Cage 2010

Cage is a two player game, played on a 10x10 checkboard with 50 red and 50 blue checkers. The board is initially set up in a checkered pattern.

The two players, Red and Blue, take turns moving their own checkers, starting with Red. If a player has a move available, he must make one. If a player has no moves available, he must sit the game out until he does have a move available. At least one of the two players will always have a move available.

Draws cannot occur in Cage.

Move typesThere are four types of moves in Cage:

Restricted Centering Adjoining Jump

Restriction #1Never place a checker orthogonally (horizontally or vertically) adjacent to a like colored checker. Not even momentarily during a multi-move turn.

Restriction # 2Never move a checker that has orthogonal adjacencies with enemy checkers to a square where it doesn't, unless the move is a jump (see the Jump section below).

Centering moveThe centering move is a single-square move to an adjacent (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), unoccupied square, which brings a checker closer to the center of the board.

NOTE: A centering move reduces the straight line distance from a checker to the center point of the board.

Only one centering move can be made per turn, and it must be the only move of any kind in the turn.

Adjoining moveA checker which has no orthogonal adjacencies with enemy checkers can be moved a single square in any direction to a square which does have orthogonal adjacencies with one or more enemy checkers.

Only one adjoining move can be made per turn, and it must be the only move of any kind in the turn.

JumpYou can capture an enemy checker by moving a friendly checker from an orthogonally adjacent square on one side of the enemy checker to the adjacent square on the opposite side of the enemy checker (if the latter square is unoccupied).

You can capture an enemy checker on the edge of the board from an adjacent square on the opposite side of the enemy checker from the board edge (or one of the two adjacent board edges in the case of a corner square). Both the capturing and captured checkers are removed from the board in an edge capture.

Capturing is not mandatory, as it is in Checkers. That is, you aren't required to initiate your turn with a jump, unless that's the only type of move you have available. Once you've made a jump though, you can't make any other type of move during your turn. And you may be required to make additional jumps while it's still your turn.

If it's possible to use the jumping checker to jump again, you must do so while it's still your turn. And so on. Your turn concludes when said jumping checker lands on a square from which no jumps are possible.

There's no requirement to select the path of maximum capture in a jump sequence.

Never jump the same checker more than once.

Object of the gameTo win, you must capture all enemy checkers. If you remove your own last remaining checker while capturing all remaining enemy checkers, you still win.