from which it can jump over another adverse piece, it continues jumping in the same turn. It may change direction during a series of jumps.
It sometimes happens that a piece may capture in either of two directions, or either of two pieces may make a capture. In all such situations, the owner has a free choice.
CROWNING
The row of squares farthest from the player is his king row. On reaching the king row, a single man is crowned and becomes a king. The opponent must immediately put on top of it another piece of the same colour, and the two draughts are then moved as a unit.
The king has the same powers as a single man, plus the right to move backward as well as forward. Moves in both directions may be combined in one series of jumps. But if a single man reaches the king row by a capture, it may not continue jumping in the same turn (as a new king); it must pause one turn to be crowned.
