Canadian checkers

Canadian checkers

Canadian checkers board and starting setup; White moves first.
Years active	at least 250 years
Genres	Board game Abstract strategy game Mind sport
Players	2
Setup time	< 1 minute
Playing time	30 minutes – 4 hours
Chance	None
Skills	Strategy, tactics
Synonyms	Canadian draughts

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]

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]

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.

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

• Hexdame – international draughts rules applied to a hexagonal board

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.

• Association Québécoise des joueurs de dames (AQJD) official site of the Quebec draughts association (in French)
• Canadian Checkers at BoardGameGeek