From: baruse@aol.com or lyhenthorn@aol.com
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 20:40:09 -0400 (EDT)
To: editor@gamecabinet.com
Subject: Checkers
Hello, I am typing from Little Rock Arkansas.
I play Checkers where when the piece reaches the 8th row it becomes bidirectional, however, I have also seen it played where when a piece reaches the 8th row it acts like a queen does in chess.
Do you know how these two differences came about?
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 22:25:18 -0500
From: John Bicketts (sfeikema@mach3ww.com)
Subject: Stump the net thing
Yep. In Anglo-American checkers, the king moves only one square, but there are foreign versions where the king moves any distance. One example is Polish Checkers, not much played in Poland oddly but popular in France and other countries.
It is played on a 10X10 board, with four tiers of pieces on each side. Ordinary pieces move like normal except they can acpture backwards. Kings can move any distance in any direction, and may jump a piece any distance away, and land on a sqaure behind it any distance beyond it, and keep on jumping as long as possible. This makes them pretty powerful pieces! I almost like Polish Checkers better than normal, but it's not well known in the US.
Damespiel is like Polish Checkers, but with an 8x8 board.