nence; but if the levelling up of the
standards of play in Scotland and England continues, the competition
which is held biennially by the English Draughts Association is likely
to rank as a serious rival to the Glasgow tourney.

_The English Game._--Draughts as played now in English-speaking
countries is a game for two persons with a board and twenty-four
men--twelve white and twelve black--which at starting are placed as
follows: the black men on the squares numbered 1 to 12, and the white
men on the squares numbered 21 to 32 on the diagram below. In printed
diagrams the men are usually shown on the white squares for the sake of
clearness, but in actual play the black squares are generally used now.
In playing on the black squares the board must be placed with a black
square in the left-hand corner. The game is played by moving a man
forward, one square at a time except when making a capture, along the
diagonals to the right or left. Thus a white man placed on square 18 in
the diagram can move to 15 or 14. Each player moves alternately, black
always moving first. If a player touch a piece he must move that piece
and no other. If the piece cannot be moved, or if it is not the player's
turn to move, he forfeits the game. As soon as a man reaches one of the
squares farthest from his side of the board, he is "crowned" by having
one of the unused or captured men of his own colour placed on him, and
becomes a "king." A king has the power of moving and taking backwards as
well as forwards.

BLACK.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 5 | | 6 | | 7 | | 8 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | 9 | |10 | |11 | |12 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|13 | |14 | |15 | |16 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |17 | |18 | |19 | |20 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|21 | |22 | |23 | |24 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |25 | |26 | |27 | |28 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|29 | |30 | |31 | |32 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
WHITE.

If a man is on the square adjacent to an opponent's man, and there is an
unoccupied square beyond, the unprotected man must be captured and
removed from the board. Thus, if there is a white man on square 18, and
a black man on square 14, square 9 being vacant, and white having to
mo