Canadian checkers (or Canadian draughts) is a variant of the strategy board game draughts. It is one of the largest draughts games, played on a 12×12 checkered board with 30 game pieces per player.[1][2]

Canadian checkers
Canadian checkers board and starting setup; White moves first.
Years activeat least 250 years
Genres
Players2
Setup time< 1 minute
Playing time30 minutes – 4 hours
ChanceNone
SkillsStrategy, tactics
SynonymsCanadian draughts

History

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The game was invented by the French settlers of Quebec, Canada; it was named Grand jeu de dames.[3] It is unknown when the game was first played in Canada. The huff rule was dropped in 1880 after a dispute developed during the Canadian championship match.[1]

The idea of an increased-size international draughts game is older still; boards with 12×12 squares were on sale in London in 1805.[1]

Game rules

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Canadian checkers follows the same rules and conventions as international draughts, the only differences are the larger gameboard (12×12 squares instead of 10×10), and more checkers per player (30 instead of 20). The starting setup is shown in the diagram.

Notation

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Square IDs for game notation

Games are recorded using the same method of notation used by other draughts variants, extended for a board of 144 squares (see diagram).

See also

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  • Hexdame – international draughts rules applied to a hexagonal board

References

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  1. ^ a b c Murray (1978), p. 81.
  2. ^ Diagram Group (1975), p. 39
  3. ^ Mohr (1997), p. 49

Bibliography

  • Diagram Group (1975). "Canadian Checkers". In Midgley, Ruth (ed.). The Way to Play. Paddington Press Ltd. ISBN 0-8467-0060-3.
  • Mohr, Merilyn Simonds (1997). "Canadian Checkers". The New Games Treasury. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 1-57630-058-7.
  • Murray, H. J. R. (1978). "§4.3.8 Canadian draughts". A History of Board-Games other than Chess (Reissued ed.). Hacker Art Books Inc. ISBN 0-87817-211-4.
  • Parlett, David (1999). The Oxford History of Board Games. Oxford University Press Inc. pp. 252, 266. ISBN 0-19-212998-8.
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