Camelot (board game)

Infobox Game
title =
subtitle =
image_link =
image_caption = The starting position for a game of Camelot.
designer = George S. Parker
illustrator =
publisher = Parker Brothers
Waddingtons
players = 2
ages =
setup_time = 5 minutes
playing_time = about 20 minutes
complexity = Medium
strategy = High
random_chance = None
skills = Highly tactical, with some strategic planning
footnotes =
bggid = 1406
bggxrefs =

Camelot is an abstract strategy board game (like Chess or Checkers). One of the first games published by Parker Brothers, Camelot was invented late in the 19th century and originally published under the name of Chivalry. Its publisher, with a mixture of hyperbole and genuine pride, called it the best board game invented in the last 2000 years! The game (reissued as Camelot in 1930) flourished through dozens of editions and numerous variants, achieving its greatest popularity in the 1930s, but remaining in print through the late 1960s. In the 1980s, Parker Brothers briefly republished it under the name Inside Moves. It has been out of print since then, but it maintains a small core of fans who are hoping for another revival.

Camelot is easily learned, and generally more fun for novices to play than either Chess or Checkers. It is exceptionally tactical almost from the first move, and therefore quick to play to conclusion.

There is now a World Camelot Federation, with free membership, headed by Michael Nolan.

Basic Rules

The game is played on a roughly rectangular board, with four extra squares extending outside the main rectangle, two each at the top and bottom of the board. These two-square areas are called the Castles. Each player starts off with fourteen pieces -- four Knights and ten Men -- set up as shown. The object of the game is to be the first player to occupy your opponent’s Castle (the two squares marked) with two of your own pieces.

Both Knights and Men can move in three ways, either orthogonally or diagonally:

* They can move one space in any direction, like a Chess King. This is called a Plain Move.
* They can Canter: leap over an adjacent friendly piece, to a vacant space immediately on the other side of the leaped piece. Multiple leaps over a player’s own pieces are permitted. Cantering is not obligatory.
* They can Jump over an adjacent enemy piece, to a vacant space immediately on the other side of the jumped piece. The enemy piece is captured and removed from the board. As in Checkers, multiple-Jumps are allowed, and capturing is obligatory whenever it is possible.

A Man may make any of these three moves, but only one type of move per turn. Knights have a fourth option, the combination move called the Knight's Charge. This move consists of a Canter immediately followed by a Jump (capture). The Knight may, in this single move, perform multiple Canters (or only one), followed by multiple Jumps (or only one), but the Canter(s) must precede the Jump(s). A Knight may not combine a Plain Move (the first type) with a Canter or Jump.

Recalling that Jumping is obligatory when possible, if a Knight ends a move with a Canter that could have been followed by a Jump, or by a Jump that could have been followed by an additional Jump, the other player has the option of insisting that the Knight continue its move with a jump.

History

In 1882, George S. Parker began working on an abstract board game called Chivalry. His goal was to invent a game not so difficult as Chess, but considerably more varied than Checkers. Parker created a game that was a complex, tactical, but easily-learned and quickly-played mixture of Halma (Chinese Checkers) and (regular) Checkers. When finally published by Geo. S. Parker & Co. in 1887, Chivalry won the raves of Chess and Checkers experts, but the game Parker called "the best game in 2,000 years" did not catch on quickly with the general public.

Parker never lost his enthusiasm for the game, though, and in 1930 he made a few changes to the game, and Parker Brothers republished it under the name Camelot. A few more rules changes followed in 1931. Camelot enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1930s.

There were over 40 different editions of Camelot sets issued, including a gold-stamped leather edition and a mahogany cabinet edition. There were tournament editions, regular editions, and low-cost editions. Camelot was eventually discontinued in 1968, then reissued as Inside Moves in 1985, and finally discontinued again in 1986.

Although the game is long out of print, Parker Brothers still holds (and defends) its copyright. However, because of its former popularity, reasonably-priced vintage copies remain easily available, on eBay and elsewhere. It can also be played on a PC, using the third-party game engine Zillions of Games.

Parker Brothers marketed several game variants. Grand Camelot, a variant for four players on a special large board, was released in 1932. Cam, a variant played on a miniature board, came out in 1949. There was also a Point Camelot variant, three-handed and four-handed variants, and even a variant called Camelotta. None of these variants ever achieved the popularity of the basic game.

Camelot players included such illustrious individuals as Jose Raoul Capablanca, World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927, and Frank Marshall, U.S. Chess Champion from 1907 to 1936. Sidney Lenz and Milton Work, two world-famous bridge players, also played the game.

The World Camelot Federation (WCF), an international non-profit organization, was formed in 1999 in an attempt to preserve and popularize the game. The WCF has introduced a few rules clarifications, additions, and changes. The WCF Website was created in 2000. The WCF organized a Camelot World Championship with twelve participants. It concluded on June 22, 2003, with Dan Troyka of Saline, Michigan, winning the title of Camelot World Champion.

Official World Camelot Federation Rules

PLAYERS: The game of Camelot is played between two opponents who move pieces alternately on a Camelot board. The two players are called Red and Green. The players choose for color. Red moves first.

PLAYING SURFACE: The Camelot board contains 160 squares of identical size. Ranks are rows of squares, numbered 1 through 16, running horizontally from one side of the board to the other. Files are columns of squares, lettered A through L, running vertically from one end of the board to the other. The squares of the board, with their actual Camelot designation used for game notation, from the bottom rank to the top rank, from the left-most file to the right-most file, are: F1, G1, C2, D2, E2, F2, G2, H2, I2, J2, B3, C3, D3, E3, F3, G3, H3, I3, J3, K3, A4, B4, C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, H4, I4, J4, K4, L4, A5, B5, C5, D5, E5, F5, G5, H5, I5, J5, K5, L5, A6, B6, C6, D6, E6, F6, G6, H6, I6, J6, K6, L6, A7, B7, C7, D7, E7, F7, G7, H7, I7, J7, K7, L7, A8, B8, C8, D8, E8, F8, G8, H8, I8, J8, K8, L8, A9, B9, C9, D9, E9, F9, G9, H9, I9, J9, K9, L9, A10, B10, C10, D10, E10, F10, G10, H10, I10, J10, K10, L10, A11, B11, C11, D11, E11, F11, G11, H11, I11, J11, K11, L11, A12, B12, C12, D12, E12, F12, G12, H12, I12, J12, K12, L12, A13, B13, C13, D13, E13, F13, G13, H13, I13, J13, K13, L13, B14, C14, D14, E14, F14, G14, H14, I14, J14, K14, C15, D15, E15, F15, G15, H15, I15, J15, F16, G16. Red’s Castle is composed of two Castle Squares F1 and G1, and Green’s Castle is composed of two Castle Squares F16 and G16.

PIECES: Each player begins the game with 14 pieces: four Knights and ten Men. The starting positions are: Red Knights on C6, D7, I7, and J6, Red Men on D6, E6, E7, F6, F7, G6, G7, H6, H7, and I6, Green Knights on C11, D10, I10, and J11, and Green Men on D11, E10, E11, F10, F11, G10, G11, H10, H11, and I11.

THE PLAIN MOVE: A piece (either Knight or Man) may move one square in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) to any adjoining unoccupied square. This move is called a Plain Move.

THE CANTER: A piece (either Knight or Man) may leap in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) over a friendly piece (either Knight or Man) that occupies an adjoining square, provided that there is an unoccupied square immediately beyond it in a direct line onto which the leap may be made. This move is called a Canter. Pieces cantered over are not removed from the board. A player may canter over more than one piece during the same move, but may not make a canter that ends on the same square from which it began. When cantering over more than one piece in a move, the direction of the canter may be varied after each leap. A player is never compelled to canter, nor when cantering is he compelled to canter as far as possible.

THE JUMP: A piece (either Knight or Man) may leap in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) over an opposing piece (either Knight or Man) that occupies an adjoining square, provided there is an unoccupied square immediately beyond it in a direct line onto which the leap may be made. This move is called a Jump. Each enemy piece jumped over is captured and immediately removed from the board. A player is obliged to jump if any one of his pieces is next to an exposed enemy piece. Having jumped over one enemy piece, the jumping must continue as a part of that same move if the player’s piece reaches a square next to another exposed enemy piece. When jumping over more than one piece, the direction of the move may be varied after each jump. If presented with capturing alternatives, a player may choose which opposing piece to capture, and with which of his pieces to effect the capture. When compelled to jump, a player may, if he can, capture by a Knight’s Charge instead. A player may ignore his obligation to jump only when, on his previous move, he has jumped one of his pieces over an opponent's piece into his own castle, ending his turn there. In that case, on his next turn, he must immediately move that piece out from his castle.

THE KNIGHT’S CHARGE: A Knight (only) may combine a Canter and a Jump in a single move, called a Knight’s Charge. A Knight’s Charge must follow the order of first the Canter(s) and last the Jump(s). A Knight is never obliged to charge. If the canter of a Knight brings it next to an enemy piece that can be jumped, it must do so, unless by a different route later in that same move it captures one or more enemy pieces elsewhere. Having jumped over one enemy piece during the jumping portion of a Knight’s Charge, the jumping must continue as a part of that same move if the player’s Knight reaches a square next to another exposed enemy piece.

NOTATION: The Plain Move is indicated by the notation “-” placed between the starting square and the ending square, e.g., C8-D9. The Canter is indicated by the notation “-” placed between the starting square, landed upon intermediate squares (if any), and the ending square, e.g., E6-C8-A8. The Jump is indicated by the notation “x” placed between the starting square, landed upon intermediate squares (if any), and the ending square, e.g., H4xJ4xL6. The Knight’s Charge is indicated by the notation “-” placed between the beginning square of the cantering portion, landed upon intermediate squares (if any), and the ending square of the cantering portion, and the notation “x” placed between the ending square of the cantering portion (the beginning square of the jumping portion), landed upon intermediate squares (if any), and the ending square of the jumping portion, e.g., F6-F8-H8xH10xJ12.

OBJECT: The game is won if a player moves any two of his pieces (Knights and/or Men) into his opponent’s castle. Or, the game is won if a player captures all of his opponent’s pieces, and has two or more of his own pieces left. Or, the game is won if a player whose opponent is unable to make a legal move has has two or more of his own pieces left.

DRAWN GAME: The game is drawn if both players have no more than one piece left.

PLAYER’S OWN CASTLE: A player may not plain-move or canter one of his pieces (Knight or Man) into his own castle. If an enemy piece reaches a square adjacent to his own castle, a player may jump, or make the jumping portion of a Knight’s Charge, over that enemy piece into his own castle. A player may not, during the cantering portion of a Knight's Charge, move his Knight into his own castle. If a player jumps over an opponent's piece into his own castle, and the player’s piece is then next to an exposed enemy piece, the jumping must continue (out of his own castle) as part of that same move. A player who has jumped one of his pieces over an opponent's piece into his own castle, and in so doing was unable to continue the jumping out of his own castle as part of that same move, must, on his next turn to move, immediately move that piece out from his own castle, with no exception. A player moving one of his pieces out from his own castle must jump out, if possible, instead of plain-moving or cantering out. If a player has the opportunity to jump out from his own castle, he may, if he can, satisfy the obligation to capture by means of moving out with a Knight's Charge instead.

OPPONENT’S CASTLE: A piece that has entered his opponent’s castle cannot come out, but is allowed to move from one castle square to the other (designated a castle move). A player is limited to two castle moves during a game.

External links

* [http://groups.msn.com/worldcamelotfederation The World Camelot Federation web site]
* [http://www.zillions-of-games.com/cgi-bin/zilligames/submissions.cgi/66545?do=show;id=36 Free Zillions of Games rules file for Camelot]