Halma
Encyclopedia
Halma is a board game
invented in 1883 or 1884 by an American thoracic surgeon at Harvard Medical School, George Howard Monks
. The inspiration was an English game called Hoppity, which was devised in 1854.
Playing equipment consists of a checkered board divided into 16×16 squares. Pieces are typically black and white for two-player games, and of various colours or other distinction in games of four players.
Some sites implement a rule variation stating that a player automatically loses if they still have a piece in their start region after a certain number of moves (typically 30 for the 8×8 game, 50 for the 10×10 game). Fast-advancing players occasionally attempt to blockade an opposing piece, but this tactic can backfire if the other player is aware of it. In non-electronic versions, the number of moves is not normally counted.
As with most board games, early control of the centre is a key tactic, as it provides additional mobility. Pieces can form a two-layer blocking wall, deflecting the opponent from the centre and forcing them into a longer trajectory; however, if the opponent builds an adjacent wall, then the first player to disband his wall usually suffers a strategic disadvantage.
It is important to understand that paired pieces move faster than single pieces in the end game. This means that a player with a pair of "leapfrogging" pieces has an advantage over a player with two individual stragglers.
The larger boards have more strategic combinations available than the smaller boards, and the four player game offers more tactical intrigue than the two player game.
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
invented in 1883 or 1884 by an American thoracic surgeon at Harvard Medical School, George Howard Monks
George Howard Monks
George Howard Monks was born in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduation in Harvard medical school in 1880, he followed a 4 year internship in European medical centers during which he invented in 1883 the game Halma derived from the British game Hoppity together with the mathematician Thomas Hill...
. The inspiration was an English game called Hoppity, which was devised in 1854.
Playing equipment consists of a checkered board divided into 16×16 squares. Pieces are typically black and white for two-player games, and of various colours or other distinction in games of four players.
Overview
The game is played by two or four players on opposing corners of the board. The goal is to transfer all of one's pieces from one's own camp into the camp in the opposing corner. On each turn, a player either moves a single piece to an adjacent open square, or jumps over one or more pieces in sequence.Setup
- The board consists of a grid of 16×16 squares.
- Squares are adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
- A game may be played by two or four players.
- Each player's camp consists of a cluster of adjacent squares in one corner of the board. These camps are delineated on the board.
- For two-player games, each player's camp is a cluster of 19 squares. The camps are in opposite corners.
- For four-player games, each player's camp is a cluster of 13 squares. Each of the four corners of the board is a camp.
- Each player has a set of pieces (often called "Halma pawns") in a distinct colour, of the same number as squares in each camp.
- The board starts with all the squares of each player's camp occupied by a piece of that player's colour.
Objective
The objective is to be the first player to race all one's pieces into the opposing camp—the camp diagonally opposite one's own. (For four-player games played in teams, the winner is the first team to race both sets of pieces into opposing camps.)Play sequence
- Players randomly determine who will take the first turn.
- Each player's turn consists of moving a single piece of one's own colour in one of the following plays:
- One move to an empty square:
- Place the piece in an empty adjacent square.
- This move ends the play.
- One or more jumps over adjacent pieces:
- An adjacent piece of any colour can be jumped if there is an adjacent empty square on the directly opposite side of that piece.
- Place the piece in the empty square on the opposite side of the jumped piece.
- The piece which was jumped over is unaffected and remains on the board.
- After any jump, one may make further jumps using the same piece, or end the play.
- One move to an empty square:
- Once a piece has reached the opposing camp, a play cannot result in that piece leaving that camp.
- If the current play results in having every square of the opposing camp occupied by one's own pieces, the acting player wins.
- Otherwise, after each player's turn, continue with the next player to the left taking a turn.
Comparison to other games
- The mechanic of jumping pieces is reminiscent of draughtsDraughtsDraughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
(checkers) but differs in that no opposing pieces are ever captured or otherwise withdrawn from the board nor is jumping compulsory.
- Chinese checkersChinese checkersChinese checkers is a board game that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners...
, a variant of Halma, was originally published in 1892 as Stern-Halma (GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for "Star Halma") and later renamed upon marketing to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to appear more exotic. The name is misleading, since the game has no historical connection with China, nor is it a checkers game.
Variations available
There are also 8×8 and 10×10 board variations, either of which is adequate for two players and they have 10 and 15 pieces per player, respectively. There are various on-line versions on the internet, usually for two-player, turn based play.Some sites implement a rule variation stating that a player automatically loses if they still have a piece in their start region after a certain number of moves (typically 30 for the 8×8 game, 50 for the 10×10 game). Fast-advancing players occasionally attempt to blockade an opposing piece, but this tactic can backfire if the other player is aware of it. In non-electronic versions, the number of moves is not normally counted.
Basic strategy and tactics
In comparison with many board games, Halma has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning (before opposing pieces come into contact) is usually a set-piece battle, with players setting up their favoured openings. The middle (when opposing pieces are blocking or jumping each other) is usually characterised by opportunistic play; the player with the most patience to check the whole board for opportunities, including those gained by moving backwards in order to move forwards, will gain an advantage. Players should also set up for the end game (when opposing pieces have passed one another and must run for home), avoiding stragglers.As with most board games, early control of the centre is a key tactic, as it provides additional mobility. Pieces can form a two-layer blocking wall, deflecting the opponent from the centre and forcing them into a longer trajectory; however, if the opponent builds an adjacent wall, then the first player to disband his wall usually suffers a strategic disadvantage.
It is important to understand that paired pieces move faster than single pieces in the end game. This means that a player with a pair of "leapfrogging" pieces has an advantage over a player with two individual stragglers.
The larger boards have more strategic combinations available than the smaller boards, and the four player game offers more tactical intrigue than the two player game.