Contrary to general — and superficial opinion, checkers is as profound and scientific a game as human ingenuity ever devised. *Everybody plays checkers, but there are few checker players.* Some of the greatest ex perts, men who had spent 50 years and more in studying the mathematical intricacies of the game, have finally confessed that they. had only begun to touch the fringe of the sub ject. Yet checkers is a game well worth cul tivating on account of the mental faculties it calls into play; it imparts a fascination all its own, for its main principle is to arrive at an object by the most direct and decisive methods.
i Neither in regard to antiquity nor as an exer cise in mental gymnastics need the game of checkers yield the palm to its more ornamental sister game, chess. In Butcher's translation of the 'Odyssey' we read that when the goddess Athene descended from the heights of Olym pus and reached the gate of Odysseus, found the lordly wooers . . . taking their pleasure at draughts in front of the doors." Checkers and chess are "both unfathomable and beyond the comprehension of the human mind" (Henry Spayth). Edgar Allan Poe goes a step further and boldly asserts that "the higher powers of the reflective intellect are more de cidedly and more usefully taxed by the unos tentatious game of draughts than by all the elab orate frivolity of chess" (Murders in the Rue Morgue). The average chess problem declares a white win or mate in two or three moves, and not infrequently contains 10 white pieces as against three or four black ones. On the other hand, the famous "second position" in checkers by Andrew Anderson contains three pieces a side - a king and two men each equal forces, with an apparent "safe draw." Black, men on 3, 6; king on 1; white, men on 12, 13; king on & Black to move and win. If at the sixth move white goes 15-19, the short est way by which black can win requires 79 moves all told; if white instead goes 15-11, it takes no fewer than 83 moves (counting both sides) for black to force a win. If black makes one mistake in 42 moves, the result is a draw. In a problem by Mr. H. D. Lyman, with a king and three pieces a side, altogether. 63 moves are necessary for black to win, and every white move is forced: black men on 1, 3, 28; king on 21; white men on 5, 12, 20; king on 29; black to move and win (No. 948 in Gould's). Again, Strickland's position (3 pieces to 4) and Bowen's "Twin" (4 to 4) re quire 55 moves each to win. Without pre vious study of these positions, it would be quite beyond the intellectual range of any checkerist to discover the correct moves under playing conditions. There are 49 classified two-move openings in checkers; the variations of many of them run into hundreds (E T. Baker's book on the "Alma" opening alone gives upward of 500 variations; and P. Ketchum's "Flora Temple" branches of the "single-cor ner" opening gives over 280 variations). The principal openings are: the Dundee, formed by the first move, 12-16; Bristol, 11-16; Kelso, 10-15; Denny, 10-14; Double Corner 9-14; Edinburgh, 9-13; Switcher, 11-15, 21-17; Sin gle Corner, 11-15, 22-18; Cross, 11-15, 23-18; Second Double Corner, 11-15, 24-19; Ayrshire Lassie, 11-15, 24-20; Dyke, 11-15, 22-17, 15 19; Will o' the Wisp, 11-15, 23-19, 9-13; De fiance, 11-15, 23-19, 9-14, 27-23; Centre, 11-15, 23-19, 8-11, 22-17, 15-18; Fife, 11-15, 23-19, 9-14, 22-17, 5-9; Glasgow, 11-15, 23-19, 8-11, 22-17, 11-16; Laird and Lady, 11-15, 23-19, 8 11, 22-17, 9-13; Maid of the Mill, 11-15, 22-17, 8-11, 17-13, 15-18; Old Fourteenth, 11-15, 23 19, 8-11, 22-17, 4-8; Souter, 11-15, 23-19, 9-14, 22-17, 6-9; Whilter, 11-15, 23-19, 9-14, 22-17, 7-11. As the openings develop after the sec ond move they receive auxiliary titles, e.g., Kelso-Switcher, Kelso-Choice, Kelso-Exchange, Kelso-Cross, Kelso-Regular, Kelso-Double, Kelso-Side, etc. Other developments are the Boston Cross or Waterloo, Tillicoultry, Wa gram, Paisley, Pioneer, Drummond, Nailor, etc. A gambit is a form of strategy in the early stages of a game in which a piece is sac rificed, for position.
Withimethe limits of this article it is only possible to indicate briefly the beginner's road to checkers. Let him number a board as in
diagram, marking each square at bottom left hand corner, so that the numbers will be visible when the squares are occupied. With a guide book on the game - wherein every move is numbered-it will be easy to follow the direc tions. In this practice the white squares would be used; in playing with an opponent, how ever, the board must be half-turned to bring the dark double corner to each player's right. The black squares may then be used. The best opening to begin learning is the "single-corner." To play a good end-game the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th positions should be mastered, with a few of the simpler problems and early traps, such as the agoosewalk," etc. The "calculation of the move" requires some study and a good memory; it is useful only in end-games when there are five pieces a side or less. A knowl edge of this theory is often a winning advan tage. The "tricks" of the board are innumer able; beginning with the easy ones of over coming one king in a double corner with two kings, or of defeating two kings-one in each double corner - with three kings in the middle of the board (a problem frequently given up as a "draw" by the uninitiated.), the student may travel by graduated stages into "bridge" positions, "gambits," long or short 'shots"; to draw with inferior forces, make "slip" moves, etc., etc. As in music, there are certain "themes" in checkers, such as throwing a piece to retard the opponent's advance or to draw him off a given line. The finest example of this type is by Hugh Byars (1889) : B., 10, 11, 21; W., 18, 19; king on 22: W. to play and win -22-17 ; 21-25; 17-21; 10-14; 18-9; 25-30; 21-25; 30-21; 9-6; 21-17; 6-2; 17-14; 2-7; W. wins. If white does not sacrifice the king at the 7th move, the black king would capture the piece on 19 and draw. A simpler theme, arrived at from three settings is: (a) B. 19; king 28; W. 32; king 26; W. to play and win 32-27; 213-32; 27-24; 19-213; 26-23; W. wins. (b) B. 12, 24; king 27; W. 20; kings 11, 26; W. to play-26-31; 27-23; 20-16; 12-19; 11-16; 24-28; 31-27; 23-32; 16-23; W. wins. (c) B. 21, 28; kings 2, 25; W. 30, 32; kings 5, 10; W. to play-5-9; 25-22; 9-13; 22-18; 30-26; 21-25; 13-9; 25-30; 9-5; 30-23; 32-27; 23-32; 10-6; 2-9. 5-23; W. wins. A draw can often be secured with a piece down: B. kings 29, 30; W. king on either 17 or 18; by one move (to 22) white draws. Again, B. 13; king on 17; W. king on either 15 or 23; by moving to 18 and keeping control of that square and 22, white holds the two blacks in perpetual check. Three B. kings on 13, 14, 15; and two W. kings on 22 and 23, with black to play, makes a tricky win for black; now remove the "crown" from the king on 13, black. to play, and white draws. The "slip" theme may be illustrated thus: B. men 5, 9, 11, 20; W. men 18, 24, 27, 32; W. to play-27-23; 20-27; 18-15; 11-18; 23-14; 9-18; 32-14; W. wins. The "in-and-out" or "waiting jump" is a simple trick rarely prac tised by novices, although the possibility arises in perhaps 50 per cent of their games: B. men on 7, 16, 21, 24; W. men on 6, 25, 30; W. to play-30-26; 21-30; 6-2; 30-23; 2-18; thus in 3 moves and with one piece down, white clears the board. Perhaps the greatest fascina tion of checkers is the immense variety of "shots" or "strokes" that frequently crop up in play and are only too often overlooked. On a crowded board it is possible, by a series of forced moves, utterly to annihilate the whole forces of the opponent and compel immediate surrender. J. T. Denvir's 'Traps and Shots> (Chicago 1905) gives hundreds of brilliant ex amples occurring in actual play, and is the most instructive, entertaining book on the game. Many of the traps are provided with names, either after their discoverers or their home towns. Thus we have the Jaques Shot, the Steel Stroke, the Bailey Shot, the "Brook lyn," the °Chicago Trap," etc. None of these is an impossible position, and the player who has committed them to memory and can lead up to them "across board" will achieve a dash ing triumph over an adversary who has neg lected or not yet reached the higher altitudes.