Scientific Checkers Made Easy - A Simplified Guide For The Beginner And An Up-To-Date Manual For The Advanced Player

By William F. Ryan

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Oct 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447494102

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KATZ

INTRODUCTION

In offering my present message to checker players, it would be a rare pleasure could I meet each reader and, with a friendly handclasp, welcome him into our ancient and honorable fraternity. Since this is impossible, a word of introduction must carry a greeting, if less personal, no less cordial.

With most people the game of checkers is a hobby, a diversion, a pastime. With me it is a livelihood. Since I was fifteen I have been playing the game professionally. But more alluring to me than the material rewards is the game itself. It has been my constant endeavor to raise the standards of the game, better adapt it to modern conditions, and make it more attractive to beginner and seasoned student alike.

More than a hundred thousand miles of travel in exhibition checker playing have taken me into every State of the Union and every Province of Canada. In these journeys I have met thousands of checker fans from every walk in life. Upon the foundation of the experience thus obtained, upon exhaustive study of the game, upon extensive research, upon observations as a teacher of checkers, and upon the problems coming to me as editor of a checker magazine I have built this book. In it I have incorporated material which will start the beginner on the right road to successful checker playing, as well as problems that will exercise the mental faculties of the most astute old-timers. I have illustrated my points with games played in actual competition by contemporary great players. The instruction is given in clear and orderly sequence. With reasonable application, the novice will acquire skill. But he must remember that there is no royal road to expertness in checkers any more than there is to expertness in Greek or the pole vault. The short-cut methods and trick systems of learning sometimes taught by incompetent instructors are bound to result in a superficial and confused grasp of the game which brings disaster and humiliation when put to a test. To the person who learns checkers as here taught, and practices diligently what he learns, the measure of his success will depend solely on his mental ability.

There is an old saying: A man without a hobby is only half a man. Few hobbies can compare with checkers. No pastime has a more colorful background. This ancient game, with a history as old as the pyramids, offers entertainment, fellowship, and mental exercise. No game can offer more. And so to all checker fans I commend this book. It is my earnest hope that each reader may feel himself an active and enthusiastic member of our great fraternity—local, national, and international—and may aggressively coöperate in promoting and supporting the game, in furthering tournaments and championship matches, and in doing missionary work among his nonchecker-playing or dilettante friends to create a larger, keener, and better organized checker-minded public. And now, Let’s play checkers.

THE STANDARD LAWS

OF THE CHECKER GAME

1. The Standard Board must be of light and dark squares, not less than fourteen and one half nor more than sixteen inches square. (The American national tournaments adopt a green and buff colored board sixteen inches square.) The board is placed so that the single corner is situated on the left hand side of each player. (See pieces set for play.)

2. The Standard Men, technically referred to as Black and White, must be of contrasting colors (preferably red and white), turned, and round, and not less than one and one eighth inch, nor more than one and one fourth inch in diameter.

3. Placing the men. (a) The men shall be placed on the dark squares.

(b) The Black men shall invariably occupy the first twelve squares; and the White men shall occupy the last twelve squares. (See numbered board.)

4. Order of play. Each player shall play alternately with Black and White men, and lots shall be cast for choice of color only for the first game of a match. Thereafter, the players change color after each game so that both players have the same chance to play first, since the first move must invariably be made by the player having the Black pieces.

5. Time limit for moving. At the end of five minutes (if the move has not previously been made) time must be called in a distinct voice, by the person appointed for the purpose; and if the move be not completed upon the expiration of another minute, the game shall be adjudged lost through improper delay. When there is only one way of taking one or more pieces, time shall be called at the end of one minute, and if the move be not completed upon the expiration of another minute, the game shall be adjudged lost through improper delay.

6. Arranging the men during play. Either player is entitled, on giving intimation, to arrange his own or his opponent’s pieces properly on the squares. After the move has been made, however, if either player touch or arrange any piece without giving intimation to his opponent he shall be cautioned for the first offense, and shall forfeit the game for any subsequent act of the kind.

7. Touch and move. (a) After the pieces have been arranged, if the person whose move it is to play touch or grasp a piece, he must either move that piece or forfeit the game. When the piece touched is not playable, he is cautioned for a first offense, and forfeits the game for a second, according to the preceding law (Rule 6).

(b) If any part of a piece be played over an angle of the square on which it is stationed, the play must be completed in that direction.

8. Capturing play. A capturing play, as well as an ordinary one, is completed whenever the hand is withdrawn from the piece played, even though two or more pieces should have been taken. A single piece capturing an opposing piece or pieces into the opposing king row constitutes a move and becomes king. It is then the opponent’s turn to play.

9. Removal of pieces. When capturing, if a player remove one of his own pieces he cannot replace it; but his opponent can either play or insist on his replacing it.

10. False or improper moves. Either player making a false or improper move shall instantly forfeit the game to his opponent.

11. The Huff or Blow. The huff or blow is the removal from the board (before one plays one’s own piece) of an opposing piece that might or should have taken any of his pieces. But the huff or blow never constitutes a play. The player has the power to either huff, compel the take, or let the piece remain on the board, as he thinks proper.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Rule 11 has been a center of contention for some years. Some American authorities claim that the rule is obsolete, or that it is poor sportsmanship, and they advocate its abolition from the playing rules. My personal opinion is that Rule 11 is a good one, and if the Americans must do away with it, then they must also do away with some of the other rules, namely, 5, 7, 10, and 16. Checkers is a militaristic game involving much discipline. I fail to see anything more merciless about Rule 11 than Rule 10, where if a player merely make an improper play (such as jumping from square 8 to 18, when 8–15 is proper) he loses the game without further play. When I first learned how to play checkers, I was taught that the object of the game was to win. Therefore, if my opponent, in his anxiety to beat me overlooks his opportunity to jump all the pieces he can take, or overlooks a jump when it’s staring him in the face, it is only natural that I shall take advantage of him, just as we do in any form of competitive sport, providing the rules permit it. Whoever heard of any army giving back the enemy their men after capturing them? That’s just what certain factions in the checker game would like to do. They want to cast out Rule 11 and yet leave in all the rest of the imperative rules of checkers, which are just as merciless.

12. Crowning the Men. When a man first reaches the opponent’s king row (any one of the squares on the opposite extreme line of the board) it becomes a king, and can be moved backward and forward, as the limits of the board permit (though not in the same play) and must be crowned, by placing a piece on top of it, by the opponent. If the opponent neglects to do so, and makes a move, any such play shall be put back until the piece is crowned.

13. Drawn Games. A draw is when neither of the players can force a win. When one side appears