INTRODUCING ENGLISH DRAUGHTS

Draughts (or Checkers) is a much under rated and neglected game, often derided as a 'kids' game, and looked down upon by exponents of games like chess. This view is unjustified, as the game offers characteristics and subtleties simply not found in any other board game. And despite of over 200 years of research and analysis of the game, there is still plenty of new play to be found by the adventurous player. In a way, the virtue of the game is actually in its limited piece movement and mobility, since this forces you think in terms of warding off threats at a much deeper level than you would do in a game like chess, that has a larger mobility.

DRAUGHTS is traditionally played on the BLACK squares of an 8 by 8 chess board The squares are numbered from 1 (bott right) to 32 (top left), with black men on squares 1-12 and white on squares 21-32. Men move diagonally forward onto empty squares, or jump over and capture an opponent if there's a clear space behind it. One VERY important rule - IF YOU CAN JUMP, YOU MUST! If, after jumping, the same piece can jump again, IT MUST! One exception to this rule - when a man reaches the KING-ROW (the 8th), and is made into a KING, it may NOT make any further jumps - until the next move! When a man becomes a KING, it can move in all 4 diagonal directions. When one side has no legal moves left, that side loses the game! The most important rule is that if you can jump YOU MUST! This leads to fascinating combinations, often sparked by cunning material sacrifice. Consider this problem:-

Black Man on 4, Black king on 6, White men on 7 and 12. Black to play and win. (or B 4,K6 : W 7,12 in standard notation.) The winning move is 4-8! White MUST jump 12x3, its man at 3 becoming a king. Now black moves his king 6-2!! White now only has 1 move, 3-8, since its man at 7 cannot move, and Black simply jumps the 2 pieces 2x11x4 and wins! Here is another problem: B 1,2,6 : W 11,18,27 with Black to play & win.

The key move for black is 2-7 !! White replies 11x2, and the new king HAS to stop at 2 to be crowned, it cannot go on and make further jumps. Black now plays 1-5, White must jump 2x9 and black wins with 5x14x23x32. Now a harder problem:- (Composed by World champion D.Oldbury)

W 6,10,14,15,18,19,22,23,27 : B 1,3,7,12,K13,20,K25,26 White to play and win.

SAGE and BLITZ can see the 17 move solution in about 1 second on a 486!!

27-24! 20x27, 14-9, 7x14, 15-11, 1x10, 11-7, 13x6, 18x9x2, 25x18, 23x14, 10x17, 19-16, 3-10,

2-6, 12x19, 6x15x24x31x22x13 and White wins.

OK, having done something to convince you of the beauty of the game, let us backtrack, and consider how you should approach actual play. In the broadest terms, getting a man up, without your opponent having any compensating advantage, will usually win you the game. In the opening, beginners often lose pieces by pushing them forward too far and too fast - this happens when you initiate an exchange. For example, if Black starts a game 11-15 and White replys 22-18, after the exchange 15x22, 25x18, you will see that the piece on 18 is thrown forward - in effect White has gained 2 extra 'steps' or tempi with his pieces. While forcing pieces forward like this is OK in the later stages of the game, when you able to break through your opponents defences, it can be dangerous early on. In fact, the opening just described is perfectly sound for White, but if White was to initiate further exchanges, he could rapidly run out of space, and find himself unable to protect his forward men. Another common mistake is to break up your back rank WITHOUT FORCING YOUR OPPONENT TO DO THE SAME. Your back rank is protection against your opponent getting a king, and also provides some protection against piercing shots and combinations. So, for Black, it is a good idea to keep the pieces at 1,2,3,6,7 intact for as long as possible. Note that I have excluded squares 4 & 8 - these are the SINGLE CORNER squares, and it is usually safer to evacuate these squares at an early stage - it is hard to get through for a king here, and even when you do, the king can often be held by a defender at square 3. By contrast, you should take particular care to defend your DOUBLE CORNER squares at 1 & 5 - this is a good place to break through for a king. For this reason, black will often keep men at 1 & 3 right through until the late stages of a game - this is called the BRIDGE defence. White usually has to place a man on square 10 before he can march through for a king. The BRIDGE can also tie up white men at square 12 (3 holds it) and 5 (1 holds it) - these are called the DOG-HOLES, and white should avoid going into these squares if at all possible. A good way to for White to attack Black's double corner is by occupying or controlling squares 14, 18 and 23 - this line-up is called the DYKE formation. Of course all the above applies equally WHITE'S back defence squares as well - for instance the White BRIDGE is at squares 30 & 32. The great emphasis on defence underlines the power of the King - an unhindered King behind your opponents defences can wreak havoc. To get to grips with the game, let us examine openings - first let us look at Black's opening moves, strongest first.

11-15 - Considered to be Blacks strongest - dominating the center. 23-19, 8-11, 22-17 often follow.

11-16 - The BRISTOL also good for black, often followed by 24-20, 16-19 with black attacking 19.

9-14 - The DOUBLE-CORNER - often followed by 22-18,5-9,25-22 with many traps awaiting white.

10-15 - The KELSO - While superficially looking strong, it does tend to jam up Black's single corner 10-14 - The DENNY, an even opening, often followed with 22-18, 11-16.

12-16 - The DUNDEE - weak for black, since 24-20 cramps his Single Corner.

9-13 - The EDINBURGH - while traditionally considered weak for black since White's 22-18 grabs the center, modern analysis reveals later counterplay for Black if played correctly.

The 11-15 move deserves special consideration - it is draughts equivalent to E2-E4 in chess! White has 7 replies, all of them good! In descending order of strength they are 23-19, 22-18, 22-17, 23-18, 24-19, 24-20, 21-17. Here are some mini-games illustrating traps in the classic openings - try them out on SAGE..

• 11-15,22-18, (Single corner opening) 15-22,25-18,8-11,29-25,4-8,25-22,12-16,24-20,10-15,27-24?? This is the Draughts equivalent of 'Scholar's Mate' - its called the Goose Walk. 15-19! 24-15,16-19,23-16,9-14, 18-9,11-25,28-24,5-14, and Black wins.

• 11-15,23-19,8-11,22-17,4-8, (Old fourteenth opening) 17-13,15-18,24-20,9-14,26-23,10-15,19-10,6-15,28-24, 12-16?? Black is too aggressive! 23-19! 16-23,20-16,11-20,25-22,18-25,27-4 and White wins.

• 11-15,23-19,9-14,27-23, (Defiance opening) 8-11,22-18,15-22,25-9,5-14,29-25,11-15,25-22,4-8,24-20,15-24, 28-19,8-11? Dangerous! 22-18,6-9,31-27,10-15?? Trying to be too clever 19-10,2-6,18-15! 11-18,30-25,6-15, 21-17,14-30,23-5,30-23,27-2 and White wins.

• 11-15,23-18 (Cross opening) 8-11,26-23,10-14,30-26,7-10,24-19,15-24,28-19,11-16,22-17,4-8,26-22,9-13? This strong looking move loses.. 18-9,5-14,19-15,10-26,17-10,6-15,22-17,13-22,25-4 and White king wins..

• 11-15,24-19,15-24,28-19 (Second Double Corner opening) 9-14,22-18,5-9,26-22,7-11,27-24,3-7,22-17,11-15, 18-11,8-15,25-22,9-13,23-18? White attempt for a king backfires 14-23,17-14,10-26,19-3,12-16,31-22,16-20, 24-19,2-7,3-10,6-24 and Black wins.

• 10-14, (Denny opening) 23-19,11-16,26-23,9-13,24-20? This loses to 14-17! 21-14, (20-11,17-26,31-22,8-31 loses) 6-10,20-11,10-26,31-22,8-31 and Black wins.

• 10-15, (Kelso opening) 23-19,6-10,22-17,11-16?? a loser! 17-13!, 16-23, 13-6, 2-9,27-18-11-2 and White wins.

I hope that quick tour of the world of checkers has whetted your appetite!