Ringo
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
A Ringo board, seven black “attacker” counters and four white “defender” counters are required for play. One sector of the circle is specially colored and is designated “the neutral zone”. The center is also distinctly colored and is called “the fortress”.
History
Ringo originates from Germany. It is not known how old the game is, but is usually assumed to be invented around 1900. It is meant to simulate a castle siege.
Objective
The objective of the attacker, or Black, is to capture the fortress, the central area of the board, by placing two black counters there. The player with white counters is the defender, and attempts to ward off the attack. The defender wins by capturing all but one black counter.
Play
Turns alternate with the attacker playing first. On a turn, a player may move one counter to an orthogonally adjacent vacant cell. The attacker may only move his counters forwards, toward the fortress, or sideways, in the same ring. The defender also moves in this manner but may also move closer or further from the fortress. The defender may not enter the fortress. Once an attacker enters the fortress it cannot leave.
Both players may capture enemy counters, although it is not compulsory to do so. A counter is captured by the short jump or jumping over it from an adjacent cell onto a vacant cell just beyond. The captured counter is then removed from play. As in ordinary moves, the attacker is required to capture in a forward or sideways direction, while the defender may capture in any orthogonal direction. When a player makes a sideways capture, the capturing counter and the captured counter must be on the same ring. A counter in the neutral zone cannot be captured (however, a counter may land on the neutral zone after a sideways capture, or even start a sideways capture when stationed on the neutral zone). Counters in the neutral zone may be jumped over, but are not captured in the process. The defender may capture an attacking counter in the fortress. A player is allowed one capture per move as there are no multiple jumps as in Checkers.
Variations
The game has also been played with replacement capture, as in Orthochess, rather than short jump capture.
As the game is somewhat one-sided in favor of the attackers by many regards, any combination of the following rules may be implemented to counteract the advantage of the attackers:
Attackers may not enter the castle from the neutral zone.
Attackers may commence the game with five or six counters, rather than seven.
Defenders may pass a turn without moving. Attackers may only have one counter at a time in the neutral zone.
Sources
Ringo at Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringo_(game)
Bell, R.C. Discovering Old Board Games. Shire Publications, 2008. ISBN 978-0852635339