This group of European dice games is generically called “Merry Seven” (from the French: Jeu du Sept). The regional variations of the game take their names from a distinctive feature of the game board. In Germany, it is called Das Glückshaus (the house of fortune); Game of the Harlequin in Holland and; Game of the Skiff in Italy. Normally played on using board with ten equal sized circles around a larger circle in the centre. You could as easily draw the circles on a piece of paper or vandalise a tabletop with a knife.

Basic Play

Two dice are thrown. If the score is a 3, 5, 6, 8, 9,10 or 11, the player who rolls the dice places a coin on the corresponding place on the board. If there is a coin on the place, the player takes the coin. If the throw is a four, the player makes no move and passes the dice to the next player.

If the throw is a seven, the player puts a coin in the square marked with the cup. The player does not remove the coins from this square. A throw of two entitles the player to remove the coins from all the squares except the seven. A throw of twelve entitles the player to collect all the stakes from the board.

Variations: A variation that increases the stakes is the “lottery” game. On any roll but a 2 or 12, the player places that number of coins in the corresponding square.

Slightly later German variation: Essentially the same as the version above, except that the board is illustrated and had the following explanations:

2 is the Pig – the Pig eats all, but is not invited to the Wedding

7 is the Wedding – everyone must bring a gift to the Wedding

12 is the King – the King takes all, and is of course, invited to the Wedding

I rather like these colourful space-names.

On a throw of 4, the rules say that you pay a coin to the owner of the board, but we Routiered this into the “Friend of the World” rule where you must fill every vacant space.   This has had no bad effect on the game, and makes it more exciting…

If anyone else has a blog/website reccommendation they think I should include in our liks, please let me know. Share the knowledge!!

Equipment

The game of Draughts is played on a standard Chessboard. Each player has 12 pieces; the board is placed between the two opponents the same way as for Chess.

Preparation and Objective

Black always plays first. Each player’s pieces are placed on the 12 black squares nearest to that player.

The objective of the game is to take all of the opponent’s pieces or to produce a position such that the opponent is unable to move.

Play

Players take turns to move a piece of their own colour. Any piece that reaches the far edge of the board is immediately crowned and is thereafter known as a “King”. The act of crowning is a physical one – another piece of the same shade is placed on top of the piece in order to distinguish it from an ordinary piece.

Until a piece is “crowned”, it can only move and capture in a diagonally forwards direction. Kings are allowed to move and capture diagonally forwards and backwards and are consequently more powerful and valuable than ordinary pieces. However, ordinary pieces can capture Kings.

Whenever a piece has an opponent’s piece adjacent to it and the square immediately beyond the opponent’s piece is vacant, the opponent’s piece can be captured. If the player has the opportunity to capture one or more of the opponent’s pieces, then the player must do so. A piece is taken by simply hopping over it into the vacant square beyond and removing it from the board. Unlike an ordinary move, a capturing move can consist of several such hops – if a piece takes an opponent’s piece and the new position allows it to take another piece, then it must do so straight away. The move finishes only when the position of the capturing piece no longer allows it to taken any more pieces.

If more than one piece can capture, then the player is free to choose which of those pieces to move. Similarly, if a capturing piece is able to capture in more than one direction, the player is free to choose which direction to move in. It is not compulsory to move the piece in a way that will take the maximum number of captures.

If no capturing moves are available, then an ordinary move is made by moving a piece one square diagonally.

If a player notices that the opponent failed to capture when the option was open, that player can huff the offending piece before the next move is made and it is removed from the board (this rule was introduced in France around 1535).

Finishing

The game is won by the player who first manages to take all his opponent’s pieces or renders them unable to move.

A draw occurs by agreement at any point during the game.

An immense task, a 1590 feast for 40 guests, gathered and prepared (the food not the guests) using period techniques in the kitchens at Haddon Hall. Several familar faces for those who have seen other BBC living history docos. Christmas in July feast anyone?

Equipment

The game is played on a square chequered board of 64 squares. The pieces for each player consist of eight Pawns, two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops, a King and a Queen. The board is placed between the two opponents so that the near right-hand corner square is white for both players. The modern chess piece shapes were defined in the mid 19^th century, earlier forms can be seen here.

Preparation and Objective

The objective of the game is to capture the opposing player’s King. The King is never actually taken; instead the aim is put the opponent’s King into a position such that the opposing player can do nothing to avoid the King being taken next turn. As soon as this happens, the victorious player who has just moved says, “checkmate” and the game is over.

Basic Play

Players take turns to move a piece of their own colour. White moves first. Each piece is moved according to different rules but no two pieces can occupy the same square. If a piece moves so that its final position is a square occupied by an opposing piece, the opposing piece is “captured” or “taken” and is removed from the board. It is not compulsory to capture. Any square that could be moved into by a piece is said to be “attacked” by that piece. When a piece is moved to a position that attacks the square occupied by the opponent’s King, the King is in “check” and the player who moved the piece must clearly say “check”.

• King – moves one space in any direction diagonally or orthogonally EXCEPT that the King cannot move onto a square that would put it in to check.
• Queen – moves any number of spaces in any direction, but cannot jump over another piece (c. 1475)
• Rook – moves any number of spaces orthogonally but cannot jump over another piece. Note the use of the letter “D” for “Duke” in the woodecutte above.
• Bishop – moves any number of spaces diagonally but cannot jump over another piece (c. 1500).
• Knight – moves one square orthogonally and then one square diagonally. The Knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces (the move is unchanged since its introduction 1500 years ago).
• Pawn – The first move of a Pawn can be either one square or two squares forward. Thereafter, the standard move of a pawn is to one square forwards. However, the pawn is the only piece that moves differently when capturing: a Pawn takes another piece by moving forward one square diagonally. The Pawn move, advancing two squares on its first move instead of one, was first introduced in Spain in 1280.

Special rules

En Passant (introduced mid 15^th C)

If a Pawn in the fifth row is in the situation where an opposing Pawn moves next to it by moving for the first time and opting to move two squares, the Pawn in the fifth row may take the opposing Pawn by moving forward one square diagonally behind the opposing pawn. The Pawn takes as though the opposing Pawn moved only one square instead of two. En Passant is French for “In passing” so, in English, the Pawn is “taken in passing”.

Castling (this version c. 1620)

Once per game, a player may choose to “castle” instead of a playing standard move. Castling is effected by moving both a Rook and the King in the same move so that they cross over each other but this special move can only be done if the following criteria are met:

• Neither the King nor the Rook have yet moved.
• There are no pieces between the King and the Rook.
• The King is not in check.
• The square that the King moves over is not being attacked by an opposing piece.

If the above are all true, a player can castle by moving the King two places towards the Rook and, in the same move, repositioning the Rook next to the King on the square that the King moved over. Castling is usually done to protect the King behind a row of Pawns and/or to move a Rook into play alongside the other Rook since a pair of Rooks is a powerful combination.

Until 1561, Castling was two moves. You had to play R-KB1 on one move and K-KN1 on the next move. In the 1777 edition of Philidor’s Analysis of Chess, the rule for castling is as we know it now, but with this footnote: “The old way of castling in several countries, and which still subsists in some, was to leave to the player’s disposal, all the interval between the King and the Rook, inclusively, to place there these two pieces”.

Promotion of Pawns (this version c. 1600)

If a Pawn reaches the eighth row, that Pawn is immediately promoted by replacing the Pawn with another piece – Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight at the player’s discretion. Normally, a player chooses to replace the Pawn with the most powerful piece, the Queen. There is no problem with having more than one Queen or more than two of the other pieces on the board at the same time. Although Pawns rarely do get promoted, the threat posed by a Pawn nearing the other side of the board can be a useful tactical weapon.

In the 15th century, promotion to allow more than one Queen was considered improper because it symbolised adultery. In Spain and Italy in the 17th century, the Pawn could only be promoted to the rank of Queen. In France and Germany, promotion was limited to any piece that had been lost.

Finishing

Checkmate

When a piece is moved so it puts the opposing King in check, the King must get out of check in the next turn. There are only three ways to do this:

• The attacking piece may be taken by the King or another piece.
• Another piece may be moved between the attacking piece and the King (unless the attacking piece is a Knight).
• The King may move to an adjacent square that is not under attack.

If the King cannot move out of check in one of these ways, the player who puts the King in check says “checkmate” instead of “check” and the game finishes.

Stalemate

Stalemate can happen in one of three ways:

• One player proposes a stalemate and the other player agrees to the proposal.
• A player’s King is not in check but that player cannot move without placing the King in check.
• The same position of pieces is repeated three times with the same player to move each time.

The 1614 English publication, Saul’s Famous Games of Chesse-Play states: “He that hath put his adversary’s King in a stale, loseth the game, because he hath disturbed the course of the game, which can only end with the grand Check-mate” Holm, writing in 1688[1], agrees. This English interpretation of stale mate persisted in the London Chess Club until 1820.

Resignation

Once it is believed that the opposing player will inevitably win, a player will normally resign to save time. A player traditionally resigns by tipping over his or her King.

Further Reading

Bird, H E, Chess History and Reminiscences London, 1893. Project Guttenburg ebook 4902
Cotton, C, The Compleat Gamester all editions from 1674. Google Books has the 1725 edition for free.
The Chess Variant Pages
Early Modern Whale – Homo (non-)ludens: a 17th century preacher renounces chess

[1] Randle Holme’s Academy of Armory, 1688

Doesn’t roll as trippingly off the tongue as the traditional rhyme some may say. But it does serve to illustrate the focus of recent excavations at Jamestown at the suspected site of the original 1607 fort that helped establish the colony.

Many thanks to Steven for bringing the article to our attention!
Read the full article (including additional video)

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/december-2011/article/history-in-the-wells

(embedded links trouble again will mend asap, sorry)

Don’t have the volume up too loud; archaeologists squealing with delight warning.

This post takes the form of a photo essay, concentrating on the folding tables at Cotehele House in eastern Cornwall as exemplars of this type. There are seven extant folding tables at the house, all made in the early to mid seventeenth century by the resident MP from timber grown and felled on the estate. Three are currently on display, one each of oak, walnut and chestnut. Each is made differently and has a slightly different locking mechanism. As a cheap and easy to make table, they weren’t much valued and as a result, few survive.

The name “Spanish” comes from the alleged introduction of the type in to England by being found in the wrecks of the Armada, a quick tour of on-line antique shops shows the style to have continued in use in Spain until at least the mid-19th century.

This is the top of the walnut table. Note the double frame on the top and the diagonal brace keeping the legs in place.

Underneath the walnut table. The locking mechanism on this table still works

Close up of the trestle of the oak table. Visible at the top of the trestle is the prop that stops the legs opening out too far. The iron plates are on the opposite sides to the hinges and allow the hinges to be riveted rather than nailed in place.

The cross bracing under the oak table. The braces fit into the block under the table top and into diagonal cut-outs in the legs. A hinge can be seen on the inside of the trestle leg to the left of frame.

Lower end of the leg brace on the oak table. The mortice the brace plugs in to is reinforced with thin metal.

Hinges on the chestnut table.

Corner of the oak table showing the method of protecting the end grain of the boards.

Corner of the walnut table, the nail is a repair to the part the hinge is attached to.

During the first half of the seventeenth century, draw-leaf tables were replacing trestle tables in the upper-middle and upper class homes, the Spanish table presented a useful solution where a portable, easily stored table was needed, whether in a ship or in a house.

Photos by Glenda & Wayne Robinson