====== King & Courtesan ======

Get your king to the other side of the board while safely "hiding" it among your other pieces.

  * Designer: Mark Steere, 2022
  * King & Courtesan [[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/413118/king-and-courtesan|at BoardGameGeek]]
  * King & Courtesan [[https://www.marksteeregames.com/King_and_Courtesan_rules.pdf|at Mark Steere Games]]

===== Rules =====

**//King and Courtesan//** is a two-player game played on a 6x6 (or 7x7...) checkerboard rotated 45 degrees. So the first “row” is a single square, the “home square”. All 36 squares are in the game.

A red “king” (stack of two like-colored checkers) occupies Red’s home square. Rows 2, 3, 4 and 5 are filled with 14 “courtesans” (singletons). Blue mirrors Red’s setup across the board. A 7x7 checkerboard would have the first 6 rows filled, etc.

You win by getting your king into the enemy home square, or killing the enemy king. Draws cannot occur.

==== Play ====

Players make one move per turn, starting with Red. There are three possible types of moves, explained below. Players will always have a move available, and must make one. Passing is not allowed.

  * //Non-capturing moves:// Kings and courtesans can move to an adjacent, unoccupied square in any of the three forward directions.
  * //Capturing moves:// Kings and courtesans can move to an adjacent, enemy occupied square in any of eight directions, capturing the enemy king or courtesan by replacement.
  * //Exchange move:// You can transfer the top checker of your king onto an adjacent, friendly courtesan in any of the three forward directions, thus exchanging king and courtesan.

===== Further details =====

==== Version history ====

  * Current engine version: ''20230702'' (2023-07-02). On Abstract Play since 2023-07-02.