Lasca

I have been aware of Lasca for many years, but only recently learned how to play the game with Dr Dave.  It was invented by the renowned chess player Emanuel Lasker,  World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921.  It can be considered a Draughts variant played on a 7x7 'chess' board, with starting position as in the picture above.  Movement and promotion to Kings is the same as in Draughts.  Capture is the same in movement, i.e. jumping over a piece, but instead of removing the captured piece from the board, it is placed underneath the capturing piece in a stack.  Stacks are owned and move according to the topmost piece.  When a piece or stack captures an opponents stack, it only captures the top piece, leaving the remains of the stack in play!  This gives the game its very different mechanic.  Full details can be found at igGamesCenter - Lasca, where PvP play is available, and more general info can be found at Wikipedia - Lasca.

We were intrigued by the game and both played a few games against a computer opponent at www.pjb.com.au/laska/play_laska. Despite Windows Edge reporting that this site was not secure, it played well and has not caused us a problem.  However, in the space of a week, the link no longer works!?!  I can find no other computer opponent to practice against.

The game felt to be full of rich possibilities, and a real find.  We have just played again.  Initially, this view was confirmed, but despite a very near early win for White, the knockout blow was elusive.  The game carried on and entered a completely new phase of two-coloured stacks with Kings in charge.  Black gained the upper hand, but again, the win was elusive.  Pieces coming back into play with the capturing system makes it very hard to assess the current state of play.  Black did eventually win.

As has happened with several of the games that we have learned in the last couple of years, my opinion of the merits of a game must be viewed in the light of an almost complete lack of experience!  However, it seems to me that the early game was fun and interesting, but that turned into a completely different style of game where it was hard to finish an opponent off, or even know who was winning!  Further play time is needed for a better informed opinion . . .

Here is are Lasker's original Lasca rules - The Great Military Game.pdf.

The site Lasca.org - About Lasca has further info, including . . .

• The number of physical pieces remains constant at 22 throughout the game, as pieces are never removed from the board.
• The number of stacks stays constant or decreases throughout the game.
• It is possible, though unlikely, that all pieces end up in two columns towards the end of the game.
• Stacks can never have alternate colours - think about it.  Stacks either have a set of white pieces on top of a set of black pieces, or blacks on top of whites.
• Since the board is 7x7, there is no corner with two adjacent white squares (as happens in standard Draughts), so draws are very unlikely.