Section 2: Components
Required Equipment
- One game board: A Chinese Checkers board has 121 connected positions arranged as a six-pointed star. Each point is a triangle containing 10 positions in rows of one, two, three, and four. The central hexagonal field contains 61 positions.
- Playing pieces: Each participant needs a clearly distinguishable set of matching pieces. A typical six-player set provides 10 pieces in each of six colors. Some boards also provide 15 pieces per color for the common two-player large-army game.
The positions may be drilled holes for pegs or marbles, printed circles on a flat board, or any equivalent spaces that clearly show the star's diagonal lines. The rules are the same whether the playing pieces are pegs, marbles, counters, or another shape that fits the board.
Board Geometry
Every interior position connects to as many as six neighboring positions. These connections form three straight axes across the board. All steps and jumps must follow one of those board lines; pieces never move between positions that merely look close together.
The six outer triangles occur in three opposite pairs. A player's home and destination must be one such opposite pair. The central hexagon is neutral territory and may be occupied by pieces belonging to any player.
Piece Quantities
| Players | Pieces per Player | Usual Arrangement |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 10 or 15, as the set permits | Opposite triangles; a 15-piece game also fills the adjacent five-position row extending into the central field. |
| 3 | 10 | Alternating triangles, leaving one empty triangle between neighboring players. |
| 4 | 10 | Two opposite pairs of triangles, with the remaining opposite pair unused. |
| 6 | 10 | All six triangles are occupied. |
If the set's printed instructions specify a different piece count, players may use that count as long as every player has an equal army and a destination with enough positions to hold it.