Games Throughout History
Board games are great to play with friends. One of the most popular games, checkers, was invented centuries ago.
History of Checkers
By 1400 B.C., people living in Egypt were playing a game called Alquerque using a board and small round pieces. Alquerque spread all over the world. Then, in 1100 A.D., a man in France decided to play the game on a chessboard with 12 pieces for each player. The game later became known as checkers in North America.
Rules of the Game
People began writing books about the game of checkers. Over time, the rules were changed, and new rules were added. Now, there are different sets of rules for the game, but the basic ones are the same. One player has 12 white checkers, and the other player has 12 red checkers. The pieces are placed on two rows at each end of the board, and the player with red checkers moves first. Each player tries to get all of their pieces to the opposite end of the board. One player can also jump over another player’s piece and capture it if the diagonal space on the other side of it is open. Once a checker has reached the top row of the opposite end of the board, it becomes a king. Kings can move backward or forward across the board. The first player to capture all of the other player’s checker pieces wins the game.
Checkers Tournaments
The American Checkers Federation (ACF) organizes checkers tournaments in the United States. It also sponsors a national checkers tournament for adults and a tournament for children each year. This organization has more than 500 members who can play in any tournament in the country.
An International Pastime
Checkers has different names in other countries. In England and Australia, the game is called draughts. Some of the rules also change depending on where the game is played. In one version, for example, the “flying king” can move more than one space at a time. When the game is played in Germany and Italy, only kings can jump over and capture other kings. No matter what it is called, checkers has become a pastime for all people.
4
Alexandra is writing a summary of “Games Throughout History.” Which word in the passage should she highlight as being important for her summary?
A.
diagonal
B.
capture
C.
names
D.
federation