Chinese checkers

Sternhalma, commonly known as Chinese checkers (US and Canadian spelling) or Chinese chequers (UK spelling),[1] is a strategy board game of German origin which can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners.[2] The game is a modern and simplified variation of the game Halma.[3] The objective is to be first to race all of one's pieces across the hexagram-shaped board into "home"—the corner of the star opposite one's starting corner—using single-step moves or moves that jump over other pieces. The remaining players continue the game to establish second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, and last-place finishers.[4] The rules are simple, so even young children can play.

The game was invented in Germany in 1892 under the name "Stern-Halma" as a variation of the older American game Halma.[6] The "Stern" (German for star) refers to the board's star shape (in contrast to the square board used in Halma). The name "Chinese checkers" originated in the United States as a marketing scheme by Bill and Jack Pressman in 1928. The Pressman company's game was originally called "Hop Ching Checkers".[7] The game is neither a variation of checkers, nor did it originate in China or any part of Asia. In Japan, the game is known as "Diamond Game" (?????????). The game was introduced to Chinese-speaking regions mostly by the Japanese,[6] where it is known as Tiaoqi (Chinese: ??, "jump chess").

The aim is to race all one's pieces into the star corner on the opposite side of the board before the opponents do the same. The destination corner is called home. Each player has 10 pieces, except in games between two players when 15 pieces are used.[8] (On bigger star boards, 15 or 21 pieces are used.[9]) In "hop across", the most popular variation, each player starts with their colored pieces on one of the six points or corners of the star and attempts to race them all home into the opposite corner. Players take turns moving a single piece, either by moving one step in any direction to an adjacent empty space, or by jumping in one or any number of available consecutive hops over other single pieces. A player may not combine hopping with a single-step move – a move consists of one or the other. There is no capturing in Sternhalma, so pieces that are hopped over remain active and in play. Turns proceed clockwise around the board.[4] In the diagram, Green might move the topmost piece one space diagonally forward as shown. A hop consists of jumping over a single adjacent piece, either one's own or an opponent's, to the empty space directly beyond it in the same line of direction. Red might advance the indicated piece by a chain of three hops in a single move. It is not mandatory to make the most hops possible. (In some instances a player may choose to stop the jumping sequence part way in order to impede the opponent's progress, or to align pieces for planned future moves.)