lidraughts.org

Where and How was "DRAUGHTS" Invented?

I often wonder how this beautiful game would have been invented. So I searched in Google and got the result:

It is thought that the earliest form of checkers was a game discovered in an archeological dig at Ur in Iraq. Carbon dating makes it appear that this game was played around 3000 B.C. However, the game used a slightly different board, a different number of pieces and no one is quite certain of the exact rules.
Source: www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.indepthinfo.com/checkers/history.shtml%23:~:text%3DIt%2520is%2520thought%2520that%2520the,certain%2520of%2520the%2520exact%2520rules.&ved=2ahUKEwiF7o3Shr7wAhVMzjgGHfy-AFsQFjABegQIBBAF&usg=AOvVaw1fEoNRtOubl3paZe3XxByq

And another one's written like this:

While the oldest known Checkers artifact unearthed in Iraq dates back to 3000 BC, the earliest known version of the game comes from a game called Alquerque, which was played in ancient Egypt in 1400 BC.
Source: www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.gamesver.com/history-of-checkers-easily-explained-with-pictures/&ved=2ahUKEwiF7o3Shr7wAhVMzjgGHfy-AFsQFjADegQIDxAF&usg=AOvVaw3bNcXtYlaJ7nu9n1IY1GR-

And other websites have several other versions. I dont know which is Correct, which is Wrong.

I would not dare to ascribe draughts origins to the times of Ancient Egypt. Of course, I acknowledge that many ancient games like Senet and Mills (more frequently known in English speaking world as Nine Men Morris) had influenced the origins of draughts. In relation to this, I am inclined to accept the opinion of famous chess and draughts historian Govert Westerveld. By the way, his publications on draughts and chess origins are publicly available; see archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Govert+Westerveld%22 . In addition, Spanish speaking players would enjoy his books and learning manuals on Spanish draughts (which, by the way, I love very much, although this is not my native variant).

If some player would like to feel how alquerque and draughts are related, I could recommend to try a variant of alquerque called "Zamma" which is played in North Africa. Pieces are moving according to given lines, capturing is mandatory, majority capturing is a must, a simple draughtsman which reaches last rank, gets crowned into powerful king which is a long range piece. Because in "Zamma" both orthogonal and diagonal capturing are available, a player might have an impression that he or she is playing bigger or larger Frisian draughts:
glukkazan.github.io/checkers-like/zamma.htm .

It is a shame that the orthogonal dimension was lost in western draughts. I suspect that happened because it was the only way to avoid the pieces becoming easily blocked early in the game when capture was not mandatory.

At first, Alquerque could have been translated to the checkered board by allowing pieces to move both diagonally and orthogonally on certain color squares, and allowing only orthogonal movement on the other half. This could have been quite confusing, so allowing only diagonal movement probably is the simplest and most efficient solution.

With mandatory captures draughts could be played again using both diagonal and orthogonal direction, and therefore using all the squares.

Sami Alquerque or "Dablot Prejjesne" is other branch of alquerque evolution: it is an interesting game where players have two additional marked pieces which can't be captured by lower ranked pieces (and this concept is similar to Italian draughts). In "Dablot Prejjesne" diagonal moves are less efficient with regards to development, but diagonal moves allow deliver nice tactical ideas. Those draughts players who like playing variants with short range kings, might enjoy this game very much.
This game is available for playing at glukkazan.github.io/checkers-like/dablot-prejjesne.htm .

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