Doublets or queen's game is a historical English

tables game Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tables games are among ...

for two people which was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although played on a board similar to that now used for

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...

, it is a simple

game of chance A game of chance is in contrast with a game of skill. It is a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device. Common devices used include dice, spinning tops, playing cards, roulette wheels, numbered balls, or in the case ...

bearing little resemblance to backgammon. Very similar games were played in mainland Europe, the earliest recorded dating to the 14th century.

History

Doublets may be an elaboration of the Spanish game of ''doblet'' which is described in detail in 1283 in ''

El Libro de los Juegos The (Spanish: "Book of games"), or ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), is a 13th century Spanish treatise of chess that synthesizes the information from Arabic works on this same topic, dice and tables (backgammon forebears) g ...

'' published by

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...

.Alfonso X (1283). In 1534, a game called ''renette'' or ''reynette'' ("little queen")Fiske (1905), p. 286. appears in the list of games in

Gargantua ''La vie tres horrifique du grand Gargantua, père de Pantagruel jadis composée par M. Alcofribas abstracteur de quinte essence. Livre plein de Pantagruelisme'' according to 's 1542 edition, or simply Gargantua, is the second novel by François ...

published by Rabelais. According to

Cotgrave Cotgrave () is a Town#United Kingdom, town and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England. It is 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Nottingham. It perches on the South Nottinghamshire Wolds about 131 feet (40 metres) ...

's French Dictionary of 1611, ''renette'' is "a game of tables of some resemblance with our Doublets or Queenes Game..."Cotgrave (1611). Entry for ''renette''. The name "queen's game" is recorded as early as 1554Cram, Forgeng and Johnson (2003), pp. 256 ff. and doublets in 1549 in a sermon by

Latimer Latimer may refer to: Places England * Latimer, Buckinghamshire, a village ** Latimer and Ley Hill, a civil parish that until 2013 was just called "Latimer" * Latimer, Leicester, an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leices ...

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

: "they be at their doublets still."Fiske (1905), p. 88. Hyde (1694) equates doublets to the French game known variously as tables rabattues, dames rabattues or dames avallées.Fiske (1905), p. 171. By 1621, doublets was clearly well known enough to be mentioned in '' Taylor's Motto'' thus: "At Irish, Tick-tacke, Doublets,

Draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; Commonwealth English), 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. ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

e, He flings his money free with carelessnesse".Taylor (1621), ''I Care'' (poem). The earliest known English rules were written down around 1665-1670 by Willughby in his ''Volume of Plaies'', who describes "Dublets" as "the most childish game at Tables in which there is nothing but chance and scarce any skill." He was followed by Cotton, (1674) Seymour (1750)Seymour (1750), p. 248–249. and Johnson,Johnson (1754), p. 249. in the various editions of ''

The Compleat Gamester ''The Compleat Gamester'', first published in 1674, is one of the earliest known English-language games compendia. It was published anonymously, but later attributed to Charles Cotton (1630–1687). Further editions appeared in the period up to ...

'', the later editions being reprints of the first with minor spelling changes.

Equipment

The game is played on a

tables board Tables games are a class of board game that includes backgammon and which are played on a tables board, typically with two rows of 12 vertical markings called point (tables game), points. Players roll dice to determine the movement of pieces. Tab ...

of the type used for

. It has two halves known as tables each of 6

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

a side. Players sit on opposite sides of the board and only one table is used. The outermost point on each side is point 1; the innermost, next to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

is point 6. Each player has 15 counters known as

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

, one player having white men and the other player, having black ones. Two dice are used.

Aim

The aim of doublets is to be first to play off all one's men.

Rules

The following rules of play are based on Willughby. Players begin by dressing the board on the side nearest to them as follows: * Points 1-3: Two men are placed on each point, one on top of the other * Points 4-6: Three men are placed on each point in a pile, one on top of the other. Players throw the dice to decide who goes first. Each player takes a die and throws it. The one with the highest

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wins, picks up both dice and makes the first throw of the game. In turn, each player throws the dice and moves his or her men based on the result. There are two phases of play: # Phase 1. Players ''play down'' a man for each cast of the die. For example, with throws of 2 and 6, the player takes the upper of the two men on point 2 and places it on the same point but above the lower man; they also take the top of the three men on point 6 and place it on the point above the remaining pile of two. If the men on a point corresponding to a die throw have already been played down, the throw is lost. # Phase 2. When all the men are played down, they are ''played off'' or

borne off The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to a single game like Backgammon or Acey-deucey), but applicable to ...

. For example, if a player throws 1 and 5, he may remove a man from each of points 1 and 5. If the point corresponding to a die throw is vacant because the men have already been borne off, the throw counts for nothing. If a

doublet Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much", {{tables games Historical tables games British board games Games of chance 16th-century board games