Part 67

Suppose that in this position Black threw double threes. His play would be to separate all his men in the outer table, so that no matter what White might throw he could hardly escape being caught. The black men might be placed on the points marked with small crosses, and then if the white man cannot be caught and set back long enough for Black to get home, the game cannot be saved. If Black succeeds in picking up this man, he should then complete his home table as rapidly as possible, still keeping his outside men spread, and not disturbing the two men on White’s trey point until necessary.

_=Throwing Off.=_ Always throw off every man possible; never move up instead of throwing off, unless there are some adverse men in your home table. If you make a throw which will not take off a man, do not move two men, but move up and take off one man if possible.

_=Chances.=_ Some players profess to attach great importance to the chances of the dice, but such matters are of little practical value except in a general way. It may be interesting to know that the odds were thirty-five to one against a certain throw, but that knowledge does not prevent your adversary from winning the game.

It should always be remembered that it is more difficult for your adversary to hit a man that is very close to him or very far from him, than one that is about half way. The odds against being hit by a given number, either on one or on both dice, are given in the margin. The throws given in the second column cannot be made without counting both dice, and a player is therefore safer when it takes “double dice” to hit him.

+------------------+-------------------+ |_Single Die._ |_Double Dice._ | | 25 to 11 ag’st 1 | 30 to 6 ag’st 7 | | 24 to 12 ag’st 2 | 30 to 6 ag’st 8 | | 22 to 14 ag’st 3 | 31 to 5 ag’st 9 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 4 | 33 to 3 ag’st 10 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 5 | 34 to 2 ag’st 11 | | 19 to 17 ag’st 6 | 35 to 1 ag’st 12 | +------------------+-------------------+

LAWS.

_=1.=_ If the men are wrongly set up, the mistake may be remedied if the player in error has not moved a man, otherwise they must stand as set up.

_=2.=_ If a player begins with less than the proper number of men, the error cannot be rectified after the player has made a throw for his move.

_=3.=_ The players must each cast a single die for the privilege of first move, the higher winning. Ties throw again.

_=4.=_ By mutual consent it may be agreed to let the higher throw play the points on his own and his adversary’s die for the first move; otherwise he must throw again with two dice.

_=5.=_ Each player must throw the dice into the table on his right hand, and if either die jumps into the other table, or off the board, both dice must be taken up and thrown again.

_=6.=_ To constitute a fair throw, each die must rest flat upon the board, and if either die is “cocked” against the other, or against the edge of the board or of a man, both dice must be taken up and thrown again.

_=7.=_ If the caster interferes with the dice in any way, or touches them after they have left the box, and before they come absolutely to rest and the throw is called by the caster, the adversary may place face upward on the die or dice so interfered with, any number he chooses, and the caster must play it as if thrown.

_=8.=_ Before playing, the throw must be announced by the caster, and if the throw is played as called it stands good, unless an error in the call is discovered before the dice have been touched for the purpose of putting them in the box again.

_=9.=_ If a player moves a man a wrong number of points, the throw being correctly called, the adversary must demand that the error be rectified before he throws himself, or the erroneous move stands good.

_=10.=_ If a man wrongly moved can be moved correctly, the player in error is obliged to move that man. If he cannot be moved correctly, the other man that was moved correctly on the same throw must be moved on the number of points on the second die, if possible. If the second man cannot be so moved onward, the player is at liberty to move any man he pleases.

_=11.=_ Any man touched, except for the purpose of adjusting it, must be moved if the piece is playable. A player about to adjust a man must give due notice by saying, “J’adoube.” A man having been properly played to a certain point and quitted, must remain there.

_=12.=_ The numbers on both dice must be played if possible. If there are two ways to play, one of which will employ the numbers on both dice, the other only one of them, the former must be played. If either, but only one, of the two numbers thrown can be played, the larger of the two must be selected.

_=13.=_ If a player throws off men before all his men are at home, the men so thrown off must be placed on the bar, and re-entered in the adversary’s home table, just as if they had been captured in the course of play. The same penalty attaches to throwing off men while one is on the bar.

RUSSIAN BACKGAMMON.

In this variety of the game, no men are placed upon the board at starting, but each player enters his men by throws of the dice, and both players enter upon the same table, so that all the men on both sides move round the board in the same direction, and both players have the same home table, which is always the one opposite the entering table.

After having entered two men on the first throw, the player is at liberty either to continue entering his men with any subsequent throws, or to play the men already entered. In moving or in entering a player may capture any blots left by his adversary; but he cannot enter upon a point covered by two or more of the adversary’s men. If a player cannot enter a fresh man with the throw made, he must play a man if he can. When a man is captured, he must be re-entered before any other man can be moved.

Except on the first throw of the game, doublets give the player a great advantage. He can not only play the upper faces of the dice twice over, as in the ordinary game, but the faces opposite them also, and can then throw again before his adversary. Should he again throw doublets, he would play both faces of the dice, and throw again, and so on. As the opposite face is always the complement of seven, it is not necessary to turn the dice over to see what it is. A player throwing double four knows that he has four fours and four threes to play and will then get another throw. The upper faces of the dice must be played first, and if all four cannot be played the opposites and the second throw are lost. If the upper faces can be played, but not all the opposites, the second throw is lost.

If the first throw of the game made by either player is a doublet, it is played as in the ordinary game, without playing the opposite faces or getting a second throw.

The chief tactics of the game are in getting your men together in advance of your adversary, and covering as many consecutive points as possible, so that he cannot pass you except singly, and then only at the risk of being hit. After getting home, the men should be piled on the ace and deuce points unless there is very little time to waste in securing position.

TEXT BOOKS.

Backgammon, by Kenny Meadows, 1844. Backgammon and Draughts, by Berkeley. Pocket Guide to Backgammon, by “Cavendish.” Bohn’s Handbook of Games.

REVERSI.

This game requires a special board of sixty-four squares. Two players are each provided with thirty-two men which are red on one side and black on the other. The first player sets a man on any of the four squares in the middle of the board, and then his opponent places another man in the same four squares, each player having his own colour uppermost.

After the first move on each side, the object of each player is so to set his men that they shall be next to an opposing man, but with one of his own men in a direct line on the other side, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, no matter how far off the man in line may be.

When a player succeeds in doing this, he reverses the colour of all the intervening men, turning them to his own side. A man placed at an angle may turn more than one line at a time. As soon as the board is filled, each man counts up his colour, and the one that has the majority wins the game.

HALMA.

This is played on a board with 256 squares, each player having nineteen men of distinguishing colours. At the start the men are placed in an enclosure at the corner of the board, called a “yard.” The object of the player is to get his men out of his own yard and into his adversary’s.

The men move one square at a time, like a king at chess, unless a man gets to the square adjoining that occupied by another man with a space beyond it. Whether the adjoining man is his own or his adversary’s, the player can hop over it into the vacant space beyond, and he can make as many hops as there are men and spaces. This being so, a player will try to make “ladders” with his own men, placing them in a line diagonally, with a space between each, and will then hop his men over them all. As soon as he gets all his men into his adversary’s yard the game is ended. Special directions always come with the apparatus.

GO-BANG.

This is played on a board of 361 squares. Each player has his own coloured counters, and they draw for the first move. Each places a man in turn, and the first to get five men in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, wins the game.

MORELLES, OR NINE MEN’S MORRIS.

This game, sometimes called _=The Mill=_, is played on a board ruled off into compartments, as follows:

Each player has nine men, of distinguishable colours. They draw for first move, and each in turn places a man on any one of the corners or intersections of the lines. As soon as either player gets three men in line, he can remove from the board any one of his adversaries’ pieces that he pleases, provided the piece is not one of three that are already in a line. If there are no other men on the board, he can remove one of a line.

After entering all nine of his men, the player can shift them about, one at a time, but no man can be moved farther than to the adjoining corner or intersection, and that must be vacant. As soon as a new line is formed in this way, an adverse man can be lifted. It is possible for one man to move back and forth in such a manner as to continually form and reform a line of three. When one player has only three men left, he can jump any of them to any vacant space on the board, no matter how far off. As soon as either player is reduced to two men, the game is over and he has lost.

DOMINOES.

Although properly a game for two persons, Dominoes is sometimes played by four, two being partners against the other two. There are also some round games in which any number from three to six may play, each for himself.

_=The Sets.=_ A set of dominoes is a number of pieces of bone, usually about 1½ inches by ¾, and ⅜ thick. These bones have upon their faces the permutations of the numbers from six to blank, taken two at a time. Some sets begin at double nine, and others at double twelve; but the standard set is double six, and is composed of twenty-eight pieces.

_=The Suits.=_ All the dominoes with the same number upon either end belong to the same suit; the seven bones with a 4 forming the 4 suit; those with a 6 the 6 suit, and so on. The number of pips in each suit may be easily remembered by observing that the ace suit has the same number of pips as the pieces in the set, 28; and that each suit above the ace has seven pips more than the number of pieces in the set, while the blank suit has seven pips less, so that each suit progresses in regular order, seven pips at a time, as shown in the margin.

Blank 21 Ace 28 Deuce 35 Trey 42 Four 49 Five 56 Six 63

_=Shuffling and Cutting.=_ Dominoes are provided with a small brass pin in the centre of the face, which enables one to spin them round, push them about on the table, and so to shuffle them thoroughly. There are three methods of determining who shall have the first play, or _=set=_, as it is called: _=1.=_ The player having the higher double; or, failing any double in either hand, the _=heavier=_ domino, that is, one with a greater number of pips on its face than any held by his adversary. _=2.=_ One player selects any two dominoes, face down, and pushes them toward his adversary, who chooses one. Both are then turned up, and whichever gets the lighter domino has the first set. _=3.=_ Each player draws a domino, face down, and the one getting the lower double sets first. If neither draws a double the lighter domino sets.

The dominoes are then shuffled again by both players, and each draws the number of pieces required by the game they are about to play. The dominoes remaining on the table are left face down, and form the _=stock=_ or _=bone-yard=_. Each player should sort his dominoes into suits, and either leave them standing on their edges on the table with their faces toward him, or hold them in his hand. Few persons can hold more than six dominoes in this way, so the seventh is left upon the table, or is the first one set.

_=Matching.=_ All games of dominoes are based upon the principle of matching, or following suit; which requires that each domino played shall belong to the same suit as one of the exposed ends of the line of dominoes already played, and exposed upon the table. In playing a domino, it must be so placed that the end of it shall match and adjoin the exposed end of the line; a six being played to a six, a four to a four, and so on. Each domino, as played, is laid face upward on the table, the ends abutting, and doublets being laid across, or at right angles to the line.

The principal games are divided into two classes; those in which the object is to _=block=_ a player, so that he cannot follow suit, and those in which the object is to make the ends of the line some multiple of _=five=_ or _=three=_. The Block Game will be described first.

_=THE BLOCK GAME.=_ Each player draws seven dominoes, and the one whose turn it is to set lays down any domino he pleases. If a good player, he will select one of his longest suit, especially if he has three or more, and his object will be to get the line back to his suit as often as possible. If a player had to set with the hand of dominoes shown in the foregoing diagram, he would select the 5-0, because he has four of the 5 suit, and three of the 0 suit. This would compel his adversary to play some domino having upon it a 5 or a 0. Let us suppose this adversary to hold the following dominoes: 6-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0, 5-1, 5-0. He would of course play the 6-0, in order to bring the line round to his long suit of 6’s. As this would close the blank end of the line, the first player, whom we shall call A, would have to play on the 5 end, as he has no 6. In order to get the line back to his second longest suit, the blanks, he would play the 5-2, hoping to play 2-0 next time. His adversary, B, would play on this end if he could, but being unable to do so, he gets rid of his heaviest domino, playing the double six. A plays 2-0, and B should now bring in his suit of aces by playing 6-1, which would win the game; but for the sake of illustration we shall suppose that he foolishly plays 6-4. A plays his double four, and the dominoes on the table present the following appearance:--

B, having neither 4 nor 0 on any of his remaining dominoes, says: “_=Go=_,” which signifies that he is blocked, and cannot play. A can now play at either end, and with either of two dominoes; but it would be bad policy to play the 4-5, because his adversary might be able to play to the 5; but it is a certainty that he cannot play to either 0 or 4. If A plays the 4-5, B gets rid of all his dominoes before A can play again. If A plays the 4-0 on the blank end, he will have to play again with his 4-5; but if he plays it on the 4 end he blocks himself.

Whether to block the game or not depends on the probable comparative value of the dominoes held by A and B. If A blocks the game by making both ends blank, both players show their remaining dominoes, and the one with the greater number of pips loses as many points as he has pips in excess of the other player. In order to judge whether to block or play, it should be remembered that as there are 147 pips in the entire set, the average value of each domino will be 5¼. If A blocks the game, he will have 17 pips left in his hand, which is above the average value of two dominoes; but his adversary will have four dominoes to count, and it is probable that they will be worth about 21 points. The fact that the seven dominoes already played are 13 pips above the average will reduce the probable value of B’s dominoes to about 20. On the other hand, A knows that B has no blanks, which would slightly increase the weight of B’s dominoes.

If A blocks the game, as he should do with the odds in his favour, he will win 7 points, the difference between his 17 and B’s 24. If he does not block, he must follow the 4-0 with the 5-4. This will bring in B’s ace suit, bringing him back to his long suit of 6’s. When the 5-1 was played, A would have to say, “go,” and B would continue with 1-1, 1-6, 6-3, claiming _=domino=_, all his pieces being exhausted. Although A can now play, it is too late, for when one player makes domino he counts all the pips remaining in his adversary’s hand; in this case, 8 points for B.

Had B played properly, by putting down 6-1, instead of 6-4, A would have been compelled to play his 4-0, and B would have made both ends 6’s, A saying, “go.” By then playing his double ace, B would have made certain of domino next time by playing the 6-3, for even if A could play to the 3, he could not shut B out of the ace, and B’s 5-1 would make, him domino, winning 17 points.

The Block Game is sometimes played 50 or 100 points up, and at the end the winner takes the stakes, if any, or settles at so much a point for the difference between the scores.

In the _=Four-handed Block Game=_ the players cut for partners, the two lowest playing against the two highest, and the lowest cut having the first set. Each player draws four bones, and the play goes round from right to left. When any player is blocked, and says “go,” the one on his left must play or say “go,” also. The game is at an end when one player gets rid of all his dominoes, or all four players are blocked. The pips remaining in the hands of the partners are then reckoned, and the side having the lower number wins the difference.

Another variation is for each to play for himself, but instead of playing only one domino at a time in each round, a player may go on as long as he can follow suit to either end of the line.

_=DRAW GAME.=_ In this variation of the Block Game, each player has the option of drawing any number of dominoes from the bone-yard except the last two, which must always remain in stock. He may draw while he is still able to play, or not until he is blocked; but when he is blocked he is compelled to draw until he obtains a domino that can be played, or has drawn all but the last two in the bone-yard.

_=MATADORE GAME.=_ This is another variety of the Block Game. Each player takes seven bones, and the highest double or the heaviest domino sets. The object is not to follow suit to the ends, but to play a number which will make the end and the number played to it equal _=seven=_. If the end is a 3, a 4 must be played; a 2 must be played to a 5, and an ace to a 6. Four dominoes in the set are trumps, or Matadores. These are the double blank, and the three dominoes that have seven on their faces; 6-1, 5-2, and 4-3. Any of these trumps may be played at any time on either of the ends, in order to prevent a block; but the following player, if he does not play a trump also, must play the complement of seven to whichever end of the matadore is left exposed. Doublets are not placed crosswise, and count only for the suit to which they belong; a double three cannot be played to an ace, because it counts as three only. The trumps are usually placed at right angles to the line. The game is decided and settled for as in the ordinary Block Game.

_=SEBASTOPOL.=_ In this variety of the Block Game, four persons play. Each takes seven bones, and the double six sets. Nothing but sixes can be played until both sides and both ends of the first set have been played to. When these five dominoes have been set, any of the four ends may be played to. Each player in turn must play or say, “go.” The game is decided and settled for as in the ordinary Block Game.

_=BERGEN GAME.=_ Two persons play, each of whom draws six bones. The highest double sets, and scores two points for the _=double header=_. Two points are scored by the player making both ends of the line the same. If there is a doublet at one end, and one of the same suit at the other, it is a triple header, and counts three. Fifteen points is game. In addition to the headers, domino counts one. If both players are blocked, the bones are shown, and the one having the smallest number of pips and no doublet counts one toward game. If he holds a doublet, his adversary scores one; but if both hold doublets, the lower number of pips wins the point.

_=DOMINO POOL.=_ Any number from three to six can play, and a pool is made up. They draw for the first set, and after shuffling again, each player takes such an equal number of bones as will leave at least eight in the stock. The leader plays anything he pleases for the first set, and each following player must follow suit if he can, to one end or the other. If a person cannot play, he says “go,” and the player on his left plays or passes also. When one makes domino he wins the pool. If all are blocked, the smallest number of pips left in hand wins; ties divide.

_=MUGGINS, OR ALL FIVES.=_ This is a game for two, three, or four players. The object is to make the two ends of the line some multiple of five, and for every five so made the player scores five points toward game, which is usually 100 up. If only one point is scored for each five, 20 or 21 may be game. Each player draws seven bones, and the highest double sets, each person afterward playing in turn. If double five is the first set it counts 10. The 5-0 played to this would count 10 for the second player, because one end of the line being 10 and the other 0, the total value of the two ends is still 10. Double blank played to this would count 10 more. If 5-6 is now played on one end, and 0-4 on the other, the count will be 10 again, as shown on the diagram. The figures show the order in which the dominoes were played.

The highest possible score is 20 points, made with the 4-4 and 6-6, at different ends. If either player makes a multiple of five without noticing or claiming it, his adversary says, “_=muggins=_,” and scores it himself. If a player makes an erroneous score, it must be taken down, and his adversary marks it as penalty.