Gorgon is a surprisingly solid 8x8

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over  the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #18.

Gorgon is a 2001 design from Chris Huntoon which is certainly part of the broader checker family.

I would be remiss if I did not start here with a big tip of the chapeau to Huntoon whose design efforts will pop up again before Project 8x8 & 48 comes to its end. While not a lot of designers seem focused on the checker-game and its potential, Huntoon has done just that and he has created some very interesting games as a result.

In Gorgon each player starts with 16 ‘Gorgons’ – yes just common checkers - eight on each of the two back ranks.

On each turn a Gorgon moves diagonally forward, sliding to an adjacent empty square, again just straight old checkers at this point.

Where Gorgon ramps things up is that they may petrify an opponent’s Gorgon by jumping over it to an empty space on the other side. A petrified Gorgon is unable to move and blocks the space it occupies for the remainder of the game. This is a game changer in terms of tactics, especially as the first player who cannot move loses.

To mark a petrified piece flip it over.

The standard game is played without forced jumps, with forced jumps suggested as a variant.

Jumps may be in any of the five non retreating directions: vertically, diagonally forward, and sideways. Multiple jumps are possible.

Another interesting aspect of Gorgon in that the first and last row of the board are considered to be connected. A Gorgon leaving one edge will be re-entered at the appropriate space on the other edge.

A checker player will adapt to this game with ease, but the impact of areas of the board being blocked is fresh enough to make it a must try. Nicely done Mr. Huntoon.