Pretwa

This attractive variant of alquerque, a forerunner of draughts, was played in Bihar in India. Its board is of three concentric circles joined by six spokes, the spokes not meeting in the middle. A variant with 7 concentric circles was also played. Though nowhere stated in Western accounts of the game, it is assumed that one piece may jump over another along a curved line.

Rules for Pretwa

2. In his turn a player will move a piece one step along a marked line, to an adjacent empty point.

3. A piece captures a neighbouring enemy piece by jumping over it to land on the empty point beyond. If a capture is available, it must be made.

4. Having captured an enemy, a piece must make a further jump and capture from its new location if possible. Any number of captures can be chained in this way.

5. The game is won by the player who captures all the opponent’s pieces.