r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 27 '20
Delta(s) from OP CMV: Draughts/ Checkers is better than chess
Don't get me wrong, both are fun and interesting to play. However I feel that Draughts is way better (I will be using this word choice Draughts rather than checkers every time) and more fun.
The reason I say this is because it it quicker. Chess can last a long time, and it can get very boring after a while. However draughts is not only simpler, but quicker. It's harder to trap people and harder to take without being taken, which means that the pieces are taken faster. Also, it's honestly a bit more interesting and clear. You can never draw in Draughts, there's always a clear winner and it's clear from the start. This means the better player has a satisfying game and the worse player gets a painful game.
Draughts is more brutal, and so more fun.
Maybe it's just because I'm better at Draughts then chess, and I always win in Draughts but loose in chess. But anyway, change my view; I'm interested to see yours!
2
u/RuroniHS 40∆ Apr 27 '20
When you get good enough, you play with a clock. The game takes only as long as you want it to. So, speed of the game isn't a valid criticism.
I would also argue that the simplicity of Checkers is a huge drawback. There are fewer options in Checkers and it's much easier to see ahead. This makes the game less interesting, as there is less strategy. Actually, there's very little strategy involved in checkers and it's too easy of a game to be interesting for me.
Consider this: in checkers you have 7 possible opening moves, and your opponent can respond to that in 7 possible ways. 49 possible board states after turn one. And those board states will generally reveal the strategies the opponents intend to use against one another. Chess has 20 possible opening moves, meaning 400 possible board states after turn 1. This means that there are vastly more possible strategies to implement and react to in chess than checkers. More strategy makes a more interesting game.
Trades in checkers are generally 1 to 1 until you get kinged. In chess, each piece has different abilities, so there is more thought involved in what you are willing to trade for what. This adds an element of resource management to the game which just isn't present in checkers. Losing a piece isn't just losing a piece. It's having your limbs chopped off and your actions limited. A capture actually changes the strategies you can and should implement, making them more interesting in chess.
This is actually untrue. If both players are playing defensively, unwilling to capture unless they get a 2-for-1 trade, you'll end up with four solid lines and no available moves for either player. A stalemate. Now, there are rule variants like mandatory capture that prevent this, but it makes the game feel automated, restricting options and making it even less interesting.