"Lines of Action" is an abstract strategy game played on a normal checkerboard, and using checkers as pieces. The board is set up with twelve black
pieces arranged along the top and bottom, and twelve white pieces along the sides.<
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. X X X X X X .
O . . . . . . O
O . . . . . . O
O . . . . . . O
O . . . . . . O
O a . b . . . O
O . . . . . . O
. X X X X X X c
Black moves first. Each turn, the player moves his pieces in a straight line
exactly as many spaces as there are pieces of either color on that rank, file,
or diagonal, or by jumping friendly pieces.. For example, in the beginning
position above, black can move his piece in bold to any of the positions a, b, or c. If a piece lands on an enemy piece, the enemy
piece is removed from the board. Unlike in checkers or draughts, however,
this is not always a good idea, and isn't a forced move. The goal of the game is to move all of your
pieces into a connected group (with diagonals counting as connections).
This leads to one of the oddest rules in games of this type: any player
reduced to a single piece wins. A single piece is, after all, a connected
group...
Lines of Action was invented in the sixties by Claude Soucie, and described
in the book A Gamut of Games, by Sid Sackson. There is no commercial
release, and you can use any cheap checkerboard to play.