Fox and Hounds
This version (also called "Wolf and Sheep", "Hounds and Hare", or "Devil and Tailors") is played on an 8×8 chess/checkerboard. As in draughts, only the dark squares are used. The four hounds are initially placed on the dark squares at one edge of the board; the fox is placed on any dark square on the opposite edge. The objective of the fox is to cross from one side of the board to the other, arriving at any one of the hounds' original squares; the hounds' objective is to prevent it from doing so.
The hounds move like a draughts man, diagonally forward one square. The fox moves like a draughts king, diagonally forward or backward one square. There is, however, no jumping, promotion, or removal of pieces. The play alternates with the fox moving first. The player controlling the hounds moves only one of them per turn.
The fox is trapped when a hound occupies all four of its potential move squares. Alternatively, two hounds may trap the fox against an edge of the board (other than their original home-row). There is even one corner (see diagram) where a single hound may do the trapping. It may be noted that should a hound reach the fox's original home row, it will no longer have any potential moves.
Perfect play will result in a "hounds" victory, even if the fox is allowed to choose any starting square and to pass his turn once during the game, as demonstrated in Winning Ways.
Read more about this topic: Fox Games
Famous quotes containing the words fox and/or hounds:
“His berd as any sowe or fox was reed,
And therto brood, as though it were a spade.
Upon the cop right of his nose he hade
A werte, and theron stood a toft of herys
Reed as the brustles of a sowes erys.
His nosethirles blake were and wyde.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)
“I will have no Parsons around me but such as drink deep, ride to Hounds and caress the Wives and Daughters of their Parishioners. A Virtuous Parson does nothing to test or exercise the Faith of his Flock.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)