Part 65

In Diagram No. 11, if you count up the men on either your own or your adversary’s system, you will find that the number is even, and as you have not the move you should force an exchange immediately, which will give it to you, and win the game.

Every single exchange of man for man _=changes the move=_ when only one of the capturing pieces remains on the board, and the following rule is given for ascertaining how proposed exchanges in complicated positions will affect the move:--The capturing pieces of both black and white in both systems must first be added together, and if the number agrees--in the matter of being odd or even--with that of the number of captured pieces in each system, the move will not be changed; but if one number so found is odd, and the other is even, the move will be changed.

ILLUSTRATIVE GAMES.

The asterisk shows the losing move.

+-----------------------+-------------------------------+ | Play with Black Men. | Play with White Men. | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | _1_ | _2_ | _3_ | _4_ | _5_ | _6_ | _7_ | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 11-15 | 11-15 | 10-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 10-15 | | 22 18 | 23 19 | 22 18 | 24 20 | 22 18 | 23 19 | 23 18 | | 15-22 | 8-11 | 15-22 | 8-11 | 15-22 | 8-11 | 12-16 | | 25 18 | 22 17 | 25 18 | 28 24 | 25 18 | 26 23 | 21 17 | | 8-11 | 3- 8 | 6-10 | 4- 8 | 8-11 | 4- 8 | 16-19 | | 29 25 |*17 14 | 29 25 | 23 19 | 29 25 | 30 26 | 17 14 | | 4- 8 | 9-18 | 10-15 |* 9-13 | 4- 8 |* 9-13 | 9-13 | | 24 20 | 21 17 |*25 22 | 20 16 | 24 20 | 19 16 | 24 20 | | 10-15 | 18-22 | 15-19 | 11-20 | 10-15 | 12-19 | 8-12 | | 25 22 | 25 18 | 23 16 | 22 17 | 25 22 | 23 16 | 25 21 | | 12-16 | 15-22 | 12-19 | 13-22 |* 9-13 | 11-20 | 12-16 | |*27 24 | 26 23 | 24 15 | 25 4 | 20 16 | 22 17 | 21 17 | | 15-19 | 5- 9 | 9-14 |W wins.| 12-19 | 13-22 | 4- 8 | | 24 15 | 17 13 | 18 9 | | 23 16 | 25 4 | 29 25 | | 16-19 | 11-15 | 11-25 | | 11-20 |W wins.| 6- 9 | | 23 16 | 23 18 |B wins.| | 18 4 | | 27 24 | | 9-14 | 1- 5 | | |W wins.| | 1- 6 | | 18 9 | 18 11 | | | | | 32 27 | | 11-25 | 7-23 | | | | | 6-10 | | 28 24 | 27 18 | | | | | 27 23 | | 5-14 | 9-14 | | | | | 8-12 | | 24 19 | 18 9| | | | | 25 21 | | 6-10 | 5-14 | | | | | 2- 6 | |B wins.|B wins.| | | | | 31 27 | | | | | | | | 3- 8 | | | | | | | | 30 25 | | | | | | | |W wins.| +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

_=LOSING GAME.=_ In this variety of Draughts, the object is to give away all your men before your adversary can give away his, or to block yourself so that you cannot move. The secret of success in Losing Game is to get your men on such squares that they cannot be made to jump to the king row. These squares will be the row next you on your own side of the board, and every second row from that, horizontally. Get your men on those squares as soon as possible, and do not be in too great a hurry to capture your adversary’s men.

_=POLISH DRAUGHTS.=_ Although intended for a special board of 100 squares this game can be played on a common checker board. It differs from ordinary draughts in two particulars:

Although the men can move only forward, they can take backward, and Kings can go any distance at one move.

If in taking a piece, a man arrives at the king row, that does not end the move if he can capture another piece by jumping backward out of the king row again. As this brings him away from the king row before the move is complete, he will not be a king until he can get to the king row at the end of a move.

Kings can go any number of squares in a straight line, and can capture any piece which is on the diagonal, not protected by another piece behind it. Kings can also go on for any number of squares beyond the captured piece, and then turn a corner to capture another piece. In Diagram No. 12, for instance, the black King could capture all six of the white men by going over the first one only, and then turning to the left, and continuing to turn to the left after every capture, as shown by the squares with the numbers on them, which indicate his five successive turning-points.

_=DEVIL AMONG THE TAILORS.=_ This is hardly a variation of the game of Draughts, although it is played on a checker board. Four white men, the tailors, are placed upon 29 30 31 and 32; and one black man, the devil, on 1. The men can move only one square at a time, diagonally; the white men forward only, the black man forward or backward. There is no jumping or capturing, and the object of the tailors is to pin the devil in, so that he cannot move. If the black man can reach the free country behind the white men, he wins the game.

The game is a certainty for the white men if properly played. At the end of four moves they should be lined up on squares 25, 26, 27, 28 and whichever end the devil attacks, the tailors should move in from the other end.

There are two critical positions.

In Diagram No. 13, if White moves 24 19 he loses, because Black goes to 11, and as the tailors advance to head him off, he goes back to 15 and 18, and then gets round by going to 14. White’s proper play is 22 18, after which 26 22 will reform his line.

In Diagram No. 14, if White moves 26 22, or 19 15, he loses immediately. In the first case Black will run to 15 and 11, and either get round or double back to 18. In the second case Black will get round by way of 7, or get through.

CHECKER LAWS.

_=1.=_ The Standard board must be of light and dark squares, not less than fourteen inches nor more than fifteen inches across said squares.

_=2.=_ The board shall be so placed that the bottom corner square, on the left hand, shall be black.

_=3.=_ The Standard men, technically described as White and Black, must be light and dark (say white and red, or yellow and black), turned, and round, not less than one inch, nor more than 1⅛ inches in diameter.

_=4.=_ The men shall be placed on the black squares.

_=5.=_ The black men shall invariably be placed upon the real or supposed first twelve squares of the board; the white upon the last twelve squares.

_=6.=_ Each player shall play alternately with the white and black men, and lots shall be cast for the colour only once, viz., at the beginning of the play--the winner to have his choice of taking black or white.

_=7.=_ The first play must _=invariably=_ be made by the person having the black men.

_=8.=_ At the end of five minutes [if the play has not been previously made], “Time” must be called by the person appointed for that purpose, in a distinct manner; and if the play is not completed in another minute, the game shall be adjudged lost through improper delay.

_=9.=_ When there is only _=one way=_ of taking _=one or more=_ pieces, time shall be called at the end of one minute, and if the play is not completed in another minute, the game shall be adjudged lost through improper delay.

_=10.=_ Either player is entitled, on giving intimation, to arrange his own or his opponent’s pieces properly on the squares. After the first move has been made, however, if either player touch or arrange any piece without giving intimation to his opponent, he shall be cautioned for the first offence, and shall forfeit the game for any subsequent act of the kind.

_=11.=_ After the pieces have been arranged, if the person whose turn it is to play _=touch=_ one, he must either play it or forfeit the game. When the piece is not playable, he forfeits according to the preceding law.

_=12.=_ If _=any part=_ of a playable piece is moved over an angle of the square on which it is stationed, the move must be completed in _=that=_ direction.

_=13.=_ A capturing play, as well as an ordinary one, is completed whenever the hand has been withdrawn from the piece played, although one or more pieces should have been taken.

_=14.=_ The Huff or Blow is to remove from the board, before one plays his own piece, any one of the adverse pieces that might or ought to have taken but the Huff or Blow never constitutes a play.

_=15.=_ The player has the power to _=huff=_, _=compel the capture=_, or _=let the piece remain on the board=_, as he thinks proper.

_=16.=_ When a man first reaches any of the squares on the opposite extreme line of the board, it becomes a King, and can be moved backward or forward as the limits of the board permit, though not in the same play. The adversary must crown the new King, by placing a captured man on the top of it, before he makes his own move.

_=17.=_ A player making a false or improper move forfeits the game to his opponent.

_=18.=_ When taking, if either player removes one of his own pieces, _=he=_ cannot replace it; but his _=opponent=_ can either play or insist on the man being replaced.

_=19.=_ A Draw is when neither of the players can force a Win. When one of the sides appears stronger than the other, the stronger is required to complete the Win, or to show a decided advantage over his opponent within forty of his own moves--to be counted from the point at which _=notice=_ was given,--failing which, the game must be abandoned at Drawn.

_=20.=_ Anything which may annoy or distract the attention of the player is strictly forbidden; such as making signs or sounds, pointing or hovering over the board, unnecessarily delaying to move a piece touched, or smoking. Any _=principal=_ so acting, after having been warned of the consequence and requested to desist, shall forfeit the game.

_=21.=_ While a game is pending, neither player is permitted to leave the room without giving a sufficient reason, or receiving the other’s consent or company.

_=22.=_ A player committing a breach of any of these laws must submit to the penalty, which his opponent is equally bound to exact.

_=23.=_ Any spectator giving warning, either by sign, sound, or remark, on any of the games, whether played or pending, shall be expelled from the room.

_=24.=_ Should any dispute occur, not satisfactorily determined by the preceding laws, a _=written statement of facts=_ must be sent to a disinterested arbiter having a knowledge of the game, whose decision shall be final.

TEXT BOOKS.

Spayth’s Checkers for Beginners. Game of Draughts, John Robertson. Janvier’s Anderson. Bowen’s Bristol. Bowen’s Cross. Bowen’s Fife. E.T. Baker’s Alma. Scattergood’s Game of Draughts. Lyman’s Selected Problems. Backgammon and Draughts, by Berkeley. Anderson’s Checkers. Dunne’s Draught Proxis. Kear’s Sturges.

BACKGAMMON. OR TRIC-TRAC.

Backgammon is played by two persons, each of whom is provided with fifteen men, two dice, and a dice-box. The men on each side are of different colours, black and white, and the players are distinguished by the colour of the men with which they play. The board is divided into two tables, _=inner=_ and _=outer=_, and at the beginning of the game the men may be set up in either of the positions shown in the diagram.

It will be observed that the black men on any point have exactly the same number of white men standing opposite them. In one table there are only two upon one point, and in the other there are only three upon one point. The table with the two men is always the _=inner table=_ while the one with three is always the _=outer table=_. This distinction is important, and may be remembered by observing that the number of letters in the words _=in=_ and _=out=_ are two and three respectively.

In setting up the men the inner table is always placed _=toward the light=_, whether it be a window or the gas. Each player must always have the majority of his men, five and three, on the side nearer him; and the minority, five and two, on the side farther from him. The side of the _=inner table=_ which is nearer the player will always be his _=home table=_. In all the illustrations in this work you are supposed to be playing with the black side next you, and with your inner or home table on your _=left=_ hand.

The raised portion or hinge of the board, which divides the inner from the outer tables, is known as the _bar_, and the points, or flèches, in each player’s home table are numbered from 1 to 6, reckoning from the outer edge toward the bar. These six points are spoken of as the Ace, Deuce, Trey, Four, Five and Six points respectively, and they correspond to the six faces on a single die. The points in the outer tables have no numbers, but the one next the bar on each side is called the _=bar point=_. In giving the moves of the men in a game, the names of the six points in the home tables are disregarded, and each player, Black and White, numbers the board from 1 to 24, starting from the square on which he has only two men. The notation for the black moves would be as shown in the margin; that for white being exactly opposite, of course.

The men on each side are always moved in the direction of their notation numbers. In all the following illustrations the black men move round the board from right to left, like the hands of a clock, while the white men go in the opposite direction; so that the two opposing forces are continually meeting and passing, like the people in the street.

The _=Object of the Game=_ is for each player to move his men from point to point in order to get them all into his home table. It does not matter what part of the home table they reach, so that they get across the bar. The men are moved according to the throws of the dice, each player in turn having a throw and a move. After the men on either side are all home, they are taken off the board according to the throws of the dice, and the player who is the first to get all his men off the board in this manner wins the game.

If each player has taken off some of his men, the player getting all his off first wins a _=hit=_, which counts as a single game. If one player gets off all his men before his adversary has thrown off a single man, it is a _=gammon=_, and counts as a double game. If the loser has not only taken off none of his men, but has one or more men left on the side of the board farther from him when his adversary throws off his last man, it is a _=backgammon=_, and counts as a triple game. In America, gammons and backgammons are seldom played, every game being simply a hit. This spoils some of the fine points of the game, and entirely alters the tactics of the players, as will be seen when we come to the suggestions for good play.

_=The Dice.=_ Although it is usual for each player to be provided with two dice, some players insist on the same pair being used by each player alternately; the claim being that luck will then run more evenly. At the beginning of the game each player makes a cast, either with one die or with two, as may be agreed, and the higher throw has the first play. In some clubs the player making the higher throw is allowed the option of playing the first cast, or of throwing again; but the general practice is to insist that the first cast is simply for the privilege of playing first, and that the dice must be cast again for the first move.

After each throw the dice must fall within the borders of the table on the caster’s right, and each die must rest fairly and squarely on one of its faces. If it is _=cocked=_ against a man, the edge of the board, or the other die, or if it jumps over the edge of the table in which it is thrown, both dice must be taken up and cast again. The caster must announce his throw as soon as made.

_=The Moves.=_ As the men on each side are moved round the board in opposite directions to reach their respective homes, they are of course obliged to meet and pass a number of the adversary’s men, and they must pick their way among them by going to points which are unoccupied by the enemy; for if there are two or more of the enemy in possession of any point, that point is said to be _=covered=_, and must be jumped over. If only one adverse man occupies a point, it is called a _=blot=_, and the man may be captured, as will presently be explained.

The numbers that appear on the upper faces of the two dice, when they are thrown, are the number of points that each of any two men, or that any one man may be moved at a time. If a player throws four-deuce, for instance, he may either move one man four points and another two; or he may move a single man four points and two points, or two points and four points. He cannot lump the throw and call it six points, because if the fourth point from where the man stood was covered by two or more of the enemy, the four could not be played with that man. If the second point from where the man stood was also covered, he could not be moved at all, although the sixth point from where he stood might be unoccupied. If Black’s first throw is five-deuce, for instance, he cannot move one of the two men on his adversary’s ace point for the five, because the fifth point thence is covered. Neither could he move one of them two and then five, because the seventh point is covered also.

If a player throws _=doublets=_, that is, the same number on each die, he plays the throw twice over. If a player throws double fours, for instance, he can either move one man four points four times; or one man four points once, and another man four points three times; or two men four points twice; or two men four points each, and then two other men four points, always provided that the points moved to at the end of each four are not covered by the enemy.

If there is only one of the adversary’s men on any point which can be reached by a throw of the dice, the blot may be hit, a man being moved to that point, and the adverse man taken from the board and placed upon the bar. In the diagram in the margin, for instance, it is White’s play, and he has thrown six-four. Black has left a blot on White’s four-point, and the single white man in the outer table can reach this with the six throw, taking up the black man, and placing it upon the bar. White now has a blot on his four point, which he should cover by playing in a man four points from the outer table, it being better to leave a blot there than at home.

When a player has a man that has been hit, and placed upon the bar by the adversary, he must re-enter that man before he moves any others. He may choose for the purpose either of the numbers on the next throw of the dice, and must place his man on the point in the adversary’s home table which agrees with the number selected. Suppose that in the foregoing example, Black’s next throw is five-deuce. He cannot enter the man on the five-point, because it is covered by the enemy: so he must enter upon the deuce point, which is not covered, and must move some other man five points for the throw upon the other die. If both the five and deuce points were covered, Black could not enter on either of them, and as he cannot play until the man on the bar is entered, the throw would be lost, and he would have to wait until his adversary threw and moved in his turn. If two men are upon the bar, both must be entered before any man can be moved. A man may enter and hit a blot at the same time.