Draughts (Checkers)

Draughts, one of the all-time favorite two-player board games, combines a Chess board of 64 black and white squares with the pieces of medieval backgammon and the moves of Alquerque. The rules are quite simple and can be learned in minutes.

Draughts originated about 1000 AD in southern France, where the pieces were called Ferses, after the name of the queen in the medieval game of Chess. The game itself was known as Fierges. But when the name of the Chess queen was changed to Dame, each piece in Draughts also became known as a Dame and the game as Dames.

When a rule making it compulsory to capture an opponent's piece became popular in France around 1535, two versions of the game emerged. The capturing game was known as Jeu force, and the non-capturing game or non-huffing game as Le Jeu Plaisant de Dames, later simplified to Plaisant. The capturing game made its way in the 16th century to England, where it was called Draughts, and on to North America, where it is called Checkers.

Draughts was such a popular game during the 19th century that 27 different books on it were published in England alone between 1800 and 1895.

To play Checkers (Draughts) print and cut out the board and checkers below. For ease of use and longevity, paste the board and checkers to an empty cereal box and then cut out. Follow the playing instructions below:

Two players:

The object of the game is to capture all the opponent's checkers, or block them so they cannot move. Each player places his/her 12 checkers on the brown squares of the first three rows on opposite ends of the board (see top of page example). The checkers are moved diagonally forward and each player alternately moves one of his/her checkers. In order to capture an opponent's checker, he/she must be able to jump (with his/her own checker) over his/her opponent's checker when there is a vacant square behind. Single checkers may move diagonally forward.

When a player moves his/her checker to the last row on the opposite side of the board, that checker becomes a "King." The King is "crowned" by placing another checker on top of it. A King may move diagonally forward or backward. You are allowed to jump as many of the opponent's checkers on the same move if there are vacant squares diagonally behind each. When there is a "jump" available, the opponent must jump.