Alquerque, the medieval game of kings - game board and playing stones

Alquerque - a traditional strategy game, the forerunner of modern games (checkers). According to some research, the origins of Alquerque (as in the case of ZAMMA) go back to ancient Egypt, to the period between the 15th and 7th centuries BC. It is well known that this game appeared in Europe after the Arabs invaded the Iberian Peninsula. The term Alquerque is the Spanish translation of the Arabic name for the game, which is found in King Alfonso the Wise's Book of Games. Alquerke still enjoys great popularity in the Middle East and Spain. The atypical playing field, compared to traditional games, makes this game even more interesting and exciting.

• Material: wood - oak
• Oil-treated
• Custom design
• Size: 24 x 24 cm
• Playing stones - 24 glass stones

Rules
The game is played on a 4x4 game board with square squares, divided by diagonal lines. The playing stones represent the warriors of two small armies: 12 white and 12 black. The stones occupy all intersections except one in the middle of the game board.

Target
The objective of the game is to capture all of your opponent's warriors.

Game flow:
White starts, followed by Black, and they alternate in this way regularly. Moves are mandatory for players.

A player may move any of his stones to an adjacent intersection. Movement is allowed along the lines in all directions: forward, backward, sideways and diagonally.
If an opponent's stone is on an adjacent square and the next intersection behind it in a straight line is free, the player must move his stone over his opponent's stone.
If, after jumping, an opportunity arises to jump over another opponent's stone, the player must continue jumping without waiting for his next move.
The skipped stones are captured and removed from the board.
Jumping is mandatory; a player who misses an opportunity to jump over an opponent's stone is penalized by losing his own stone.

End of game
The game ends when one player loses all of his stones or is surrounded and cannot make his move, even though it is his turn. In either case, his opponent wins.

Strategy
In terms of strategy, the four corner points are crucial; a stone cannot be captured there. In the corners, however, the stones are in danger of being encircled.

• The game first appears in written sources at the end of the 10th century, when the poet Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani mentioned the game under the name qirkat in his work Kitab al-Aghani ("Book of Songs"). However, the game was only mentioned here without any further description of the rules. The game, originally known as El-quirkat, was allegedly brought to Spain by the Moors. Its rules appear for the first time in the Libro de los juegos ('Book of Games'), written in the last quarter of the 13th century at the instigation of King Alfonso X. Castille.