Draughts 101

1
Draughts 101
2
Draughts Around the World

• USA-Checkers
• Spain and Italy-Dama
• France- La Jeu de Dames (Jeu Force)
• Poland- Warcaby
• Germany- das Damenspiel
• Madagascar- Fanora

3
Famous People Who Loved to Play Draughts

• Homer mentions draughts in the Odyssey
• Voltaire mentions draughts in Candide
• Cicero
• Napoleon
• The Duke of Wellington
• Frederick the Great
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Ulysses S. Grant

4
History of Draughts

• The earliest origin of draughts dates back to
  4000B.C. to Sir Gardner Wilkinson, who discovered
  a portrait of King RaMeses playing draughts in an
  ancient temple
• The invention of draughts is credited to Shamoon
  the Magician during the reign of King RaMeses

5
History (cont.)

• Difficult to trace the history of draughts before
  the 1500s because of terminology

6
Rules

• The rules vary depending on the country or the
  type of game played
• Involves 2 players with dark and light pieces
• The person with the dark colors makes the first
  move
• Pieces can only move on the dark unoccupied
  squares

7
Rules (cont)

• Capturing is mandatory
• The uncrowned pieces (men) can only move one step
  diagonally
• Multiple pieces can be captured in one move
• In English draughts men can only capture forward,
  but in international draughts they can also
  capture backwards

8
Rules (cont)

• Once one of the men reach the opposite side of
  the board they become kings
• Kings can capture forwards and backwards

9
International Draughts

• 10x10 board
• 20 pieces each (men)
• Flying King Rule
• Played in the Netherlands, France, some eastern
  European countries, some parts of Africa and some
  parts of Russia
• Most popular type of draughts
• Must capture the most men possible in a single
  move

10
English Draughts (American checkers or straight
checkers)

• 8x8 board
• 12 pieces each
• Men can only capture forward
• If more than one capturing sequence is possible
  the player can choose
• One must make all the captures in a sequence

11
Brazilian Checkers

• Same as international draughts but it is played
  on an 8x8 board

12
Canadian Checkers

• Same rules as international draught except it is
  played on a 12x12 board with 30 pieces on each
  size

13
Pool Checkers

• Mainly played in the South-Eastern US
• Must capture all pieces in the sequence, but the
  player does not have to choose the most difficult
  sequence
• White moves first

14
Italian Checkers

• Men cannot jump kings
• Men cannot capture backwards
• If there are many sequences to capture the player
  must choose the one with the most pieces
• Board is mirrored and flipped
• Mainly played in Italy and Northern Africa

15
Turkish Draughts (Dama)

• 8x8 board
• Pieces move straight forward or sideways
• Must capture the sequence with the most pieces
• Each player starts with 16 pieces
• Played in Turkey, Syria, Jordan

16
Invented Variations

• Suicide checkers- The winner is the person who
  loses all their pieces first
• Lasca- 7x7 Jumped pieces are placed under the
  jumper forming a tower. Only the top piece of
  the jumper is captured
• Cheskers- Each player begins with a bishop and a
  knight