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Rules for Chinese Checkers

The game of Chinese checkers was invented in Germany based on a game from the 1880s called Halma. In the 1920s, there was much interest in Oriental lore, so two Americans named the game Chinese checkers in keeping with the introduction of mah-jongg and the discovery of King Tut's tombs in the same decade. The rules of Chinese checkers are easy to learn. The game can be played by two, three, four or six players.

Playing Equipment
- The Chinese checkers playing board has a six-pointed star, with each point painted a different color. Common colors used are white, black, green, red, blue and yellow, but the board can have any combination of colors as long as they are easily distinguishable. The game pieces can be almost anything, depending on the type of board you use. Pegs and marbles are typical pieces, but larger boards may have discs resembling checker pieces. The set of six game tokens will be the same colors as the star points.
Setup
- Setting up the game takes only a few minutes. For two or four players, everyone picks a point, making sure that each player is opposite an opponent. With three players, players are on star points at an equal distance from each other. Each player chooses a color and places the game pieces on their respective star points. Once everyone is ready, flip a coin to see who goes first or agree on one person making the first move.
Game Play
- On each turn, a player moves one game piece to an adjacent hole or jumps over another piece. Once that piece is done moving or jumping, the turn is over. Jumping pieces can occur until the player's token cannot jump any more. It's possible to start in your original triangle, jump pieces and end up in the opposite star point. You are allowed to jump opponents' pieces as well as your own. You can also maneuver around any part of the board, including unused star points and opponent's triangles. Keep in mind that no piece is removed from the board and when a peg or marble reaches the opposite triangle, the pieces can only move within the section.
Winning
- The first person to move all of his pieces into the opposite triangle wins the game. However, if an opponent's piece is blocking the final hole a player needs in order to complete the game, that player may swap out the pieces. This rule should be agreed upon at the beginning of the game because there is technically nothing illegal about an opponent leaving his piece to block an opponent.

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