Pacru is an abstract board game invented by Mike Wellman. Pacru has much in common with Chess (piece movement with sharp tactical exchanges and long-term positional considerations) and Go (game) (strategic concepts such as area control must be considered). Pacru can be played by 2,3 or 4 people, each controlling a single colour. Commercial versions will usually come with the rules for two other games that can be played with the same equipment, Azacru and Shacru. [1] Pacru, Azacru and Shacru have all been featured at the Mind Sports Olympiad. [2] [3]
Pacru is played on a 9x9 grid where each point in the grid is called a "field". The grid is divided into nine borderlands, each consisting of nine fields. Pieces are called "chevrons" in the official rules. Each player starts with 3 pieces (in the 3- or 4-player version) or 4 pieces (in the 2-player version). During play, each player will attempt to place markers of their colour on the board with the eventual goal of dominating the board. A field with neither a piece or marker on it is called "unoccupied". [4]
Pieces in Pacru point in a particular direction. When they move, they may move straight ahead or forty-five degrees to the left or right of the direction the piece is facing. The piece ends the move pointing in the direction of movement. Pieces may only land on a field that is unoccupied, or which has a marker of their own colour. The exception is during piece capture (see Capturing below).
When a piece crosses a border, a marker must be placed on any empty field in the borderland area to which the piece has moved. Markers may be placed on unoccupied fields only.
All pieces are always able to move at least one square. If the borderland in which the piece starts its move has N markers of the players' colour, then the piece may move up to N squares. As an example, say the Red player has a piece on e1 (using chess algebraic notation) and the borderland area has four Red markers in it. Their piece may move to any of the following squares:
Moves are always in straight lines. It is not allowed to change direction during long moves. Pieces may not jump over other pieces (irrespective of colour) except if the start and end fields already have a marker of their own colour (see Connections below). As in the previous section, if the piece crosses a border with a long-range jump, a marker is placed in the area to which the piece has moved.
A jump from a marker of their own colour to another marker of their own colour is called a "connection". When this happens, the player must fill in the fields between the start and end fields with their own colour. This may involve replacing markers of another player (these markers should be returned to the opponent). The exception is if the moves jumps over another piece (friendly or not), when there is no benefit.
If a piece makes both a long-range connection jump and also crosses a border, the player must choose between filling in the fields (for the jump) or getting one marker in the area to which the piece moved (for the border crossing). It is not possible to get both benefits.
When a piece crosses a border and moves into a new borderland, a marker must be placed on any unoccupied (i.e. empty) field. Later in the game, some borderland areas may be completely filled with markers with no empty fields. When this happens, the player must replace any of the opponents' markers in the area with their own, returning the marker to their opponent. If the area is already completely filled with markers of their own colour, the player receives no benefit. If any field is empty but occupied by a piece, then the area is not completely filled and no marker may be placed on this field.
When a piece is able to move onto the field occupied by one of the opponents' pieces, the piece is said to be "under attack". Attack is mutual if both players' pieces attack each other. In order to capture, however, the player must have two (or move) pieces attacking the same enemy piece. It is not sufficient to capture with only one attacking piece.
Capturing, as in chess, is by replacement. Move one of the attacking pieces onto the opponents' field, remove the enemy piece and place a marker on the field, replacing an opponents' marker (if any). Note that a marker on the attacked field does not protect the enemy piece. If the attacking piece also crosses a border, a marker is also placed in the area to which the piece has moved.
When a piece has no legal moves it is "blocked". This happens when:
Pieces may become unblocked by the actions of other pieces, but can also be unblocked by "rotation". To rotate, the player rotates their piece forty-five (one rotation) or ninety (two rotations) either left or right. When they do this, the player removes 2 markers (45-degree rotation) or 4 markers (ninety degree rotation) as the cost for rotation. Markers may be taken from unoccupied fields only and can be anywhere on the board. Note that rotation is the players full turn i.e. the player does not get a rotation and move in the same turn.
A "meeting" occurs when a piece moves such that at the end of the move (including placement of any markers) the following conditions are met:
When a meeting occurs, the player gets a special meeting bonus which is to place one of their markers anywhere on the board, provided the field is unoccupied. The field may have a marker of their opponents' colour, in which case the replaced marker should be returned to your opponent. Meetings are by movement only. It is not possible to rotate into a meeting. Meetings are hard to achieve, and games are likely to have none. In tournament play (see below), no benefit is gained by a meeting if the opponent has 8 or fewer markers on the board.
There are three win conditions in Pacru:
The game has been included at the annual Mind Sports Olympiad or at a World Championship event hosted by the inventor (Mike Wellman). The World Championships have been won multiple times by Pentamind champions Alain Dekker, David M. Pearce and Martyn Hamer.
Time controls for the World Championships have varied, with 20 minutes + 10 seconds-per-move being typical. In tournament play, no additional benefit is gained by a meeting if the opponent has 8 or fewer markers on the board (see Meetings above).
Chinese checkers (US) or Chinese chequers (UK) is a strategy board game of German origin that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. The game is a modern and simplified variation of the game Halma.
Checkers, also known as draughts, is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers is developed from alquerque. The term "checkers" derives from the checkered board which the game is played on, whereas "draughts" derives from the verb "to draw" or "to move".
This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess, in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like fork and pin. For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece; for a list of terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems; for a list of named opening lines, see List of chess openings; for a list of chess-related games, see List of chess variants; for a list of terms general to board games, see Glossary of board games.
International draughts is a strategy board game for two players, one of the variants of draughts. The gameboard comprises 10×10 squares in alternating dark and light colours, of which only the 50 dark squares are used. Each player has 20 pieces, light for one player and dark for the other, at opposite sides of the board. In conventional diagrams, the board is displayed with the light pieces at the bottom; in this orientation, the lower-left corner square must be dark.
Jungle or dou shou qi is a modern Chinese board game with an obscure history. A British version known as "Jungle King" was sold in the 1960s by the John Waddington company. The game is played on a 7×9 board and is popular with children in the Far East.
Chu shogi is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi variants that were regularly being played. Chu shogi seems to have been developed in the early 14th century as a derivative of dai shogi. There are earlier references, but it is not clear that they refer to the game as we now know it.
English draughts or checkers, also called straight checkers or simply draughts, is a form of the strategy board game checkers. It is played on an 8×8 checkerboard with 12 pieces per side. The pieces move and capture diagonally forward, until they reach the opposite end of the board, when they are crowned and can thereafter move and capture both backward and forward.
Surakarta is an Indonesian abstract strategy board game for two players, named after Surakarta, Central Java. The game features an unusual method of capture which is "possibly unique" and "not known to exist in any other recorded board game". Little is known about its history.
Banqi or Half Chess, also known as Dark Chess (暗棋) or Blind Chess (盲棋), is a two-player Chinese board game played on a 4×8 grid, or half of the xiangqi board. Most games last between ten and twenty minutes, but advanced games can last for an hour or more. Banqi is a social game, usually played for fun rather than serious competition. A more formal version of Banqi may have evolved into the games Jungle and modern Luzhanqi.
Aeroplane chess is a Chinese cross-and-circle board game similar to the Western game of Ludo and the Indian game of Pachisi. Developed in the 20th century, aeroplane chess features airplanes as pieces instead of the more abstract pawns and beehive-shaped pieces found in the games from which it is derived. Aeroplane chess has spread around the world, especially in Africa.
Camelot is a strategy board game for two players. It was invented by George S. Parker late in the 19th century, and was one of the first games published by Parker Brothers, originally under the name Chivalry.
Russian draughts is a variant of draughts (checkers) played in Russia and some parts of the former USSR, as well as parts of Eastern Europe and Israel.
Ringo is a two-player strategy board game from Germany, invented perhaps in the late 19th or early 20th century. The version of rules described here is from R.C. Bell's Discovering Old Board Games (1973) which is a translation from a German text by M. C. Oswald. The game simulates a siege of a citadel. Attackers are attempting to enter the citadel while defenders are trying to protect it and reduce the number of attackers.
Lines of Action is an abstract strategy board game for two players invented by Claude Soucie. The objective is to connect all of one's pieces into a single group. The game was recommended by the Spiel des Jahres in 1988.
Portal chess is a chess variant which uses at least two fairy pieces called portals. These pieces can be easily added by using poker chips, coins or other suitably sized objects. The game seeks to incorporate portals to allow pieces to teleport around the board. Apart from the portals and their ruleset, the game often plays like ordinary chess, including the en passant capture, castling, and promotion.
Brazilian draughts is a variant of the strategy board game draughts. Brazilian Checkers follows the same rules and conventions as International draughts, the only differences are the smaller gameboard, and fewer checkers per player.
Bashni, also known as column draughts, multi-level checkers, and rarer Chinese checkers, is a variation of draughts, known in Russia since the 19th century. The game is played according to the basic rules of Russian draughts, with the main difference being that draughts being jumped over are not removed from the playing field but are instead placed under the jumping piece . The resulting towers move across the board as one piece, obeying the status of the upper draught. When a tower is jumped over, only the upper draught is removed from it. If, as a result of the combat, the top draught changes colour, ownership of the tower passes on to the opposing player. Based on Bashni, but according to the basic rules of English draughts, world chess champion Emanuel Lasker developed the draughts game "Laska" and, in 1911, published its description. Lasker described towers that can only be "double-layered": i.e. there can be no alternation of colors. He also showed that during the game the number of game pieces either remains constant or decreases. Column draughts are a subject of interest for the mathematical Sciences: combinatorics, theory of paired zero-sum games, etc.
Malaysian checkers or Singaporean checkers, is a variant of the board game of draughts played primarily in Malaysia and Singapore, especially among the elder men. Similar to the Canadian checkers, it is played on a 12x12 checkered board. The game can also be played on a 8x8 board if a 12x12 board is unavailable. However, it is distinct from Checkers and Canadian Checkers in terms of its additional rules. Popular alternative names used locally for this game include Dum and Dam.
Frisian draughts is a variant of draughts native to Friesland in the Netherlands. The rules are similar to International draughts, but is notable for its unique feature of allowing for orthogonal captures in addition to the familiar diagonal capture of most draughts variants.