Chebache®: An Educational Game Excellent for reinforcing basic math skills, while inspiring more complex thinking.
People who love playing games, perhaps do so in part, because games mimic "real life" on a smaller and self-contained level. Games offer an opportunity for learning and practicing many skills that can later be applied to ones day to day life experience. Some of these skills can be a great help in raising the odds of success throughout one's life, especially when clear, concise and even quick thinking are crucial.
Abstract strategy games not only sharpen a person's ability for clear thinking, but also provide lots of fun, challenges and reflective time as well. They provide a superb opportunity for expanding the mind's capacity for abstract thought and analysis. So, where does Chebache fit in?
Chebache is the new strategy board game which unites elements of many of the old classics, such as Checkers, Backgammon and Chess, which provides challenging new vistas for adults & children alike. It's not only fun to play, but also has great educational value. Kids these days naturally supplement formal education by learning on their own and from their extracurricular environment. Playing Chebache presents them with an excellent opportunity for learning important basic math and cognitive skills while not even realizing that they're learning.
Here are some ways in which Chebache can reinforce math skills and inspire more complex thinking while providing an exciting, dynamic and fun alternative or supplement to structured learning:
Math Skills --
Chebache can teach and reinforce the basic building blocks of mathematics by:
Life Skills --
Chebache teaches many essential skills which can help children succeed
as they grow into adults:
Family Learning --
Chebache offers fun and challenge for the entire family, adults & kids, since:
A general introduction to Chebache emphasizes both mathematical and other aspects of the game:
Movement: During each player's turn, a roll of the dice dictates the available movement for a piece or pieces along the path for that color. Since backward moves along the path of movement is allowed from Tivits with regular pieces, or from any space with the King, as well as forward movement, the basic concepts of addition and subtraction are both necessary. When deciding which piece(s) to move, the player must consider the available dice roll, and decide which combinations of additive or subtractive moves will be the most advantageous to further the desired strategy.
Stacking: Chebache allows the stacking of pieces, up to a maximum of four high, upon each space along the path of movement. On intersections, stacked pieces of one color may be sent back to Start if an equal or greater number of opposing pieces land upon them together within the same turn. Players can't move their pieces onto opponent's stacks without sending them back, so the strategic advantage of restricting an opponent's movement are important. This can also help in developing the understanding of basic concepts of ratios and fractions.
The Chebache: Additionally, Chebaches can restrict movement and make the squares and Tivits "unsafe" for an opponent's pieces. Pieces may not land in spaces threatened by an opponent's Chebache. A Chebache is formed if a player occupies
three consecutive spaces along their path, starting with an intersection. For example, intersections 3 & 5 along
with square 4 (on the black movement path)
In Chebache, there are no "safes." Pieces on Intersections or on Squares / Tivits can be sent back to Start either by attack (when the opponent's pieces land upon them) or when they are trapped by (unable to escape from) the opponent's Chebache.
Chebache and Math skill development also
go hand-in-hand. To illustrate, let's use the Chebache board, with the
black movement path
Counting: Suppose that the person playing black wants to move a piece from intersection 5 to Tivit 8, but rolls a '5' & '2' using the dice. They can first move the piece from intersection 5 to Tivit 10 (using the '5' die), then backward from this Tivit, using the '2' die, ending on Tivit 8. This example illustrates the basic equation 5-3=2 and its connection to counting, addition and subtraction.
Probability, etc.: During any given turn, there may be several options for successfully sending the opponent's pieces back to Start, either by deposing a stack of opposing pieces or by threatening them with Chebaches. These choices force players to weigh several different factors: the number of opposing pieces to send back, strategic positioning of their own pieces, and the risk factor of having their own pieces sent back. Thus, a player must assess the possible permutations and combinations of a set of available moves, to put their strategies into action. They can't predict the outcome of any given roll of the dice, but they can try to maximize the probability of being able to benefit best from a range of possible die rolls.
Visualization and Math: As Chebache players move pieces along the path, they can eventually assess the relative advantages of different moves by sight. After playing several games, players notice visual patterns associated with movements along the path instead of having to count for each move. This technique of moving allows kids to connect the concepts of counting and basic math with the concepts of visual imagery. Most advanced mathematical concepts (from algebra, to calculus, and beyond) may be grasped more easily by referring to visual models. As they form connections between the visual and the mathematical, in this way they begin to learn the techniques of algebra, geometry, graphing, and other forms of higher math, perhaps before these concepts are taught to them in school.
Chebache continually challenges players to choose between competing sets of possible alternative movements, dictated by the unpredictable outcome of die rolls. One of the challenges is to find ways to implement a desired strategy in spite of any given die roll. Players use foresight to plan ahead, while preparing backup strategies--which keeps a game of Chebache both dynamic and exciting. Choosing flexible strategies brings one through strongest and weakest situations.
Furthermore, the scarce resources (only 12 pieces, plus one or two Kings--since Kings can change sides if captured) force each player to seek a continual balance between strength and agility (i.e., "spreading out" allows more options to take advantage of die rolls; "stacking up" provides strength). These skills can all be used when tackling tougher, real-life decisions. In Chebache, there are essentially two different types of counting going on in parallel--the first involving movement and the second involving stacking.
We believe that you will find Chebache to be not only a fun, exciting and dynamic game for both children and adults, but also a valuable educuational tool for learning and reinforcing a wide variety of skills applicable to everyday life.
For a better understanding of how to play Chebache, please review our Rules/Hints page, which includes a tutorial designed in Flash with some animated examples.
Chebache® is a registered trademark of Pardee Games.
This website & all contents Copyright © 1997-2014 Pardee Games. All rights reserved.
Chebache is protected by U.S. Patent #'s 5,791,650; 6,062,562; D384,376.
Updated Sat., Jan. 18 , 16:45:42:, 2014; Q's & comments: email@example.com