Channel Checkers

History:

Channel Checkers is an abstract strategy game for two players, designed by Mabel Howard and patented in 1890 when Mabel was 11 years old. The game is similar to Checkers, Halma, and Camelot, and sees each player attempt to crown two of its pieces king and queen on their opponent’s throne.

The game was created by Mabel Howard as a way to entertain her infirmed brother and was successfully patented in 1890 under US Patent #461,018 as a “Game Apparatus." Game design is usually not patentable, so Mabel’s application focused on general design elements of the board, such as a hinge to close the two halves shut and the theme, being a representation of the 100 Years War between the French and British. Unique to this patent and something generally not found in the text of other board game patents, Mabel provided detailed instruction on how to play her game. Ironically, despite the significant detail provided, Mabel did not mention the name for the game anywhere in the patent

The game is similar to some variations of Checkers, Halma (Chinese Checkers), and Camelot (Chivalry). The goal of each player is to move their pieces across the English Channel to their opponent’s side. Once there, they must make a pilgrimage to the corner of the Board before moving their piece to the throne, where they are crowned King or Queen. The game is won when the first player sets a King and a Queen upon either side of the channel. One of the game’s most unique mechanics, and the only way that pieces are removed from the Board, is when the channel is blocked and players cannot progress a piece through. A player may declare a shipwreck and clear the Channel to allow pieces to move freely again. 

Mabel Howard was born into a well-connected Maryland-Washington DC family. Her Father was an attorney and her Mother was from a family of socialites. Mabel would go on to marry John Henry Russell Jr, then an officer in the United States Marine Corps, in 1901. In 1902, Mabel would give birth to her only child, Roberta Brooke Russell, who herself would go on to become the prominent philanthropist Brooke Astor.

Her husband would continue to rise up through the ranks of the United States Marines, being stationed in Peking (now Beijing), China, commanding the Marine Detachment as the American Legation in 1910 to being appointed as the American High Commissioner during the American occupation of Haiti in 1922. Mabel followed her husband, and as the highest ranking American woman, led the American administration’s social scene. Her husband would eventually serve as the 16th Commandant of the Marine Corp and take residency in the Commandant’s House back in Washington DC in 1934. Mabel’s writings during this period of her life, chronicling social engagements with diplomats and gossip are preserved through her many letters, which are housed with the Brooke Astor Papers at the New-York Historical Society Library archive. 

Mabel lived to the age of 87, passing away on March 31, 1967. She is buried next to her husband in Arlington National Cemetery. 

About the model:

While looking through US Patent Office records for information on another Board game I was researching, my deep-link clicking eventually brought me to a patent for the “Game Apparatus" described in US Patent #461,018. Board games saw a surge in popularity around the turn of the 20th century, so patents for designs and novelties weren’t uncommon. However, as game mechanics themselves aren’t patentable, most applications do not usually include rules or instructions for play. However, #461,018 is unique in that it gives a complete and detailed set of rules. The game appeared similar to checkers, but played on a rectangle, with no piece capture, and a few unique mechanics and conditions for winning.

I'm sure this game must be on Board Game Geek already, right?

Wait, what is this game even called? 

Mabel Howard doesn’t give the game a name anywhere in her filing application. While it’s common for patent applications not to mention a brand or trade name for the device being patented, it feels a little ironic considering the detail given to aesthetics, theming, and the rules themselves. Surely there is some information out there somewhere. 

The more I researched the creator and her life, the more interested I became. The result is the brief write-up provided above, which became the most difficult part of this project in all honesty. While I completed the modeling portion over 4 months ago, attempting to capture a person’s life, especially where the initial interest, this board game, is such a minor footnote was the real challenge. 

Through the course of this project, I created a concise set of rules, which included resolving a few mechanical issues that weren’t originally accounted for that I found during play testing. My other major contribution is giving the game a name. An easy answer here would have been to name it after the 100 Years War, which the patent is themed after. However, in the years since 1890, there have been many, many games named after the 100 Years War. If simply for the lack of a better option, I arrived at Channel Checkers as an appropriate name for Mabel’s game, still making reference to its theming while also clearly rooting it within the checkers/draughts/halma family of games. 

Printing:

AMS/Tool Changer System:

• The game board (Board-Split): Print this section twice. 10% Gyroid

• The channels (Board-Sea): Print two of these as well. They are used to lock the board in place. 

• The Player Pieces (Player-Tokens): Print two sets in opposing colors. Each player should have 9 player pieces.

Single Extruder:

While modeling and researching this project, I upgraded to a tool changer system. The model looks best taking advantage of such a system, but most of the design decisions were still made with single head extruder systems in mind.

• The game board (Board-Split): Print this section twice. 10% Gyroid. Perform a filament change at layer 53 to create a border. 

• The channels (Board-Sea): Print two of these as well. They are used to lock the board in place. 

• The Player Pieces (Player-Tokens): Print two sets in opposing colors. Each player should have 9 player pieces.

Safety Information:

CAUTION: This game is not suitable or intended for children under 3 years of age. The game as presented may include small pieces that could pose a choking hazard for small children. Young players should have adult supervision at all times while playing.