Solomon's Game

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

A Solomon’s Game board and six each of black and white counters are required for play. The counters promote to kings in this game and thus should be specially marked on one side to distinguish them or be stackable (where two stacked counters represent a promoted king). Obviously, if using the stackable counters idea, a few extra counters may be required for each player. On two opposite sides of the board are dome-shaped intersection points called “palaces” which is where the counters promote.

History

Solomon’s Game was invented by the author of several recreational mathematics books, Martin Gardner. It was originally published in Games Magazine.

Objective

The objective of both players is to capture all of their opponent’s counters or to blockade them so that they have no legal moves available. It is common for two players to both be reduced to a single king counter and this is considered a draw.

Play

The board is set up as shown above. Counters are played at the intersections on the board and move and jump along the straight lines inside the circle, but not along the curved arcs at the edge of the board. Alternate turns entail the movement of a single friendly counter in a forward or sideways direction to an adjacent and vacant intersection. Also, a counter may make a short jump over an opposing counter to a necessarily vacant intersection just beyond in a straight line, thereby capturing the counter jumped over. Jumps must also be forward or sideways. The captured counter is removed from the board. If a jump and capture move is available to a player it is compulsory to do so, but jumps may not be enchained and only one opposing counter may be captured per turn. Upon reaching the dome shaped shape “palace” at the opposite end of the board, a counter is promoted to a king which now has the ability to move and jump in any direction including backwards.

Sources