Alquerque (also known as Quirkat) is a board game that is thought to have originated in the Middle East. It is considered to have been the parent of the game Draughts (US, South Africa: Checkers). A board game is any game played on a board (that is, a premarked surface) with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... starting position on a 10×10 draughts board Checkers or draughts (pronounced drafts), is a group of mental sport board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemys pieces. ...

History

It is among the oldest known board games, with evidence of boards existing from around 1400 BC, most notably several cut into the roof of the temple at Kurna, Egypt. (Redirected from 1400 BC) Centuries: 16th century BC - 15th century BC - 14th century BC Decades: 1450s BC 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC - 1400s BC - 1390s BC 1380s BC 1370s BC 1360s BC 1350s BC Events and Trends Palace of Minos destroyed by fire (1400 BC) Several board... The Akshardham Hindu temple, Delhi, India The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. ...

Despite this no mention occurs in literature until toward the end of the 10th Century when the author Abu al-Faraj mentioned it in his 24 volume work Kitab al-Aghani ("Book of Songs"). As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Abulfaraj, also known as Abu-l-Faraj or `Ali ibn al-Husayn ul-Isbahani, (897-967) was an Arab scholar, a member of the tribe of the Quraysh and a direct descendant of the last of the Umayyad caliphs, Marwan II. He was thus connected with the Umayyad rulers in...

However this work made no mention of the rules of the game, and we have to wait until the middle of the 13th Century AD to find a set of rules in the Alfonso X manuscript belonging to the Libro de los juegos which he commissioned (the book contained translations of many Arabic games). (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Alfonso X and his court. ... The Libro de los Juegos, (Book of games), or Libro de ajedrez, dados y tablas, (Book of chess, dice and tables) was commissioned by Alfonso X, king of León and Castile, during the 13th century between 1251 and 1283 AD. It consists of 98 pages, with 150 color illustrations. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ...

Spanish settlers in New Mexico introduced a four-player variant of Alquerque to the Zuni Indians. Settlers are people who have travelled of their own choice, from the land of their birth to live in new lands or colonies. ... Official language(s) None, English and Spanish de facto Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 5th 315,194 km² 550 km 595 km 0. ... The Zuni or Ashiwi are a Native American tribe, one of the Pueblo peoples, who live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico. ...

Rules

Alquerque Board

Figure 1: Empty board	Figure 2: Starting position

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

"Alfonso" Rules

Before starting, the pieces (12 black and 12 white) are placed as shown in figure 2. The game is played in turns, with one player taking white and the other black.

• A piece can move from its point to any adjacent point as long as that point is empty.

• 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 forfeited (also known as being huffed).

The idea of the game is to eliminate the opponent's pieces. In a number of board games, capturing an opponents piece is compulsory when it is possible. ...

"Bell" Rules

This set of rules was developed by RC Bell in his book Board and Table Games of Many Civilizations, and were presented alongside an argument that the Alfonso rules weren't detailed enough to be able to play the game.

His rules are an extension to the Alfonso rules, they are that:

• A piece cannot move backwards
• No piece can return to a point where it has been before.
• Once a piece has reached the final line it can only move while capturing opponent pieces.
• The game has been won when either:

1. The opponent has lost all of his pieces
2. None of the opponent's pieces are able to move.

Bell also includes a scoring system for rating games.