In Freedom’s Ring, Temperance Hayes loves games of strategy—whether they’re board games or games of the heart. Check out all the strategy games we refer to!
Checkers/draughts
I was really excited to call checkers “draughts,” but when I consulted the definitive Oxford English Dictionary, I found that checkers became the term in British America as early as 1712. By 1784, Pennsylvanian & Revolutionary war veteran Andrew Ellicott referred to the game as “Draughts, commonly called checkers.” (Ellicott rubbed shoulders with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington and later went on to survey the city of Washington, D.C.)
Did you know? There are many different sets of rules of checkers around the world! Variations include whether you’re allowed to move backwards, whether a checker becomes a king upon reaching the far side of the board, and whether you have to capture (jump) an opponent’s piece, given the option.
Here’s one popular variation: Russian checkers. Most of the rules look familiar, but can you tell why this game is categorized as a “flying kings” variant?
Temperance and all her friends naturally play English rules, the variation I grew up playing as well. (In the categories above, that would be no backwards moves unless you’re a king, yes kings, no forced jumps and no flying kings.) What’s your favorite checkers variation?