Overview

Draughts, which is also known as Checkers, is a game played between two people on a draughts board made up of 64 squares with alternating colours (Black and White) using 24 Draught discs (12 for each player). One player has the Black discs and the other the White discs.

The object of the game is to jump and remove (eliminate) all of your opponent's Draught discs or to create a situation in which it is impossible for your opponent to make any move. In most cases victory normally occurs due to the complete elimination of your opponent's discs.

Enjoy those long summer days and evenings playing with all the family and friends playing some great outdoors games. From the younger member of the family to the older family member, everyone can have fun playing this real family favourite - draughts using one of our garden draughts set. Fun to play, draughts is just part of our large range of Garden Games which includes Quoits, Rounders Sets, Skittles and many more which you can find here.

If you are looking for something on a bigger scale then why not take a look at some of Giant Garden Games where you can find fun things like Giant Chess, Giant Draughts, Giant Tower Games and even a giant version of the very popular game Connect 4.

When looking through our fantastic range of Garden Games you will see that we have a great selection at real value for money prices that will give all the family and friends some great fun filled times.

What's Included and Dimms

Garden Draughts set includes:
* 1.2m x 1.2m (3' 11" x 3' 11") PVC Square Playing mat
* Lightweight enough to carry around
* 12 White Draught Pieces
* 12 Black Draught Pieces
* Each piece has a base diameter of 10 cms (4")
* Packed nicely into a white carrying box with carrying handle


Garden Draughts Dimms:
* Carrying Box: 32 x 22 x 16 cms (1' 1" x 8¾" x 6¼")
* Weight: 1.2 kgs

Delivery

History

The History of Draughts:

The origins of Draughts (or Checkers as it is known in America) although a game known and played by most people, might surprise most people as it is thought through carbon dating it can trace its roots back to around 3000 BC. It is thought that the earliest form of Draughts was discovered during an Archaeological dig in Iraq. However, the game then used a slightly different board, different number of pieces and was played with no one being sure of the exact rules.

It is widely thought that the rules of Draughts were originally based on a game known as Alquerque, a popular game of its time that could be found in ancient Egypt. This game which had a 5 x 5 board was a common and much played game and because of its popularity was played all over the western world for thousands of years and can be traced by historians as far back as 1400 BC.

Around 1100 AD a Frenchman got the idea of playing Draughts on a Chess board. But by doing this it meant that number of pieces on each side had to be expanded to 12. This form of a Draughts game was called "Fierges" of "Fers" and continued to be played using the basic and same rules of the Alquerque game.

In this earlier version of Draughts, there was no rule to say that a draught piece at risk had to "Jumped" or "Captured", so the player could refuse to capture an opponent's draught for tactical reasons.

In around 1530 AD it was found that by making jumps mandatory made the game more challenging and was then introduced to the game of Draughts. This meant that if an attacking draught missed the opportunity to capture the "at risk piece", it could be penalized by being "Huffed" and removed from the board. This is a distinctive feature of the modern game of draughts although "huffing" was actually a feature of Alquerque which for some reason had been largely ignored in the development of early draughts.

The French called this version "Jeu Force" - something that we can associate with the modern game of Draughts. At the same time it was thought that because the older version was considered more of a social game for women, that they called this version "Le Jeu Plaisant De Dames"

Now the rules for Draughts had been set and the game was exported to England and America. Draughts games that are played in England and American are played based upon the 16th century "Jeu Force" rules, however some European countries continued to play draughts based upon the "Le Jeu Plaisant" game.

It is widely thought and observed that the first books written about Draughts were written in Spain as early as the mid 1500s. The first book about draughts to be written in English was by a mathematician called William Payne who in 1756 wrote which was the first of many books to be written about Draughts in the 18th Century.

In the years to follow, and after this change in the rules of Draughts, the game increased in its popularity and in 1847 saw the first world championship take place. And even today Draughts remains a popular game that can be played and enjoyed at many levels by everyone.

Rules

DOWNLOAD OR PRINT OFF RULES FOR GARDEN DRAUGHTS HERE
(opens as a PDF in a separate window which can then be saved as a file or printed off)


General Rules for playing Garden Draughts:

Draughts is played on a board made up of 64 alternating coloured squares (Black and White). The board is laid out in eight columns and eight rows with a white coloured square being in the bottom right hand corner to the player being the correct way for the board to be. Only Black squares are used in Draughts.

Draughts is a game for two players with each player taking turns alternatively. Each player receives twelve draughts which are placed on the black squares in the 3 rows nearest to the player. Make sure that a white coloured square appears in the lower right hand corner of the board. After deciding who has which colour discs, it is the player that has the Black disc that always moves first.

The object of the game:
The object of the game is to jump and remove (eliminate) all of your opponent's draughts or to create a situation in which it is impossible for your opponent to make any move. In most cases victory normally occurs due to the complete elimination of your opponent's draughts.


Now that you have set up the board, you are ready to begin play.
The first thing you have to do is determine who is to going to have the "Black" draughts.
You can use any method for this you wish like flipping a coin etc. In some ways it is important to have the Black coloured discs as it is the player with the Black discs that always moves first.

Once the first move has been taken by the player with the black draughts, moves are taken alternatively by each player.

From their initial positions on the board the discs (whichever colour) may only move forward in a diagonal direction remembering to use the Black squares only.

There are two types of moves that can be made - capturing moves and non-capturing moves.
Non-capturing moves are simply a diagonal move forward from one square to an adjacent square. (Note that the white squares are never used.)
Capturing moves occur when a player "jumps and removes" an opposing piece. This is also done on the diagonal and can only happen when the square behind (on the same diagonal) is also available.
This means that you may not jump an opposing piece around a corner.

If a disc that is being moved is on a capturing move, a piece may make multiple jumps. If after a jump a player is in a position to make another jump then he may do so. This means that a player may make several jumps in succession, capturing and removing from the board several pieces on a single turn.

Forced Captures:
When a player is presented with or is in a position to make a capturing move, he must make that capturing move. When he has more than one capturing move to choose from he may take whichever move suits him.

Doubling up or Crowning Kings in Draughts:
When a draught piece reaches your opponent's edge of the board (the furthest row from the player - called the "King's Row") it can then be Crowned (or Doubled up) by placing another draught on top of it. This signifies that the draught has been made a King.
The King now gains an added ability which is to be able to move backward as well as forwards.
The King may now also jump in either direction or even in both directions in one turn (if he makes multiple jumps).

You can have as many draughts Crowned up as you have draughts that make it to your opponent's "Kings Row". There may be several Crowned Kings in a draughts game in play at any time.

The Winner of the game is the first player to capture and remove all of your opponent's draughts.