DRAUGHTS

or CHECKERS, game played with checkers on a checkered board; supposed to be of very early invention; some such game was played by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. The game is played between two persons, each having twelve ‘men,’ or pieces, those of one player being dark, the other light. It is played on a draughtboard, divided into sixty-four spaces, alternately light and dark, the pieces being placed on one color only. Lots are cast for the choice of men and the object of the game is to clear off all the opponent’s pieces. E.), river, Austria-Hungary; rises in Tyrol; flows generally E.; joins Danube 14 miles E. of Eszeb.