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Ancient Board Games and Solitaire Game From Around the World
Volume Two

Copyright © November 1, 2011 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.

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ISBN: 978-0-9837933-6-6
Type of Book: Paperback
Book Size: 8.5 inches by 11 inches
Number of Pages: 52
Number of Full Color Game Board Illustrations: 21
Normal Retail Price: $9.95

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Book Description on Amazon.com

Except for checkers (draughts) none of the games in Volume One (green cover) are repeated in Volume Two (rose color). The only reason checkers was repeated was to reproduce the classic checkerboard so that seven other checker games could be explained and played.

This book contains a collection of approximately 27 very challenging and entertaining board games from around the world, such as Korea, North America, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Finland, India, Germany, Spain, Denmark, England, Turkey, Sweden, Iceland, Italy, Thailand, Russia, and China.

Some of these games have been around for several thousand years and they have been played by individuals in many different parts of the world who speak a variety of different languages. Because of the translation issues with specific words in different languages, some of the games do sometimes have slightly different rules depending on which continent the game is currently being played. The instructions that appear in this book are the most commonly agreed upon rules for each individual game. However, some of the games do have interesting variations, and when appropriate, those variations are also described.

This book is different from other historical game books in the following ways:

1. Each game has a full-color full-size game board printed on an 8.5 by 11 inch page. This size game board is large enough to actually play the game on. Other historical game books sometimes describe the game board in paragraph form or they include a small black and white sketch of the game board drawn in a small rectangle that usually measures about 2.25 by 2.5 inches.
   
2. The interior of the book is printed in full color. Other historical game books have a color cover but the interior of the book is printed in black and white. Printing the interior of a book in black in white is a lot, lot cheaper than printing the interior of a book in full color.
   
3. The instructions for each game always appear in the following format: origin of the game, number of players, number of playing pieces per player, board design, objective of the game, the starting position of the game pieces, how to play the game, and how to win the game. Other historical game books sometimes describe the games in paragraphs and the details about the game do not appear in any standard order and therefore some of the game details are occasionally omitted.
   
4. The instructions appear in an 11-point size type that is easy to read for people of all ages, including young children and many senior adults. Other historical game books may be printed using a smaller type that does conserve space but the smaller type can be a little more challenging to read for some people.
   
5. The instructions occasionally include additional playing rules that have gradually evolved with the passage of time. These additional rules help to prevent the game from frequently ending in a draw (no winner and no loser) or they address special situations that can develop during play that are not covered in the rules that appear in other historical game books.
   
6. This book is printed in small batches as orders are received. Other historical game books were printed many years ago in large quantities in the hope that someone will eventually buy them.
   
7. This book does not describe any historical games for which the rules are not known.
   

On the other hand, this book is like most other historical game books because it does not include any playing pieces. You will need to furnish your own playing pieces. You may use the playing pieces from one of your conventional board games, or you may use buttons of two different colors, or you may use small coins, such as pennies, nickels, or dimes.

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Preface to
Ancient Board Games and Solitaire Games From Around the World

Children are very good at entertaining themselves. For example, they might play tag or hide-and-go-seek. These games do not cost anything. However, these types of games are relatively noisy and they do consume a lot of human energy (calories). Therefore it would probably be a good idea if your children could sometimes entertain themselves in a less active, less noisy manner. This would also provide them with a change of pace so they could switch from a game that requires physical skills to a game that requires intellectual skills, such as board games.

Some board games require an investment in the game itself, such as Monopoly, or Life, or Candy Land. If you already have these types of board games then you already know that your family enjoys playing board games.

However, almost everyone enjoys variety. The games presented in this book fit into the broad category of games known as board games. Some of them have been around for several thousand years. But most of them have been forgotten because most game manufacturers prefer to produce and sell their own copyrighted games since those games yield a higher profit margin than a public domain game.

I suggest you play the games in this book with your children on a periodic basis to help your family bond together and to reinforce the fact that you find these games to be intellectually stimulating and challenging. Children are usually more eager to play "adult" type games than purely children games. Although most of the games are deceptively simple in appearance, and they have a minimum number of rules, and they are easy to learn how to play, each game also has a unique set of multiple strategies for offense and defense. If you do not intentionally let your children win too often then your children will learn that there is more to the game than they currently understand and they will try to figure out your strategy for winning the game. This will help them to become better problem solvers later in their own lives.

Some of the games that are described in this book have been around for several thousand years and they have been played by individuals in many different parts of the world who speak a variety of different languages. Because of the translation issues with specific words in different languages, the games do sometimes have slightly different rules depending on which continent the game is currently being played. The instructions that appear in this book are the most commonly agreed upon rules for each individual game. However, some of the games do have interesting variations and when appropriate those variations are also described.

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Table of Contents

Game Pieces	1
Four Sided Die and Four Throw Sticks	2
Basic Game Rules	3
Which Player Gets Each Color and Which Player Goes First?	4
Pong hau k'l (China)	5
Five Field Kono (Korea)	6
Hunting Animals (North American Indians)	7
Teeko (John Scarne in 1937 and revised in 1952)	8
The Royal Game of Ur (Sumeria, Mesopotamia around 2,500 B.C.)	10
Senet (Thirty Squares) (Egypt around 2,650 B.C.)	12
Palm Tree Game (Hounds and Jackals) (Thebes, Egypt around 2,000 B.C.)	14
Checkers or Draughts (France around 1100 A.D.) (This game is also in Volume One)	16
Turkish Checkers (Turkey)	16
Diagonal Checkers and Pyramid Checkers	18
German, Russian, Italian, and Thai Checkers	19
Polish, Continental, or International Checkers (Paris, France around 1727)	20
Tablut (Lapland, Finland before 1732)	22
Serpents and Stone Warriors (North American Indians)	24
Sixteen Soldiers (India)	26
Asalto or Assault (Soldiers and Patriots) (Germany, Spain, France, England, Sweden)	28
The Queen’s Guard	30
Ringo (Castle Siege) (Germany in the late 1800s)	32
Chasing the Girls (Iceland before 200 A.D.)	34
Tourne-Case (France in the 1600s)	36
Tabula (Rome, Italy before 100 A.D.)	38
Thirteen Position Solitaire	40
Six by Six Square Solitaire	42
Continental Solitaire	44
Solutions to Some of the Solitaire Games	46
Index	47
About the Author	48

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