| Problem No. 2. BLACK. |
| WHITE. White to move and win. |
Problem No. 2 is a fine example of another class of problems, namely, “strokes.” It is formed from the “Paisley” opening, thus:—
| 11-16 | 22-17 | 11-16 | 26-19 | 9-13 | 15-10 |
| 24-19 | 9-13 | 25-21 | 4-8 | 25-22 | a 2-7 |
| 8-11 | 17-14 | 6-9 | 29-25 | 7-11 | |
| 28-24 | 10-17 | 23-18 | 13-17 | 19-15 | |
| 16-20 | 21-14 | 16-23 | 31-26 | 12-16 |
a. This forms the position on the diagram. The solution is as follows:—
| 27-23 | 7-14 | 18-9 | 14-23 | 26-3 |
| 20-27 | 9-6 | 5-14 | 21-7 | 27-31 |
| 14-9 | 1-10 | 23-18 | 3-10 | 3-7 |
White wins. Jacques and Campbell.
Other Varieties.—The forms of draughts practised on the European continent differ in some respects from the English variety, chiefly in respect of the power assigned to a man after “crowning.” The game of Polish Draughts is played in France, Holland, Belgium and Poland, where it has entirely superseded Le Jeu de dames à la française. It is played on a board of 100 squares with 20 men a side. The men move and capture as in English draughts, except that in capturing they move either forward or backward. A crowned man becomes a queen, and can move any number of squares along the diagonal. In her capture she takes any unguarded man or queen in any diagonal she commands, leaping over the captured man or queen and remaining on any unoccupied square she chooses of the same diagonal, beyond the piece taken. But if there is another unguarded man she is bound to choose the diagonal on which it can be taken. For example (using an English draught-board) place a queen on square 29 and adverse men at squares 22, 16, 24, 14. The queen is bound to move from 29 to 11, 20, 27, and having made the captures to remain at 9 or 5, whichever she prefers. The capturing queen or man must take all the adverse pieces that are en prise, or that become so by the uncovering of any square from which a piece has been removed during the capture, e.g. white queen at square 7, black at squares 10, 18, 19, 22 and 27, the queen captures at 10, 22, 27 and 19, and the piece at 22 being now removed, she must go to 15, take the man at 18, and stay at 22, 25 or 29. In consequence of the intricacy of some of these moves, it is customary to remove every captured piece as it is taken. If a man arrives at a crowning square when taking, and he can still continue to take, he must do so, and not stay on the crowning square as at draughts. Passing a crowning square in taking does not entitle him to be made a queen. In capturing, the player must choose the direction by which he can take the greatest number of men or queens, or he may be huffed. Numerical power is the criterion, e.g. three men must be taken in preference to two queens. If the numbers are equal and one force comprises more queens than the other, the player may take whichever lot he chooses. This form of draughts, played on a board of 144 squares with 30 men a side, is extensively practised by British soldiers in India.
The German Damenspiel is Polish draughts played on a board of the same size and with the same number of men as in the English game. It is sometimes called Minor Polish draughts, and is practised in Germany and Russia.
The Italian game differs from the English in two important particulars—a man may not take a king, and when a player has the option of capturing pieces in more than one way he must take in the manner which captures most pieces. There is a difference too in the placing of the board, the black square in the corner of the board being at the player’s right hand, but until a king is obtained the differences from the English system are unimportant in practice.
In Spanish draughts the board is set as for the Italian game. The men move as in English draughts, but, in capturing, the largest possible number of pieces must be taken, and the king has the same powers as in the Polish game. The game does not differ essentially from the English game until a king is obtained, and many games from Spanish works will be found incorporated in English books. Sometimes the game is played with 11 men and a king, or 10 men and 2 kings a side, instead of the regulation 12 men.