Hobbies And Interests
Draughts or Checkers
Checkers is known as draughts in the United Kingdom. It is played on a chess board, usually with 12 black or white identical pieces on each side. Only the dark squares are used. The idea of the game is to jump over your opponent's pieces to eliminate them, moving diagonally, until none are left. Initially pieces can only move forward, but once a piece has reached the opponent's side of the board, that piece is promoted to a king by stacking another piece on top of it. A king can move forwards and backwards. A player can have any number of kings.
Stratego and L'attaque
L'attaque was patented in France in 1909 and was the predecessor of Stratego. L'attaque is played on a 9-by-10-squares board of any size, representing a battlefield, while Stratego is played on a 10-by-10-squares board of any size marked out as a battle terrain. Each player has an army of 40 pieces that includes six bombs and a flag which cannot move. Pieces move one square at a time, forwards, backwards or sideways, except the scout, who can move any number of squares in a straight line. Pieces have values hidden from opponents until challenges are made when values have to be revealed. A higher value piece will normally eliminate a lower value piece, with exceptions. The aim of the game is to capture your opponent's flag.
All The King's Men, Smess and Take The Brain
Smess: The Ninny's Chess, was introduced in 1970. In the United Kingdom it was called Take The Brain. Pieces consisted of ninnies, numbskulls and brains. In 1979, Parker Brothers renamed the game All The King's Men and changed the theme to medieval England to appeal to a more adult player. The board consists of an 8-by-8-squares grid of any size, each marked with arrows to show in which direction it is possible to move from that particular square. Ninnies and the brain move one square at a time, numbskulls move any number of squares in one direction. No pieces "jump" other pieces. The winner is the player who captures his opponents brain or king.
Shogi
Shogi is also known as Japanese chess. The board is a 9-by-9-squares grid of any size. There are two shogi variations. The traditional board consists of an un-checkered board, with a "promotion" area of 3-by-3 squares in the center, designated by a large dot at each corner. The international version board is checkered with no designated promotion area. The traditional pieces, 20 for each player, are wedge shaped and illustrated with symbols called ideograms, from the Japanese Kanji language. A piece is flipped over when promoted. International pieces are illustrated with pictures, the flipped pictures a different color when promoted. The winner is the player to checkmate his opponent's king.
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is also known as Chinese chess. The traditional board consists of two 8-by-4-squares unchecked grids of any size, separated by an 8-by-1 square "river." The western board is 9-by-10 squares of any size and checked. Traditional pieces move along the lines of the grid, western pieces move from square to square as in standard chess. An army consists of 16 pieces, the idea of the game being to checkmate or stalemate your opponent's king/general or army. The king/general is unable to move beyond his palace, a 3-by-3 square area positioned centrally at the home end of the board.
Chaturanga
Chaturanga is a cross between xiangqi and standard chess. It is played on an 8-by-8-square uncheckered board of any size, armies consisting of 16 pieces. The elephant and counsellor pieces are taken from xiangqi; the knight, rook, pawn and king from standard chess. To win a player must checkmate his opponent's king, but unlike chess, a player causing a stalemate loses.