Jacquet | |
Genre: | Board game, race game, tables game |
Players: | 2 |
Movement: | parallel |
Random Chance: | Medium (dice rolling) |
Skills: | Strategy, tactics, counting, probability |
Related: | FevgaLaquetMoultezim |
Footnotes: | Features: postilion |
Jacquet is a tables game played on a backgammon-like board and which was once very popular in France and several other parts of Europe.[1] It probably emerged around 1800, but is attested by 1827.[2] In the 20th century it replaced the classic French backgammon the game of until Jacquet itself was superseded by Anglo-American games in the 1960s.[3]
Jacquet emerged around 1800 to become "the benchmark for tables games in France" gradually superseding Trictrac, the game that symbolised the Ancien Régime, and ousting it almost entirely by the end of the 19th century. The oldest known rules were published in 1818 by Lepeintre.
During the 19th century, confusion existed in French sources which sometimes equated Jacquet to Backgammon, but a distinctive feature was that the majority of pieces or men could not be moved until the first one, the courier, had reached the fourth quarter of the board. Other differences are that players start with all 15 men on their 24th point and then play in the same direction around the board.[4]
Jacquet continued to be played into the 20th century largely dying out by the 1960s. However, Jacquet boards are still marketed and, more recently, rule sets have been published in French board game compendia.[5] [6] Léchalet (1979) stated that Jacquet was still the most popular tables game in France.[7]
Players move their men around the board and then wait until they are all in the last quarter to remove them off the board. The movement of the men is based on the roll of the dice. Either two men are moved, each based on the pip count of one of the two dice; or one man is moved based on the combined pip count. The special feature of Jacquet is the obligation to bring one of the men into the last quarter of the board before the rest are moved; this man is the 'courier' or 'postilion' (postillon).[2] Once the postilion is in place, the rest may move forward. The goal of the game is to be the first player to bear all 15 of one's own men off the board.[8]
Jacquet is played on a tables board of the type used for Backgammon with the exception of any storage strip, and with 15 pieces, known as men for each player, as well as two dice. Each player places fifteen men on the nearest section of the board and to the left, called the talon ("heel"). Movement is anticlockwise. For each of the players, the first quarter (French: table) is the group of the first six points on the left half of the player's own side of the board, the second quarter is made up of the next six to the right, the third quarter is the opponent's first quarter (opposite side to the right), and the fourth quarter is the opponent's second quarter.
Players dress the board by placing their 15 men at the top right of the board i.e. on the leftmost point on their opponent's side of the board. (This starting setup was also used in Révertier). Each player then rolls a die. The player with the higher number goes first, picks up both dice and throws them for the first move. Then the players take turns rolling the dice.[9]
The rules of movement are:[9]
If unable to make a legal move, it is forfeited, i.e. any unplayable numbers are lost.
The process for bearing off the men is identical to that practised in Backgammon. Once they have entered the last quarter, they are removed from the board according to the following rules:[9]
When a player occupies six adjacent points, it causes a bouchon ("bottleneck" or "blockade") which completely blocks the progression of the adversary's subsequent men; we speak of "blocking" the passage. This bouchon can be made anywhere on the board and its purpose is to slow down the advance of the opponent. However, there are two restrictions on blocking:[9]
The first player to bear off all 15 men scores 1 point. If this is achieved before the opponent bears off a single man, 2 points are scored.[9]
A variant called Jacquet de Versailles was invented to speed up the game. The changes are:[10]
Lêchalet (1976) reprints the above rules by Moulidars but calls it Le Jacquet Rapide.[11]
Hale describes rules for a variant known as "Spanish Backgammon or Jacquet". The key variation is that, once a player has borne off all 15 men, the opponent is penalised 3 points for every man left in the first table, 2 for every man in the second, and 1 point for every man left in the last table.[12]