Even in Chinese, the game is known as "Chinese Checkers," despite having no actual ties to the country. In the 1930s, as Pressman Co's game reaped success in the United States, other toy and game brands attempted to cash in on the craze as well.Įach various company spin-off also included the Oriental themes tacked on by Pressman Co., and ultimately Milton Bradley Company patented the name "Chinese Checkers" in 1941 as the title for their version of the game.Īnd the name stuck. The game was released in 1928, and it soon became far more popular than its English or German ancestors. Written in a chop-suey style font and bedecked with dragons and absurd Fu Manchu imagery, Hop Ching Checkers took the German/English board game and injected it with a heavy dose of early-1900's Orientalism. It would be until the American toy company Pressman Co., obsessed with the "Oriental mystique" and more than a bit racist, released their version of Stern-Helma under the name "Hop Ching Checkers." Dubbed "Stern-Halma" ("Halma" being the German name for Hoppity, and "Stern" being "star") modern Chinese Checkers was born.īut it wasn't Chinese yet. Hoppity (which, by the way, is the most 1890's British name for a board game imaginable) eventually made its way to Germany, where it abandoned its British squareness and adopted a six-pointed star for a board. Like Chinese Checkers, the game allowed for more than two players (in this case, four) each playing from the corner of the board. The objective is to be first to race ones pieces across the hexagram-shaped board into 'home'the corner of. The game is a modern and simplified variation of the US game Halma. Most sources can agree that it first appeared as a game called "Hoppity," which was popular in Great Britain in the latter part of the 19th century. Chinese Checkers is a board game of German origin (named 'Sternhalma') which can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners. There is a bit of historical uncertainty about the origins of the modern game. 'Chinese Checkers' sure is a funny name for a board game that comes from Germany and has nothing to do with checkers. Chinese Checkers is a fun game to play with 2 to 6 players.The Explainer is where we explain an aspect of Chinese life. There are some different ways to play the game. We'll discuss the most popular way called the "hop across" version here.Ĭhinese Checkers uses a special board that looks like a six pointed start. It is played on a star-shaped board by 2. There are lots of places in the star where marbles fit. Chinese checkers (also known as Sternhalma or Chinese chequers) is a popular board game originating from Germany. The object of the Chinese checkers is to get all of your marbles to the opposite point of the star.Įach player has 10 colored marbles that start out inside the point of the star. When a player takes a turn, they may move one marble. The marble can be moved to an adjacent open space or may jump over other marbles that are right next to the marble. You can only jump over 1 marble at a time (for example you can't jump over 2 marbles that are next to each other), but you can do multiple jumps on the same turn as long as the hops are all lined up. See the blue path of hops in the picture below for an example. You can hop over your own or your opponent's marbles. You do not have to hop over a marble if you don't want to. You can move in any direction.ĭepending on the number of players there are different ways to play Chinese checkers:Ģ players - with two players you move all your marbles across the board to other player's start point. You can also play with multiple sets of marbles where each player plays 2 or 3 sets or colors of marbles and has to move all of them across the board to win.ģ players - 3 players can be played with 1 or 2 sets of marbles. If using 1 set, then the players must move to the opposite empty star point. If using 2 sets, then the players set up their colors on opposite sides and must move their colors to their own opposite side.Ĥ players - this way is standard Chinese checkers. Two opposite sides are left open.ĥ players - this is sometimes not considered a legal option. One player will have an empty space opposite, giving them the advantage. Is often played with the youngest player getting the advantage.Ħ players - each player has a separate color of marbles and tries to move them to the opposite corner.
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