"In friendly contention, the old men
Laughed at each lucky hit or unsuccessful manœuvre—
Laughed when a man was crowned, or a breach was made in the king-row."
Longfellow—Evangeline.
The game of Draughts is played on a board of sixty-four squares of alternate colours, and with twenty-four pieces, called men (twelve on each side), also of opposite colours. It is played by two persons; the one having the twelve black or red pieces is technically said to be playing the first side, and the other, having the twelve white, to be playing the second side. Each player endeavours to confine the pieces of the other in situations where they cannot be played, or both to capture and fix, so that none can be played; the person whose side is brought to this state loses the game.
The essential rules of the game are as under—
The board shall be so placed that the bottom corner square on the left hand shall be black.
The men shall be placed on the black squares.[[107]]
The black men shall be placed upon the supposed first twelve squares of the board; the white upon the last twelve squares.