Checkers or draughts is the name of several different board games. All of these games are similar. In every kind of checkers, the other player’s pieces can be taken by being “jumped” over. “Checkers” is the American name. In British English, and in various other English-speaking nations, these games are called “Draughts“.

Though most people do not know it, the game we know today as Draughts has a long and storied history. From ancient Egypt to your own living room, Draughts has remained a popular pastime for most of recorded history.

Draughts, as we know it, probably began as a game called Alquerque, or Quirkat. Alquerque boards and pieces have been found in archeological digs dating as far back as 600 BCE, and images of Alquerque have been found carved into temple walls dating as far back as 1400 BCE. It was played throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. It was enjoyed by the Ancient Egyptians, mentioned by both Plato and Homer, and even made its way into India.

While we do not know exactly how the ancients played Alquerque, what we do know about the game strongly resembles modern Draughts. Like Draughts, Alquerque features round, flat pieces divided into light and dark colors, the capture of opponent pieces, and a grid-based board. Unlike Draughts, an Alquerque board is only a 5×5 grid and sports intersecting diagonal lines; and in Alquerque, there are only 10 pieces per side, moving along the intersections of lines instead of within squares.