Ex Checkers

There's more than one way to play checkers.

There's Give-away Checkers, which, in French, is called something like "who wins loses." Which, it turns out, is a variation that you can use in any of the many other classic variations. For example, there's International Checkers which is played just like American checkers, except on a 10x10-square checkerboard, which, it turns out, is just different enough to require some serious re-strategizing. So, now we have four versions of checkers: American, International, and, on each, Give-away. Then there's Pool Checkers with its "flying kings." Again, just like "regular" checkers. Played on an 8x8 board, etc. Except kings can move, not just one space in any diagonal, but anywhere along the diagonal, as long as there are no other checkers in their paths. This variation again transforms the game, again doubling the number of different games we can call checkers. And these 8 games become 16 if you consider playing on the 10x10 board. And then there's the 12x12 board of Canadian Checkers. Which makes for 32 different games. Pyramid Checkers, which can be played on any board with any of the above variations, begins with the checkers set up like a, well, one might say "pyramid." Whilst, in Turkish Checkers, pieces are placed on the second and third, sixth and seventh rows, using every square in those rows (black and red). And each of those can be played with the Give-Away variation, or the flying kings.

And then there are even more rules and versions of checkers or draughts on Wikkipedia and on this page from San Diego State University. OK. It's time to lose count already. And gain perspective.

Checkers, like most strategy games, is a game of combat. There's an opponent and you basically want to kill off as many of his men as it takes to grind him into immobility and ultimate defeat. Not what you'd call a model of a supportive relationship. And yet, compared to chess, checkers is a remarkably democratic contest. All men (pieces) are created equal. A piece is vulnerable to attack only when it is isolated from its immediate neighbor. Any piece can become a king - all it has to do is make its way to the very heart of the enemy territory (kinda like Capture the Flag). Its reward: more power. And yet, it remains as vulnerable as any other piece. Remarkably, there can be more than one king. In fact, the more, the better..

Despite the longevity and popularity of checkers, I can think of no battle or army that conforms to this image of war. Our kings and generals are not the ones who've penetrated deep into enemy territory. Egalitarianism is not the relationship model that characterizes anyone's army. Maybe that's what makes checkers so much fun.

There's more than one way to play checkers. I know this may not seem like a profound insight, but for some of the people who took my checkers, inmates in a Pennsylvania prison, it might have been a path to intellectual survival and social literacy.

Class after class, variation after variation, the convicts, the people in my checkers class, and I, played, and learned together. We even created new variations borrowing rules from one and fitting them into another.

As the classes progressed, I began realizing what my checkers classes must have meant to people who have lost their freedom:

there’s more than one way to play checkers
the more ways you know, the more you have to play with – more things to think about, more people to think with, more opportunities to keep the mind alive
the only variation worth playing is the one that’s fun for both players
because there’s more than one way to play, every game has to start with negotiation
all the rules of a game are negotiable, the only rules that aren’t negotiable are the rules that keep you playing together.