How to Play Alquerque
Alquerque looks like a smaller draughts set right up to the moment a jump is forced. Do you take the centre crossing, keep the back rank covered, or pass on a leap that lets the opponent chain back? This version lets you play through those choices against multiple AI levels, then review them with hints, undo, and replay.
Where It Comes From
Alquerque, also called al-qirkat, was played in the medieval Middle East and is the direct ancestor of draughts. Pieces sit on the 25 points of a 5×5 lattice, not on squares, and they only travel along the drawn lines. The version most people use today comes from Alfonso X's thirteenth-century Book of Games, not from later 8×8 checkers with kings. That is the ruleset this site follows. Instead of leaving those ideas on a separate rules page, we put them directly into play: points not squares, steps along marked lines, jumps you must take, and pieces that never promote. The AI levels, hints, undo, and replay are here to help you learn that ancestor by playing it.
Play on the Points
Do not hunt for chessboard squares. Alquerque uses twenty-five intersections joined by orthogonal lines and a lattice of diagonals. The first move often steps into the centre, which can be leapt on the reply, so the opening is already about jumps.
If You Can Jump, You Must
When any capture exists, quiet steps disappear. A leaping piece keeps leaping while fresh landings remain. Pieces never promote: once a piece reaches the far rank, it may only move to capture.
Hints Follow Your AI Level
Choose from multiple AI levels, then play as Black to open or White to reply. Hints use the same level, and undo rewinds both your move and the AI response. After the game, replay the turn when a jump was missed. All AI calculation stays in your browser.
25points on the lattice
12pieces a side
Linessteps and jumps
Jumpcaptures are forced
