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The history of checkers

Checkers has been played for many centuries. Its history runs from an ancient board game called Alquerque, through medieval France and the Netherlands, to the computer that, in 2007, proved the game is a draw.

Roots in Alquerque

Checkers is generally traced to Alquerque, a game played on a 5 by 5 grid of lines. A Spanish manuscript of 1283, the Libro de los Juegos commissioned by King Alfonso X, gives its rules, with 12 pieces for each player who capture by jumping. Alquerque is the ancestor of the idea of jumping to capture.

From Alquerque to the chequered board

The European game of draughts was already being played by around the year 1100, probably in the south of France. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, players moved from the Alquerque grid to the chequered board used for chess, putting pieces on the dark squares. In French the game is dames, "ladies", from the crowned pieces.

In France a version in which a capture was compulsory developed as jeu forcé, while the version where capture was optional was called le jeu plaisant de dames, a forerunner of International draughts.

The 10 by 10 game

The 10 by 10 board was probably in use in the Netherlands from about 1550. The number of pieces rose from 12 to 20 each between about 1650 and 1700. The large-board game with the majority-capture rule became known across Europe, and was sometimes called "Polish draughts". Its first world championship was played in 1894.

English draughts and American checkers

English settlers took the 8 by 8 game to North America, where it became checkers. The earliest English-language book on the game cited on Wikipedia is by William Payne, published in 1756. The men's world championship in English draughts dates back to the 1840s.

Russian draughts

Russian draughts (shashki) developed its own rules, with backward capture for men and flying kings. Official rules were printed in Russia in 1884, the first Russian championship was held in 1894, and the first Soviet championship in 1924. It remains a national game across much of the former Soviet Union.

An international federation

The World Draughts Federation (FMJD) was founded in 1947 by the draughts organisations of France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, and has run the world championship in International draughts every two years since 1948. Soviet players, among them Koeperman, Shchyogolev and Andreiko, dominated from 1958 through the 1970s. Today the sport is strong in the Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Senegal and Brazil.

Turkish draughts

Turkish draughts, or dama, is played in Turkey, Greece, Egypt and the Levant. A world championship has been held every year since 2014, starting in Izmir.

Computers and the solved game

Checkers was one of the first games for which programs were written. Christopher Strachey wrote the first English draughts program in 1951, and Arthur Samuel's 1956 program was an early example of a program that learns from its own play.

The great human champion Marion Tinsley was world champion for much of the years from 1955 to 1991 and lost only a handful of games in his career. A team led by Jonathan Schaeffer built a program called Chinook to challenge him. Tinsley beat it in 1992, and Chinook later won a 1995 match against Don Lafferty. In 2007 the same team announced that American checkers was weakly solved: with perfect play from the standard opening position, both sides can force a draw.

Checkers today

Millions of people play checkers and draughts, from living rooms to world championships to online. Live voice puts back the talking across the table, which is much of what the game was always about. See play checkers online, or learn the rule sets in the variants guide.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Wikipedia: Draughts
• Wikipedia: English draughts
• Wikipedia: Russian draughts
• Wikipedia: Turkish draughts

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