Untitled record

Application filed November 27,1895. Serial No. 570,303. (No model.)

To all whom it matj concern:

Be it known that I, William W. ClimenSON, of Honey Brook, county of Chester, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and 5 useful Improvement in Numerical Games and Game Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

io My invention relates to a numerical game apparatus; and the prime object of the invention is to provide a game which will tend to stimulate the faculties of the players in various arithmetical calculations that arise dur15 ing the progress of the play.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel game which will hold the interest of the players throughout the contest and require skilful maneuvering to disable or dis20 qualify the men or pieces of a player’s opponent.

This improved game is played somewhat along the lines of the well-known game of checkers in that it requires a board divided 25 into squares and two sets of movable men 01· pieces; but the present game is distinguished from the game of checkers in two most important particulars; first, in that each player has numbered pieces or men which are ma30 nipulated over numbered squares on the board in a manner to secure a total number of points required to win the game, and, secondly, the men or pieces are not removed from the board, as in checkers, when the pieces 35 or men are jumped, but the player must so maneuver as to force his opponent to jump into a space where such men or pieces are disabled or disqualified from further participation in the game.

To the accomplishment of these ends the first part of my invention consists in a gameboard divided into rows of squares, each row of which contains the four arithmetical symbols of multiplication, addition, subtraction, 45 and division, together with certain arbitrary figures or numerals appropriate to the arithmetical symbol, combined with two sets of movable numbered pieces or men, each set of which have the pieces numbered corre50 spondingly to the other set, and which are to be moved or shifted to run up a total score against the player’s opponent.

The invention further consists in a gameboard provided with a marginal disqualification line or row of squares around the play- 55 ing-squares, into which the numbered pieces or men are adapted to be moved, and when so moved into the said marginal line or squares such pieces are disqualified from further participation in the game. 60

The invention further consists in the construction and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the same in the aeeom- 65 panying drawings, in which—

Figure lisa plan view of the game-board. Fig. 2 is a view of the board with the pieces or men stationed thereon preliminary to starting the play. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating 70 the position of some of the pieces after the game has been advanced. Fig. 4 is an inside view of a folding game-board, showing the means adopted for holding the pieces or men inside of the game-board. Figs. 5 and 0 are 75 detail views of one of the pieces or men, showing the method of numbering the same.

Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which— 80

A designates the game-board, which has its surface divided into thirty-two playingsquares, which are arbitrarily numbered, and around which is a marginal line of playingsquares, eighteen in number, and which de- 85 notes what may be termed the “dead-line,” thatis, when any piece or man is jumped into the squares forming the dead-line it is disabled or disqualified from further participation in the game in progress. 9c

The board A is divided along its median line into two sections, each consisting of four rows of playing-squares, with foursquares to each row. The playing-squares are differently colored from the neutral squares, the 95 same as in a checker-board, as, for instance, the playing-squares may be colored red while the other intermediate or alternate neutral squares are black. The four rows of playingsquares on each section or half of the board ico are designated by the reference-letters C, E, F, and G-, and the four squares of each row are provided, respectively, with the arithmetical symbols of division, multiplication, sub574,193 traction, and addition, together with numerals appropriate to thc symbol. Thus the rows C C have the squares containing the division sign provided with the fraction sign “4·” 5 The next square contains the numeral “2” and the multiplication sign. The next square contains the minus sign and numeral “7” and the last square contains the plus sign and number “15.” The second rows of squares E io E contain the four arithmetical signs and corresponding arbitrary arrangement of numerals appropriate to the symbols. The squares of the rows F F are correspondingly inscribed, and the same is true of the squares forming 15 the rows G G. The squares forming the marginal dead-line which extends continuously around the board are differently colored, red and black, to correspond to the other squares on the board, and the red squares of the mar20 ginal line contain the letters “D ” to designate that the men moved or jumped into those squares are “dead,” that is, disqualified from further participation in the game.

Two sets of movable men or pieces are pro25 vided, one set being assigned to one player and the other set to another player, and these sets of pieces or men are differently colored, iii order that the player may distinguish his men from his opponent’s men. For example, 30 one set of men may be colored red and the other black. Twelve men or pieces constitute a set, and the pieces of one set are numbered to correspond to the pieces of the other set to place each player on an equal footing. 35 The squares C C constitute the king-rows, and any piece of one player moved into the king-row on his opponent’s side of the board becomes a king, as in the well-known game of checkers. The kings may be moved in 40 any diagonal direction across the board, and the kings may be designated from the other ordinary pieces or men either by capping them with another piece or by reversing the piece or man. For this purpose I provide 45 each man or piece with corresponding numbers on its two sides, as in Figs. 5 and 6, the ordinary playing-side shown by Fig. 5 having the numbers spread or spaced apart, while the other face of the piece (having the crown) 5 0 has the numbers grouped closely together; bn t other modes of distinguishing the king-pieces from the ordinary men may be adopted.

In playing the game each player groups his twelve men or pieces on the three rows of 55 squares C E F, as shown by Fig. 2, and the one player leads off by advancing one piece into a square on the row G on his side of the board. The other player then advances one of his men in one of the squares in row G on 60 his section of the board, and from thence on the pieces are moved and jumped the same as in the game of checkers; but in my game the pieces which are jumped by an opponent are not removed from the board, but the 65 player making the jump is entitled to score a certain number of points. For example, we will suppose that one player has a man num bered 20 on the square numbered 3χ in row E. His opponent has a piece on square 4 X in row F, and the square 8 X in row G is vacant. 70 The player j u mps his piece n umbered 20 over the piece in square 4+ and into square 8x, and is therefore entitled to score the multiple of his piece 20,or twenty times eight, which is one hundred and sixty. He therefore reg- 75 isters the one hundred and sixty points in his score. As another illustration we will suppose that a player jumps a man numbered 15 into the square 17+ in row G. lie is entitled to register the sum-total of the number of his 80 piece and the number of the square into which it was moved. Thus 15 + 17 = 32, which thc player is entitled to count up in his tally.

In another example, suppose that a player moves a man numbered 11 into the square 85 marked G— in row G. That player is entitled to score the difference between the number of his piece, less the number of the square into which his piece was moved, or 11 — G = 5. Again, if the mail numbered 15 is moved 90 into the square marked 4 —? in row E the player is not entitled to tally to his credit four-fifths of the number 15, but, on the contrary, would be subject to a loss of that number, or any number counted in this way. 95 Should there be a remainder when the division is made, that remainder would be added to the number secured by division. For example, should the piece numbered 22 be forced into the square of 4 _: the player would lose 100 four-fifths of twenty-two and the remainder. One-fifth of twenty-two being four and a remainder of two, four-fifths would be four times four equals sixteen. Sixteen plus two would be eighteen. Eighteen would be thc 105 number lost. This rule is provided in order to make the play all the more interesting, causing the player to study the game in order to prevent being forced into the divisionsquares. IIO

In addition to running up his total score each player is supposed to so maneuver his men as to break into his opponent’s king-row, while preserving his own king-row intact, and he will also strive to force his opponent 115 to jump into the marginal dead-line having squares marked by the letter “D”in order to disqualify from further service as many of his opponent’s men as possible. One of the rules of the game is that each player must 120 jump his opponent’s pieces wherever and whenever a jump is possible, and without regard to the fact whether the piece is to be jumped into the dead-row or not. The players may agree upon a certain arbitrary figure 125 as being the total score necessary to win the game, which may be set down at 890 or any other figure. The game is won by the player who first makes the total score agreed upon, or who moves his men so as to first disqualify 130 his opponent’s men by causing them to be all jumped into the squares D, forming the deadrow.

As a king jumps both ways, a player may

574,192 trap a king and compel the king to j unip back and forth until the player having the king is permitted by his opponent to j amp elsewhere. If no rule was adopted to prevent this trap5 ping of a king, the player opposing the player having the king could keep his opponent in this position until he could arrange his men in such a way as to insure him the game. To prevent this, a rule has been adopted as io follows: After the king has been forced to jump three times in the trap the trap must be broken by the player who traps the king. This rule is adopted in order that the player so trapped may not lose interest in the game 15 by being compelled to do that which would become monotonous. The trap is broken by moving the single man from the king.

Another feature of the game is, should two players so agree the game may be played with20 out counting. In this case the play would be to disqualify the men by forcing them into the disabling-row.

As a convenient means for keeping the tally as the score is macle, I have provided on 25 the margin of the board, at the diagonal opposite corners thereof, four rows of openings, (indicated at I and J.) Each player is supposed to use two of these rows and two or more pegs to keep the tally. The row I may 30 be numbered from “1” to “30.” The row J is numbered arbitrarily from “20” to “890.” The row I is the minus row and the row J the addition row. The score may be registered on a separate board somewhat like a cribbage35 board, if desired.

I have also constructed the interior of a foldable board (shown by Fig. 4) with means for storing and keeping the men or pieces in place when it is not desired to play the game, 40 whereby the pieces are prevented from rattling loose in the board and the necessity for a separate box to contain the pieces is obviated. A longitudinal partition-strip L is fastened in parallel relation near one of the 45 side flanges of the foldable board, but at a sufficient distance therefrom to enable the men or pieces to be set up edgewise between the strip L and the side flange of the board, and in the space between an end piece and the end flange of the board is inserted a 50 keeper N, which holds the pieces or men in their edgewise position and prevents them from getting loose.