CHECKERS (OF. eschew/ice. front :NIL. -etrarilt ehess-hilard. from scaeei, chess, from Pers. shah, king). or DRAUGHTS ( DUI ell dragt. t;er. Tracht. burden. from AS. dragon, to draw, Ger. Ira gen, to carry). A game played with `men' on a checkered board, made square, di vided into sixty-four equal square spaces, col ored alternately black and white. The draughts or checkers are circular and tlat. There are many varieties of checkers—Chinese, English, :vanish, Italian, and Turkish. The game is also found among the native tribes of the interior of New Zealand. In France it is called les dames, from its having been a favorite game with ladies: in Scotland the draught-board is called the dam brod.
Two persons play this game, each having a set of twelve men—one set black, the other white. The men may he placed either on the black or white squares. but they must all be placed on one color only. In England it is usual to play upon the white squares, with a. black square to the lower right. and in Scotland upon the black, with a white square to the lower right. The men may he moved diagonally only. and by one square at a time. if an enemy's man stands in the way, no move may take place un less there be a vacant square beyond into which the piece can be lifted. The man leaped over is
then taken and removed from the hoard. The ob ject of the game is to clear the board of the enemy's men. or to hem them in so that they cannot be moved. and whichever party does so first wins the game. As no piece can move more than one step diagonally at a time, there can be no taking till the antagonists conic to close quarters. and the advancing of them cautiously into each other's neighborhood is the chief art of the game. When a man on either side has made his way. either by taking or by a clear open path. to the opposite side of the board, he is entitled to be 'crowned.' which is done by placing another nian on the top of his man. Crowned Men may move either backward or forward, but always diagonally and by one square at a time, as before, and this additional power gives a great advantage to the player NN her owns the greatest untidier of 'kings.' and usually decides the game in his favor. Joshua Sturges's work, entitled The Guide to the Game of Draughts, first printed in 1800, edited by Kean and last published in 1892. is the standard authority. The rules and many diagrams will found in spaldiny's !Ionic Library (New York).