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Alternate Names
Telka and Peg Chow are two similar but different games played with the same counters on the same board and marketed together in one package. They were marketed as Peg Chow and the Original Game Telka.
No. of Players
Four playing in two partnerships is the preferred game to play but two players may also compete in a game. Both games work to some degree for three players, but this is not ideal as it creates an imbalance on the board.
Equipment
A Telka/Peg Chow board and twelve each of yellow, blue, red and green counters are required for play (for four players). The counters are here shown as octagonal shapes.
History
Peg Chow and Telka were marketed (together) by Parker Brothers in 1938. Peg Chow was invented by Dr. George H. Monks of Boston. Telka was invented by George S. Parker of Parker Brothers, Inc.
Objective
Peg Chow is very similar in objective and play to Chinese Checkers or Halma and other Traversal and Attainment Games. It's simple objective is to cross the board with all of one's counters to occupy all of the positions previously occupied by the opponent at the opposite side of the board.
Telka is slightly more complex and adds a capturing element to the game. Because of this, the objective of Telka is to cross the board with any three of one's own counters to any of the twelve cells previously occupied by the opponent at the opposite side.
For either game, the player achieving the objective wins the game, or if playing partners, wins for his side.
Play
First we shall describe the rules of Peg Chow: The game commences with the counters positioned as above, corresponding to the number of players. With Blue moving first and turns passing to his left, alternate turns entail a movement of a single counter in any direction along a line to a necessarily vacant neighboring intersection or a short jump over a neighboring counter, of any color, to a necessarily vacant intersection immediately beyond in a straight line in any direction. There are no captures in Peg Chow and a jumped counter remains on the board. This sort of non-capturing jump is called a "leap" in the official rules to differentiate it from a "jump" which is how to refer to a capturing move used in Telka (described below). This terminology does not follow the terminology that I use throughout the rest of this work describing other games. Double or multiple "leaps" in one move are permitted and direction may be changed after each leap. Thus, on a turn a player may move a single counter to a neighboring intersection, perform a leap, or perform a series of any number of leaps with the same counter.
Telka is very similar to Peg Chow in many regards. It is played on the same board with the same counters for four (preferred), two, or three players (non-ideal). Telka, however, adds an element of capture to the game. In Telka, when an opposing player's counter is jumped over it is captured and removed from the board provided that it was positioned in the "Danger Territory", the uncolored central space and arms extending in the Four directions. As with leaps, double or multiple jumps in one move are permitted and direction may be changed after each jump, capturing multiple counters. Friendly counters and counters belonging to one's partner may be leaped over without consequence.
Note that it is impossible for a counter to leap or jump accurately over another counter and land upon a circle of a different tint. Jumping or leaping counters will stay on the same color of circles throughout the entirety of their move, although they may change color throughout the course of a game due to single non-jumping moves.
A player may not pass his turn and must always move a counter, but movement is free and it is never compulsory to jump, leap, capture, or continue a movement just because it is possible.
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