Surprise for those wishing to play Chinese Checkers online - an improved analogue of the game is available, with the ability to select up to 5 opponents! This is a modern logic puzzle for finding a strategy, developing thinking skills and mindfulness. At the same time, the rules are simple and understandable even for children!

Contrary to the name of the online game, Chinese Checkers has nothing to do with China or Asia. This is not at all an ancient board game, like chess or backgammon, but people have known how to play Chinese checkers for over 100 years!

In fact, the game was invented in Germany in 1893 and was distributed under many names: Stern-Halma, Star Halma, Hop Ching Shaper, Tiao-chi. The name known today as Chinese checkers "Chinese Checkers" was appropriated by Pressman in 1928 as a marketing ploy and proved to be the most successful.

Rules of the game Chinese Checkers

According to the rules of Chinese checkers, the main goal is to be the first to occupy the opponent's "house", for this you need to transfer your balls (checkers) to the opposite corner using one-step movements or jumping over neighboring cells.

In the game, you can move to the next cell, jump over the occupied one two or more times, until there is an empty space. The player cannot combine jumps with a one-step move - a step consists of one or the other. Rotation is only possible in a clockwise direction.

It is very important to start right, there are 14 possible moves, but an experienced corner player only uses two:

the move of the "cross-caterpillar" is the most common - the extreme checkers of the front row move towards the center (inward);
"opening" - the outer checkers move outward.

How to play online version

First, set the number of opponents. In the online version, you are opposed by computer bots, from 1 to 5, to choose from. Use the mouse. To move the ball, click on it, then on the place you want to go. The ball can jump sequentially through the cell, so it is strategically important to place the "checkers" conveniently. On the one hand, you need to block the moves of the enemy, on the other hand, move in the opposite direction as soon as possible.

In Russia there is a similar checkers game "corners", its name is associated with the task of transporting checkers to the opposite corner. And the rules are exactly the same, the only difference is in the shape of the playing field and the number of players playing at the same time. In the original, the board of Chinese checkers is hexagonal, in the form of a hexagram, so up to six players can play at the same time, and only 2 opponents can play in the corners, on a regular checkerboard.

Let's look into the depths of the history of the appearance of the game - Chinese checkers. On an autumn evening in 383, when a messenger arrived in the Jin capital with a dispatch for the first adviser, Xie An, he was playing drafts with the guest. After reading the report, he put it aside and continued to think about the combination. "What's in the letter?" his partner asked. “Yes, it turns out that my boys defeated the bandits,” Xie An answered absently, not looking up from the board. So it became known in Jiankang that the decisive battle between the North and the South, which took place on the banks of the Feishui River, ended in the complete defeat of the hitherto invincible Fu Jian.

“The square board represents the laws of the Earth.
The lines are straight, like divine forces.
Black and white stones are separated like Yin and Yang.
Their arrangement on the board is like a model of the heavens.
Chinese historian Bang Gu (32-92 AD). "The Essence of Go"

Unlike Shupu, playing checkers (also called weiqi) has always been considered an aristocratic pastime. . “The ability to play checkers is a small art, but it can be mastered only by concentrating thoughts and purposeful will,” the philosopher Mencius once said. “Let's take Qiu, who is known throughout the country for his art of playing checkers.

Playing checkers required the ability to analyze and memorize combinations , "purposive will", which in principle distinguished it from all other games, where success or failure was determined by blind chance. It is quite natural that the ancient Chinese compared the ability to play checkers with the art of governing the state, and the decision-making ruler - with a player preparing to make an important move. Ma Yun, the author of "Ode to Siege Checkers" (2nd century AD), argued that a checkers player is akin to a commander commanding troops on the battlefield.

The fact that the checkerboard was likened to a map, according to which the commander carries out his battle plan, was also reflected in the fact that individual parts of the board were designated by the names of the countries of the world . At the decisive moment of the game, in which Xie Hong-wei was about to play a spectacular combination, one of those present prompted his partner: "A strong wind blew in the southwest, so that the boat does not capsize." He took the hint and saved the situation in time. Xie Hong-wei, outraged by the prompt, threw the board to the floor and refused to continue playing.

In the V-VI centuries. on South In China, there was a qualification system, according to which all famous checkers masters were assigned ranks. At the end of the 5th century Wang Kang had the first category, Xu Si-chuang and Xia Chi-song had the second. At the beginning of the VI century. Liang Wu ordered Liu Hui to develop a new table of checkers ranks, which included 278 names.

Myths and legends about Chinese drafts

Ancient Chinese myths claim that Weichi 围棋 (Guo 碁) was played by the Yellow Emperor and the legendary Emperor Yao (It is he who is credited with the creation of the famous "Book of Changes").

Chinese checkers is a popular board game from the logic series. It can also be found under the names "Corners", "Halma", "Jumps". It appeared in its modern form in the second half of the 19th century and is a simplified modification of the Khalma game. Chinese checkers were patented by the American company J. Pressman and K" in 1880 as "Hop Chin Checkers" - (translated as "Chinese Jumping Checkers").

Therefore, in fact, there is absolutely no “Chinese” here and there are no actual “checkers”. But that doesn't make the game worse. She has simple rules that even a five-year-old child can understand. But behind such apparent simplicity, as usual, lies a fascinating variability and variety of logical constructions.

Chinese checkers are easy to recognize by their characteristic playing field in the form of a six-pointed star with many holes, in the corners of which there are multi-colored checkers-pegs. There are also varieties of the playing field in the form of a square, but this is closer to the game "Hulma".

So, Chinese checkers - rules

In addition to the six-pointed star field, the set most often includes 60 checkers of six different colors, which are equally distributed among the players. Accordingly, there can be two, three or six players. If there are six players, then each will get one set of checkers, two players - three sets, and three participants - two.

Training: each person chooses checkers of a certain color for himself and places them in one ray of a star - the playing field. It will turn out like this: one ray - one color.

Target: it is necessary to transfer all your checkers to the opposite ray of the star (house) as quickly as possible. The one who does it first wins. The Chinese checkers game ends when all participants have successfully moved their peg pieces.

Game progress: first you need to play the right of the first move, which then passes to the next player in a clockwise direction. Only one checker is allowed to be moved in one move.

At first, there are not so many options for moves, but by the middle of the game, when everyone has already brought their checkers to the middle of the playing field, the fun begins.

Move algorithm:

One move is the movement of one checker.
You can move them in any direction.
It is allowed to jump over one checker (one's own or someone else's) if there is a free cell immediately behind it.
In one move, you can sequentially jump over any number of checkers, if rule 3 is observed.

As you can see, the rules are quite simple, but there will be a lot of reasons for reflection and combination options during the game.

Interesting variations:

Depending on the number of participants, Chinese checkers may slightly change the rules.

For example, if there are 2 or 3 participants playing, then you can reduce the number of checkers to one or two sets each. Beginners can take just one color to play.

And when advanced experienced participants gathered, the rules can be complicated. For example, to allow moving only by "jumping", that is, making a move only by jumping over one's own or someone else's chip. And if there is no opportunity for a jump, then the player skips a turn.

Chinese checkers somehow imperceptibly became one of my favorite games, and now the children are already involved. After all, it's so great to break away from the computer, get out of the virtual world and get a portion of live direct communication, practice logic and just relax from the daily hustle and bustle.

This game also helps out at various parties, when you need to entertain guests with something. It's funny to watch how adult uncles and aunts gather in a tight circle, start recklessly rearranging chips and arguing how best to make a move.

A game of Chinese checkers is always dynamic and fun. So, if you meet this game - do not hesitate, get it safely! A pleasant pastime for the benefit of the heart and mind is simply guaranteed to you!

Play Chinese Checkers online. Move your chips to the opposite corner of the field, following the "Corners" principle. You can jump over your own and other people's pieces without fear of being beaten. The main thing - who will be in time first? You can play with one, two, three and even five opponents at once!

Chinese Checkers

An interesting puzzle that came to us from China. From the "Corners" familiar to every schoolchild, only the principle of the move (jumping over the pieces) remained, and the field and chips have a completely different look!

Rules of the game: click on the checker you want to move. With the second click, move the checker to an empty field (by jumping over another checker or simply by looking like an adjacent cell). If it is possible to jump over several checkers, then you need to jump the entire chain in stages. The final stop is indicated by a double click. After that, the move goes to the opponent. If there are several opponents, wait until they all make a move.

To win, you need to be the first to bring the pieces to the opposite corner. The game board is like a "Star of David", consisting of round cells. You can play "Chinese Checkers" against a different number of computer opponents, from one to five. The more colorful chips on the field, the more interesting and difficult the game. There is little free space left, there is a chance of being blocked in an uncomfortable position (or blocking the enemy yourself, providing yourself with a head start!), But the range of one move can increase - after all, you can jump over any piece. The main thing is that behind the chip there is a place where to put your checker. You can only jump over single checkers, both your own and the opponent's.

The peculiarity of "Chinese Checkers" is also that the cells are not strictly one above the other, but in a checkerboard pattern. Accustomed to straightforwardness, our brain does not immediately figure out how it is more profitable to walk. But with the game, any player will quickly get used to it, and it will give him pleasure and benefit: develop your brains by solving non-standard tasks!

You can play Chinese Checkers online for free. If you manage to bypass the computer, you can enter your name among the winners, and then all the results will be credited to your game account.

Chinese drafts are very different from standard Russian and international drafts, but this does not make them less interesting. Many people, when they see the game board of these checkers, think that they have complex rules of the game, but this is not at all the case, they are easy to learn and fun to play with friends. In this online game, you will first be asked to choose one of six colors for the checkers you will play. Then you need to choose the number of opponents, a maximum of 5 opponents can be placed, will no longer fit on the chessboard.

What is Chinese checkers?
This is a board on which there are cells or pits, together they form a playing field that looks like a star of David with six corners. In these corners, each player places his 10 checkers, but it is more correct to call them "pegs". To win in Chinese checkers, you must be the first to move your pegs to the opposite corner of the board.