The (almost really) Complete Works of Lewis Carroll

§ 1. Requisites for the Game

This Game requires a chess or draughts board, 8 men of one colour and 8 of another (chess-pawns, draughts, or counters), 8 pieces of card cut to the size of a square, and something (e. g. a coin) with which to mark a square.

§ 2. Definitions

Def. 1

A “Rendezvous” is a set of squares, into which each Player tries to get his men. Its position is determined by that of the Mark, and the number of its square is always one less than that of the men which are on the Board when the Mark is set. There are two kinds of Rendezvous, “close” and “open”.

Def. 2

A Rendezvous must be “close,” when the number of its squares is odd. It consists of the marked square and certain adjacent squares, as shown in the following diagrams, in which the Players are supposed to be at the upper and lower edges. The numerals indicate the number of Rendezvous-squares, the letter “m” the Mark, and the asterisks the Rendezvous-squares.

A 3-square Rendezvous consists of a line of 3 squares, having the marked square in the middle, in any position, straight or slanting, chosen by the Player who sets the Mark.

Def. 3

A Rendezvous must be “open,” when the number of its squares is even. It consists of certain border-squares, which would be “in check” if the Mark were a chess queen, as shown in the following diagrams, which are to be interpreted as in Def. 2.

For any but a 9-square Rendezvous, it will be found convenient to mark the Rendezvous-squares with pieces of card.

§ 3. Rules

Rule 1

Each man may be moved along any line of unoccupied squares, straight or slanting; but it may not (except in the case named in Rule 6) change its direction.

Rule 2

To begin the game, ten men are set as in this diagram, in which the five B’s indicate black men, and the five Y’s yellow men. Then one Player sets the Mark on any one of the central four squares (indicated in this diagram by the letter ‘m’) of the diagonal not containing men. Both then try to play their men into the Rendezvous thus determined, he, who did not set the Mark, having the first turn.

Rule 3

In playing the first turn for a Rendezvous, a Player may move 2 squares only. In any other turn he may move 5, 4, or 3 squares, according as he has on the Board more than 4, 4, or less than 4 men. He may divide these squares among his men as he likes, but may not move more than 3 of them with any one man, unless it be his only man outside the Rendezvous. He need not move more than one square in one turn. While playing, he should count aloud the squares through or into which he moves a man. After once playing a man and letting go of it, he may not move it again in that turn.

Rule 4

The Mark, for any Rendezvous after the first, may be set on any square that has enough squares round it to form the Rendezvous.

Rule 5

When the Mark has been set, he, who did not set it, may, before playing, demand an “interchange”; in which case he, who set the Mark, must interchange all his own men with whichever he chooses of the others. He, who claims an “interchange,” must move one of the enemy’s men into a corner of its square, and cannot, after letting go of it, revoke his claim.

Rule 6

In playing for an open Rendezvous, a Player may move any man, that is on the border, along it, without regarding the corners, as if it were one continuous line of squares: and any such man, if not moved beyond the first Rendezvous-square, reckons as having been moved one square only; but, if it be moved beyond, each square must be counted as in Rule 3.

Rule 7

When a Player gets all his men into the Rendezvous, it being not yet full, he removes one of the outlying men from the Board, replacing it with a fresh man of his own colour; and this ends his turn.

Rule 8

When a Player has got all his men into the Rendezvous, it being now full, he removes the outlying man from the Board. Then he who has fewest men on the Board, or in the case of equality he who has just lost a man, sets the Mark for the next Rendezvous, as in Rule 4.

Rule 9

When a Player has only one man left, he has lost the Game.

§ 4. Hints to Players

In playing for a ‘close’ Rendezvous, remember that you have two objects in view—one to get your own men in, the other to keep the enemy’s men out. A mere race for the Rendezvous is not always your best course: much may be done by getting into the way of the enemy’s men, and checking their advance. Do not try to block all his men; one is generally as much as you can hope ultimately to exclude: hence it is often good play to select that man, of the enemy’s, who is furthest from the Rendezvous, and to devote, to his especial benefit, the services of (say) three of your own men, whose duty it will be to march, in close rank, in front of him, as a kind of ‘guard of honour’, taking care to march in, in front of him, so as to be able to announce his approach, and secure his being received with all proper respect!

It is an advantage to get hold of the central square of a “close” Rendezvous, and also of a square at that corner (or side) of it, where you wish to bring in another man. As soon as the outsider has reached a square adjacent to this corner-man, he can be played in, in the following turn, by first moving the central man into some vacant Rendezvous-square, then the corner-man into the central square, and then the outsider into the corner-square.

For instance, supposing it to be a nine-square Rendezvous, and that your 5 men are A, B, C, D, E, (A being in the centre), and that the enemy’s 5 men are a, b, c, d, e, and that it is your turn to play; you may win the Rendezvous by moving A into the vacant square, D into A’s place, and E into D’s.

Or, if the men be arranged thus (c being in the centre), you may win it by moving A into the vacant square, B into A’s place, C into B’s, D into C’s, and E into D’s.

Similarly, in playing for an “open” Rendezvous, supposing it to consist of 8 squares (here marked by asterisks), and that your 4 men are A, B, C, D, and the enemy’s 5 men a, b, c, d, e, and that it is your turn to play; you may win the Rendezvous by moving A into the vacant Rendezvous-square, B into A’s place, C into B’s, and D into C’s.

You should also arrange your men, that are already in the Rendezvous, so as to make things comfortable for those, of the enemy’s men, who are on their way towards it. For instance, if it be a 9-square Rendezvous, and if there are four such men approaching from the East: by placing three of your men in the squares marked with asterisks, you may form an impenetrable wall across the Rendezvous, and thus provide a set of three vacant squares to accommodate the four weary travellers—a polite attention which they will not soon forget. Similarly, if there are two of the enemy’s men approaching from the North-East: by placing three of your men, as here indicated, you will provide one vacant square for the two guests, who will probably indulge in the pathetic strain, “For one of us must stop outside, But that one won’t be me! So, Tommy, make room for your Uncle!”

Should you find that the enemy is likely to get all his men into the Rendezvous, while you still have two or three men outside, remember that, as soon as all his men are in, he will replace one of your outlying men with a fresh man of his own colour; and that he will most certainly choose for this purpose whichever of the outlying men is nearest to the Rendezvous. Consequently, your best course is to have no one of them nearer than the others. Keep them all together, at the same distance from the Rendezvous, so that, whichever of them he transforms into an enemy, you can at once bar its progress with your other outlying men.

The advice I have given, as to barring the progress of the enemy’s men rather than merely hurrying on with your own, is also worth remembering when playing for an “open” Rendezvous.

In carrying out the operation described in Rule 5—the interchanging of the two sets of men—difficulties may arise, when men have been taken off their squares, in settling which squares they came from. These difficulties may lead to angry disputes; thence to mutual accusations of unveracity; thence to estrangement of friends; and thence to family feuds, lasting through several generations. These deplorable results may all be avoided by observing the following simple Rule:—

Move every one of the men, which are to be interchanged, into a corner of its square. Place a card-marker on a square occupied by a yellow man (I am supposing the two colours to be “yellow” and “black”), and take the yellow man off its square. Place this yellow man in the centre of a square occupied by a black man, and take the black man off its square. Place this black man in the centre of a square occupied by another yellow man. Proceed thus, till all the men on the Board are in the centres of squares, and you have one black man in hand, which of course you place on the square indicated by the card-marker.

Rule 5 serves to prevent the Mark from being so set that he, who set it, is absolutely certain to get his men in first—which certainly would rob the Game of much of its interest. In playing for a final 3-square Rendezvous, the mere setting of the Mark would, but for this Rule, decide the Game.