Alquerque

Alquerque is an Arab game from around the 10th century AD that is allegedly the forerunner of Checkers. It is played on a 5x5 board on which the verticals, horizontal and diagonal lines have been drawn, each player has eleven pieces and these are placed where two or more lines meet with just the central point being left empty.
Like Checkers the object is to capture the opponents pieces by jumping over them. Also, like Checkers, when a jump has been made the player can continue jumping as long as there are pieces to be captured. Where the game differs from Checkers is that the player can move/jump in any direction along the horizontal and vertical lines.

As with most games that have been around this long there are different versions of the game, Fanarona also from from Zillions Development is played across two Alquerque boards. Other versions supplied with this game are:

• Lau Kati Kata: This is a variation from India and southern Asia, it uses a modified board
• Sixteen Soldiers: This comes from Sri Lanka and Southern India and also uses a modified board
• Quadruple Alquerque: This variant is played across four Alquerque boards

The game is mouse controlled, has optional music and sound effects plus an internet play option. There is a save game feature and the game keeps track of the moves played and has the option to print these.