Excerpt from The Draughts-Player's Guide and Companion: A Guide to the Student, and a Companion for the Advanced Player The necessity for pastimes of an intellectual nature, qualified to afford relaxation to the mind and recreation and relief to the overtaxed energies of the brain, has long been admitted, and probably was never more felt than at the present time, when every pursuit of life is carried on at high pressure, to the great detriment of health and vigour. The game of Draughts is one of the most ancient of the pastimes that have been invented and brought into use with that Object, and at the same time it is the one that best fulfils the requirements in view. The rudimentary principles are so easy of acquirement, that a vast and attractive field for intellectual amusement is at once opened 'up to the learner, who soon enters into the mimic battle with zest, and with none the less enjoyment though he may not play with the skill and scientific precision of a champion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.