Checkers

Though most people do not know it, the game we know today as Checkers has a long and storied history. From ancient Egypt to your own living room, Checkers has remained a popular pastime for most of recorded history. The 1st references to the game of checkers are found as early as 1600 B.C. in Egyptian inscriptions and paintings. In England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand the game is called draughts. There are many variations played worldwide.

Checkers, as we know it, probably began as a game called Alquerque, or Quirkat. Alquerque boards and pieces have been found in archeological digs dating as far back as 600 BCE, and images of Alquerque have been found carved into temple walls dating as far back as 1400 BCE. It was played throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. It was enjoyed by the Ancient Egyptians, mentioned by both Plato and Homer, and even made its way into India. While we do not know exactly how the ancients played Alquerque, what we do know about the game strongly resembles modern Checkers. Like Checkers, Alquerque features round, flat pieces divided into light and dark colors, the capture of opponent pieces, and a grid-based board. Unlike Checkers, an Alquerque board is only a 5x5 grid and sports intersecting diagonal lines; and in Alquerque, there are only 10 pieces per side, moving along the intersections of lines instead of within squares. Historians place the invention of "modern" Checkers in the 12th century CE, when someone, somewhere (probably in the south of France) combined the rules and pieces of Alquerque with the 8x8 grid of a common chessboard. They called the game Fierges, and the pieces "ferses," the same name given to the queen in Chess; at that time the queen moved like a Fierges piece, one space at a time. Later, Ferses also became a name for the game, and by the 15th century both Fierges and Ferses had been replaced by the name Jeu De Dames, or simply Dames. By the 16th century, Dames was hugely popular in France. Formalized rule sets began to appear. In 1535 the Forced Capture rule was introduced to Dames, and players began to call Forced Capture Dames "Jeu Force." It was as Jeu Force that the game made its way to England, where it was renamed Draughts, and eventually to North America, where it was renamed Checkers. Along the way the rules adjusted and variants rose, but the basic form of Jeu Force remained surprisingly intact. By the 17th century A.D., the game that we know today had spread across western Europe. Checkers is only called "Checkers" in North America. In most other English-speaking places, the game is called Draughts, and in much of Europe the game is called "English Variant Draughts." Countries around the world also have their own local names for the game, as well as their own local variant rules, boards, and even pieces. Many European countries use a local variant of the name Dames, such as the German name Damenspiel. Many European variants, including International Draughts, use a "flying king" that can move more than one square at a time, while in both Germany and Italy, kings can only be captured by other kings. In Turkey, they use both dark and light squares, and pieces can move either forward or side to side. Canadian Checkers, or Jeu De Dames Canadien, uses a 12x12 grid with 30 pieces per side!

Because nearly everyone knows how to play, many people think checkers is a pastime for old men and children, like tick-tack-toe or Go Fish. But few people understand the game's actual depth.

According to one estimate, there are five hundred quintillion possible positions on the checkerboard! No wonder master players spend years analyzing favorite lines of play and developing strategies to beat their opponents. Experts study classic "strokes," or long series of forced jumps, which include the Goose Walk, Wyllie's Switcher Winder, the Boomerang, and even the dreaded 350-year-old Canalejas Cannonball. Watch out for that one—if someone uses it against you, you can lose the whole game in just five moves!

Enter into the complex and fascinating world of Checkers by selecting one of our Checkers Sets or a combination set of Chess, Checkers and Backgammon. Or, if you already have a good chess board, take a look at our selection of Checkers in Wood, Decorated Metal or Alabaster for a truly elegant look to your game

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