Chess The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from earlier chess-like games played in India almost two thousand years ago. The game of chess we know today has been around for more than 500 years! The Goal of Chess You and your opponent are each in charge of an army. Your goal: to catch the other army’s king (before they catch yours)! When you have him attacked and he can no longer escape, it’s called “checkmate,” and you win! You each start with a trusty army of 16: the King, Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and eight Pawns. Starting a Game At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white (or light) color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square. The player with the white pieces always moves first, so it’s only fair to take turns playing white and black. On each turn you get to move one of your pieces (except for one special move). Then it’s your opponent’s turn. And back and forth, you take turns until one of the kings is cornered... or your whole army is tired out! How the Chess Pieces Move Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces has its own shape for moving. Most pieces cannot move through other pieces-- only the knight can jump over anyone who gets in his way! Also no piece can ever move onto a square with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take the place of an opponent’s piece: that’s how you capture the enemies! The King The king is the most important piece, since losing him means the end of the game. But he is also one of the weakest. So very often he needs his friends to protect him. The king can move one square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. The king may never move himself onto a square where he could be captured (no losing on purpose). If your opponent ever moves their king onto a square where you can take it, don’t grab the king and laugh “hahahaha, I win!” Instead, you should explain why they can’t move there. Then your opponent can put the king back where it was, and choose a different move. Check and Checkmate When another piece threatens to capture the king, it is called ‘check.’ When there is no way for the king to escape check, it is called ‘checkmate.’ As stated before, that is how you win. There are only three ways a king can get out of check: move out of the way, block the check with another piece, or capture the piece threatening the king. If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over. The Queen The queen is the most powerful piece. Like the king, she can move in any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - but unlike him, she’s very speedy. In fact, she can move as far as you like as long as

she does not move through any other pieces. And, like with all pieces, if the queen captures an opponent’s piece, that’s the square she stops on. The Rook The rook moves much like the queen: as far as it wants along straight lines, but only forward, backward, and to the sides (not diagonally). The Bishop The bishop is the “other half ” of the queen. It moves as far as it wants, but only diagonally. You start with one bishop on a light square and one bishop on a dark square, and you will notice, only moving on diagonals, each one is stuck on the color it starts on. Bishops work well together because each covers the squares the other one can’t. The Knight Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces - going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”. Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces. People often say knights “hop” because of that special ability. The Pawn Half of your starting team is pawns, so it’s very important to understand how to use these little guys, even though they are not very strong. Pawns are unusual because they move in one way, but capture in a different way. When they move, they just go forward, but when they capture they go diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares or one. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backwards. Because they move and capture differently, the pawn is the only piece that can get blocked by enemy pieces: if there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece. Promotion Now pawns may be small and weak, moving slowly and having trouble fighting against the faster guys on the board. But pawns still have big dreams! They want to be the hero who rules the chessboard and brings you victory. And pawns have one more special ability that can help make their dreams come true. If a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called promotion), except a pawn or king. [NOTE: A common misconception is that pawns may only be exchanged for a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true.] A pawn is usually promoted to a queen, because she is the most powerful piece. Only pawns may be promoted; no other piece can do this! En Passant The last rule about pawns is called “en passant”, which is French, meaning “in passing.” If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent’s pawn (effectively running past the other pawn’s ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as if it only moved one space. This special move must be done on the very next move after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule. Castling One other special rule is called castling, the only time you can move two pieces in one move. This combination move allows you to do two important things all in one turn: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player’s turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook to the other side of his king. (See the example below.) In order to castle, however, the following conditions must be met: • it must be that king’s very first move • it must be that rook’s very first move • there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook • the king may not be in check or move through check Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called kingside.

Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside. Regardless of which side, the king always moves exactly two squares when castling. Draws Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5 reasons why a chess game may end in a draw: 1. The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player’s turn to move, but his king is NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move 2. The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing 3. There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king and a bishop vs. a king). Draw by exhaustion! 4. A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (though not necessarily three times in a row) 5. Fifty moves in a row have been played by each player, without anyone moving a pawn or capturing a piece. This means no progress is being made! If you’ve made it this far, you are ready to play! After this come extra rules for tournaments, variants, and some first advice for how to play chess well.

Backgammon Equipment The game of Backgammon is played on a specially designed board consisting of four tables of six thin triangles or points on each table. The points start from the edges of the board nearest the players and are directed inwards so that they form two rows of 12 points opposite each other. A bar bisects the board and the two tables on one side are designated the “inner tables” or “home tables”, the others being referred to as the “outer tables”. Traditionally, the inner tables should be positioned facing the greatest light source. There are fifteen white disks, fifteen black disks, two dice, two dice shakers and a doubling cube. The doubling cube is a die having the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 inscribed upon its 6 faces. Preparation and Objective Each player attempts to move all his pieces into the inner table nearest to him (his home table) and once that is achieved, to move or “bear” the pieces off the board. The first player to do this wins. However, that is only half the story because backgammon is not being played properly unless it is being played for stakes. So the ultimate objective of a Backgammon match is to win more stakes than the opponent. Starting Pieces can only move in one direction - from the opponent’s inner table through the opponent’s outer table, back through the player’s outer table and finishing in the player’s inner table. White pieces move in a clockwise direction, Black moves in an anti-clockwise direction. Since the inner tables point towards the light, it should therefore be clear who sits where. For the purposes of describing the starting position, the points will be numbered1 to 12 on either side of the board starting with the first square of the inner table and finishing with the last square of the outer table. On Black’s side, position 2 white pieces on point 1, 5 black pieces on square 6, 3 black pieces on square 8 and five white pieces on square 12. White’s side should mirror this arrangement exactly. Although Backgammon is played for stakes, this does not necessarily mean money - one can use counters, beans or one can just keep a score with pen and paper. However, the gambling element can be eliminated completely by following the normal rules and merely ignoring the doubling cube and the stakes. Normally, however, a stake is decided up front be it monetary or otherwise.

To begin, each player rolls one die each at the same time. If a double is rolled, then the stake is doubled and both players roll again. This is repeated until one player rolls a higher number than the other. The player with the highest throw then uses the dice throw from both players to take the first turn and also chooses to play white or black (and thus which side to sit). Doubling and stakes At any time after the first turn, either player can offer to double the stakes prior to casting the dice. Upon being presented with such an ultimatum, the other player must choose either to forfeit the game and the current stake or accept the offer. Once the stake has been doubled once in this way, only the player who accepted the most recent offer to double the stake can offer to re-double it. Whenever this happens, the other player either forfeits the game or accepts the double and the opportunity to offer the next double. The doubling cube is used to record the current amount of the stake. Basic Play Each turn consists of the opportunity to move counters towards the player’s inner table according to the roll of the two dice. Unless a double is thrown, two moves are allowed, one for each number on the dice. When a double is thrown, four moves are allowed of the number on the dice. Player’s are not allowed to pass on their moves - as many moves as possible must be made each turn. •A point with two or more pieces of the same colour on it is safe - the opponent cannot land a piece on such a point.. •A point hosting only one piece is called a “blot”. Such a piece is vulnerable - if the opponent lands on this point the piece is captured and moved to the bar (this means physically placed on the middle bar dividing the board). •Captured pieces are re-entered on the furthest point from the player’s inner table. A throw of 1 allows the piece to move from the bar to point one of the opponent’s inner table. A throw of 5 allows the piece to enter at point 5 of the opponent’s inner table. •If a player has one or more pieces on the bar, no other pieces can be moved until all such pieces have re-entered play. So if the dice throw and position of enemy pieces prevents a player from re-entering a piece onto the board from the bar, the player cannot move any other piece and play passes to the opponent. A point hosting two or more of the opponent’s pieces is said to be “blocked”. If six points in a row are blocked, the opponent is said to have formed a “prime”. This is a highly advantageous achievement because a prime cannot be traversed by an opponent but is completely free to be traversed by the player who created it. Bearing Off Once all pieces are present in a player’s inner table, that player can start “bearing off ”. A throw of 1 allows a player to bear off a piece from point 1 of his inner table, a throw of 2 allows a player to bear off a piece from point 2 of his inner table and so on. Pieces borne off are simply removed from the board. Player’s do not have to bear off - if available, they can choose to move a piece within their inner table instead. This is often done to pair up singlets in order to prevent them from capture. When a player rolls a number that is higher than the highest point of the inner table upon which that player has pieces, the player is allowed to bear off the next highest piece. For example, with a roll of double 5, if the player has a piece on point 5, two pieces on point 3, one piece on point 2 and one piece on point 1, the player would bear off the four highest placed pieces and be left with just one piece on point 1. If after starting to bear off, a player’s piece is captured, that piece must re-enter at the other side of the board and bearing off cannot re-start until all pieces are once again residing in the inner table.

bearing off cannot re-start until all pieces are once again residing in the inner table. Finishing The first player to bear off all pieces wins the game. •If the opponent has borne off at least one piece, a single game is won and the current stake is forfeited. •If the opponent has not borne off any pieces, this is a “gammon” and worth double the current stake. •If the opponent has a piece left on the bar or within the opponent’s inner table, this is a “backgammon” and worth triple the current stake.

Dutch Backgammon This is played in the same way as Backgammon with only 2 differences: •All the pieces start off the board “in hand” and all 15 must be entered on the opponent’s inner table before any can proceed further •A player cannot take an opponent’s piece until at least one of his pieces has been moved into his inner (bearing) table. Acey Deucey This gambling game is popular with the US military forces and is similar to Dutch Backgammon - the keynote feature is that a throw of a 1 and a 2 is a special throw called “acey deucey”. It is played in the same way as backgammon with the following rule differences: •At the beginning, the player who starts also chooses which table to enter and the opposing player must enter on the opposite table and travel in the opposite direction. This, of course, is a purely cosmetic modification to the rules and does not affect the outcome of the game at all. •All pieces start off the board “in hand”. •It isn’t necessary for all pieces to be entered before any other piece can move. This applies at the beginning and during the game. •A player throwing an acey deucey first moves a 1 and a 2 in the normal way. Then the player chooses a double from 1 to 6 and moves again, exactly as if that double had been thrown. e.g. if the player selects double five, that player makes 4 moves of 5 each. Finally, the player is entitled to another throw of the dice, effectively a new turn. However, if a player is not able to move both the initial 1 and 2, then the turns stops immediately and the double and the extra throw are forfeited. Similarly, if all four moves that constitute the double cannot be taken, the ensuing extra throw is forfeited. •Doubling is not part of Acey Deucey and there is no doubling cube. However, some people play that the stake is doubled each time an acey-deucey is thrown. •Acey Deucey also has a different method to determine the winnings each game. At the end of the game, the losing player must pay the winning player the stake times the number of pieces still remaining on the board

Go Game The Board Go is usually played on a 19x19 grid, or board. Notice the nine marked points. These points are usually referred to as the star points. They serve as reference points as well as markers on which the handicap stones are placed in handicap games. The Stones The pieces used are black and white lens-shaped disks, called stones. Black starts out with 181 stones and White with 180. The total of 361 stones corresponds to the number of intersections on the standard 19x19 go board. The stones are usually kept in wooden bowls next to the board. How Go Is Played At the beginning of the game, the board is empty. One player takes the black stones, the other player the white ones. The player with the black stones, referred to as `Black’, makes the first move. The player with the white stones, referred to as `White’, makes the second move. Thereafter, they alternate making their moves. A move is made by placing a stone on an interesection. A player can play on any unoccupied intersection he wants to. A stone does not move after being played, unless it is captured and taken off the board. The Object of Go Is to Control Territory The object of go is to control more territory than your opponent. At the end of the game, the player who controls the more territory wins the game.