History of Halma
Origin: The 1880s
Halma was invented in the 1880s by George Howard Monks, an American thoracic surgeon. The name comes from the Greek word "halma" meaning "jump". It was designed as a strategy board game for 2 or 4 players on a 16×16 square board.
How Halma Works
Players start with pieces in corner triangles and race to reach the diagonally opposite corner. Movement is identical to Chinese Checkers: step to an adjacent cell, or jump over pieces in chain sequences. The original Halma allows movement in all 8 directions (orthogonal + diagonal).
From Halma to Stern-Halma
In 1892, a German inventor adapted Halma to a star-shaped hexagonal board and called it "Stern-Halma" (Star Halma). This version supported up to 6 players, used 6 directions of movement, and had a more balanced layout. It was later rebranded as "Chinese Checkers" in the 1920s.
Halma Today
While Stern-Halma (Chinese Checkers) became the more popular variant worldwide, the original square-board Halma is still played and appreciated by strategy game enthusiasts. Many consider it a deeper game due to the larger board and 8-directional movement. ChiCheckers brings both versions online.