Basic is a very simple game for the Checkers set. The board is set up in
the usual way. See Figure 1. Players take
turns moving their own checkers, one checker per turn. Mark Steere designed
Basic in August, 2009.
There is only one type of move in Basic: a single checker is
moved diagonally forward one square. See Figure 2. Only exposed checkers
may be moved, that is checkers not buried within stacks.
When moving to an already occupied square, simply place your
checker on top of the stack. See Figure 3. There are no restrictions on stack
height or composition.
Players can “bear off” a checker from their farthest row,
removing it from play. See Figure 4.
You must either move or bear off a checker during your turn if you can, but not both. If all of your checkers are covered by enemy checkers, you must sit the game out until one of your checkers becomes exposed.
The first player to bear off all of his checkers wins.
Feel free to publish this rule sheet, and to program the game of Basic for online or offline play. No licensing fee or royalties are expected. However please don’t change the name or the rules, and please attribute the game to me, Mark Steere. My other games can be found at marksteeregames.com.