Alquerque

How to play

A medieval game from the Iberian peninsula, played for over a thousand years and widely considered the direct ancestor of draughts (checkers). Twelve pieces a side fill a 5×5 grid of points joined by straight and diagonal lines around one empty centre point — slide along a line to an empty point, or jump an adjacent AI piece to capture it.

Rules

  • Slide a piece one step along any drawn line — straight or diagonal — to an adjacent empty point.
  • Jump an adjacent AI piece along a line into the empty point directly beyond it to capture that piece.
  • Chain further jumps from your new position in the same turn wherever another capture is available.
  • Capture every AI piece, or leave the AI with no legal move, to win — the same happens to you if your own pieces run out or get stuck.

Tips

The points where the diagonals cross — the even points, including the centre — touch the most lines and give the most capture directions, so control them early. Watch for jumps you leave open: never park a piece where the AI can leap over it.