A hand with 3 or 4 of any one number is better than a hand with only 2 of each sort, even supposing the first to be much the heavier, as it gives a command of the game, and enables the holder to shut his adversary out and to play his own dominoes as he likes, closing the game if he thinks fit.
Thus take the following hands, A. to play first with the heavy pieces, viz.: 6-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, 5-4, 5-2, 5-1, and B. to be his opponent with the light hand: 5-0, 4-1, 3-3, 3-1, 2-2, 2-1.
If A. commences with 6-6, B. must lose, provided A. plays with the most ordinary skill.
The principle of the game is to play so as to bring the numbers of which you hold most (and therefore in all probability your opponent least) at the ends; by this means you play out more dominoes than he does, and you often have the opportunity of closing the game. But this must be done with judgment, for it sometimes may happen that the player who shuts up the game loses, as his opponent may have a less number than he has, and win the score. It is this uncertainty which gives interest to the game, for to close the game and win when the numbers are nearly equal shows the skill and judgment of the player.
Mill.—This is a good evening game for boys. It somewhat resembles draughts, and is easily manufactured as follows: Take a sheet of stiff white cardboard, such as is sold for mounting water-colour drawings, &c., draw on it 3 oblong squares (Fig. 107) one within the other; the outside square, say 18 in. by 14 in., the second 14 in. by 10 in., and the third 10 in. by 6 in. Unite the 3 squares by drawing 4 opposite lines from the centre square to the outside square, so as to make 4 passages, enabling the players to move their men from one square to the other. Fig. 107 shows the board, with a game in progress.
In this game the black men are supposed to be winning. At the right hand black has a double mill, and a single mill at the top; white has a double mill also, but is afraid to open it, as black would instantly seize his man.
The lines forming each square should be ½ in. wide. The board can be made in a few minutes with the help of a flat rule with the inches marked on it. “Mill” is played by 2 people, each of whom has nine men; draught men will do. Having chosen who is to commence, begin by placing a man on any part of the board, either at the corner of a square or in the centre, of on one of the 4 lines. The men must not be placed in the intermediate spaces. Each line holds a mill, which consists of 3 men in a row, and the object of each player is to make a mill, and to prevent his adversary from making one. When a mill is made call out “mill,” and remove one of your opponent’s men, provided it does not form one of a mill, which cannot be broken as long as it remains closed; try, if possible, to get a double mill, that is, 5 men so placed that by moving one man either forwards or backwards you make a mill each time. If you can get 3 men on 3 corners of one square—which, if your opponent is a good player, he will prevent your doing—you are certain at all events of one mill, if not of a double one. When all the men are on the board you can move a man in any direction on the lines and up or down the cross lines into the other squares, but you must not cross the squares in any other way but by the passages; each passage will hold a mill. A move is from the corner of either square, on the line, to the centre, or back again, so on all round the squares if necessary—i.e. supposing you have only 3 men left, the rest having fallen to your opponent’s skill, and these 3 are in different parts of the board, you must move them till you have succeeded in joining them into a mill. When you have one or more mills, open either by moving a man forward (taking care that your opponent has not a mill ready to be closed, as he will then take your man and break your mill), and when you close it again remove one of your adversary’s men not forming part of a mill. When a mill is open it is of course in danger. The most amusing part of the game is when each has arrived at his last mill and is trying to destroy his opponent’s. The board may also be made of 2 very thin pieces of wood, joined by 2 hinges in the centre, so as to fold it up when not in use, painted white or black, and the squares and passages painted gold or scarlet.
107. Mill. 108. Pachîsî.
Pachîsî.—This is a variety of the game of draughts as played by the natives of India, as good as, if not superior to, the English game. The freedom of moving in any direction, and the fact that it is not obligatory to accept a force, make the game one entirely of tactics, and are productive of many phases before the game is finished. The rules are few and simple. The name Pachîsî is derived from the Oriental expression for “25”—the number of posts in the square (Fig. 108): a are places for the men when off the board.