Draughts and checkers

Photo of author

Grammarist

Draughts is a British game played by two people on a square board, the draughts are red and black. English Draughts is played on an 8×8 board with twelve pieces for each player, black moves first. Each side attempts to capture the men of the other side by jumping, the first to capture all the men from his opponent wins. International or Polish Draughts are played on a 10×10 board with twenty pieces per player, the red or lighter-colored men move first.

Checkers is the American name for the same game, American Checkers is played on an 8×8 board with twelve pieces for each player, black moves first. Canadian Checkers is played on a 12×12 board with thirty game pieces per player, red moves first. There are many variations of draughts and checkers involving direction of movement, sequencing, number of men and squares. Draughts and checkers most probably evolved from a strategy board game that originated in the Middle East, called Alquerque.

Examples

Tennis coach Paul Stewart recovered from a five-stroke to serve reigning Lodge Road Masters champion Junior “Post” Waldron a 1-0 ace in a losing cause for Lumber Jacks as the John Walcott Memorial Team Draughts Tournament continued Sunday. (Barbados Today)

A YOUNG teacher’s draughts board game skills impressed the Mind Sports of South Africa (MSSA) organisation so much that she has been selected to play at an international tournament in Russia. (The Cape Times)

He also held the world record for draughts games simultaneously played and won, taking on 154 opponents in Dundalk in 1982 and winning 136 times, drawing 17 and losing just once over four hours and 20 minutes. (The Irish News)

Hundreds of chips must fall into place by opening day, but Lambert — cool and calm as ever — made it look like an afternoon game of checkers at the park. (The Smoky Mountain News)

In their approach to dealing with Iran, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have been essentially playing a game of checkers with Iran while the Iranians have been playing chess (The Providence Journal)