Alquerque (also known as Qirkat from ar, القرقات) is a

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a ...

that is thought to have originated in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. It is considered to be the parent of draughts (US:

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

) and

Fanorona Fanorona () is a strategy board game for two players. The game is indigenous to Madagascar. Rules Fanorona has three standard versions: Fanoron-Telo, Fanoron-Dimy, and Fanoron-Tsivy. The difference between these variants is the size of board play ...

History

The game first appears in literature late in the 10th century when

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...

mentioned Qirkat in his 24-volume work ''

Kitab al-Aghani ''Kitab al-Aghani'' ( ar, كتاب الأغاني, kitāb al-‘aghānī, The Book of Songs), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abu al- ...

'' ("Book of Songs"). This work, however, made no mention of the rules of the game. In ''

Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, ...

'', R. C. Bell writes that "when the Moors invaded Spain they took El-quirkat with them". Rules are included in ''

Libro de los juegos The ''Libro de los juegos'' (Spanish: "Book of games"), or ''Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas'' ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), was a Spanish translation of Arabic texts on chess, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) games, ...

'' ("Book of games") commissioned by

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1257, ...

in the 13th century.

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

settlers A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

introduced a four-player variant of Alquerque to the Zuni.

Rules

250px, An empty abstract Alquerque board upright=1.75, This board graphic displays Moorish design elements relating to the origin of Alquerque. The algebraic notation facilitates move annotation and gameplay discussion. Before starting, each player places their twelve pieces in the two rows closest to them and in the two rightmost spaces in the center row. The game is played in turns, with one player taking white and the other black. * A piece can move from its point to any empty adjacent point that is connected by a line. * A piece can jump over an opposing piece and remove it from the game, if that opposing piece is adjacent and the point beyond it is empty. * Multiple capturing jumps are permitted, and indeed compulsory if possible. * If a capture is possible it must be made, or else the piece is removed (or huffed). The goal of the game is to eliminate the opponent's pieces.

Additional rules

R. C. Bell developed additional rules, saying those given by Alfonso X "are not sufficient to play a game". These extra rules are: * A piece cannot move backward (e.g., a piece in the middle of an empty board would have five available moves). * No piece can return to a point it has previously occupied. * Once a piece has reached the opponent's back row it can only move to capture opposing pieces. * The game is won when either: ** The opponent has lost all of their pieces. ** None of the opponent's pieces are able to move. Bell also includes a scoring system for rating games.

References

External links

An open-source Microsoft C# version of AlquerqueAdfree Android APK version of Alquerque, minimum Android 4.4.2 (API-19)An open-source browser HTML5/Javascript version Alquerque
human vs AI in each combination, game rules and game options. ''Source: https://github.com/OMerkel/Alquerque'' *{{bgg, 11464, Alquerque
Alquerque rules with some sample situations discussed
Abstract strategy games Traditional board games History of board games Draughts variants Arab inventions Historical games

History

Rules

Additional rules

See also

References

External links