Draughts | A mom's blog

When I was a child I was a bit of an expert in checkers. I used to play with my dad and had learnt all the tricks. In checkers you have to play aggressively because it cannot be won by being defensive.

Towards the end of the game when you only have a few pieces left you can run into one of the corners and keep moving the piece from one square to the other. But there’s a way to flush out that piece from that corner. My dad taught me how to do it.

The best feeling is when you give up one of your pieces to capture two or three pieces of the opponent. Especially when they don’t see it coming.

Once we had one of our relatives over who saw me with my checkers board and challenged me to a game. Now I was a child and he was an adult and on the face of it, it wasn’t an equal match. Meaning he didn’t stand a chance.

After the devastation when his last piece was left which I was in a position to take, I looked at my dad as if to say “Should I do it?” After all he was a guest and it was only polite to ask. After getting a nod from my dad I finished off the game.

Fast forward to this year and I was on a flight with my family to Oman. My husband and I decided to check out the in-flight entertainment. The games included checkers as well. Unknowingly my husband challenged me to a game.

Needless to say the game lasted only a few minutes. It was total annihilation. Apparently I haven’t forgotten all the tricks. My dad would have been proud.

Daily Prompt: The Perfect Game