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The 3-Move Card Deck

If you need it to read this article, please print out the numbered board.

As I said in my article, Three-Move Opening List:

There are two main styles of checkers played in tournaments, Go-As-You-Please (sometimes called Freestyle or Unrestricted) and 3-Move Restriction. In Go-As-You-Please, you can make any opening moves that you want. In 3-Move, the first 3 moves (Red-White-Red) are chosen at random from a list of accepted 3-Move openings. The list contains no openings that are known losses. 3-Move is more popular in serious tournaments and matches, as it decreases the number of draws. After playing a game with one of the 3-Move openings, you play a second game with the same opening, but from the other side of the board, to even out the disadvantage of having to play a weak opening (such as the Octopus or the Skull Cracker).

The way that openings are chosen is with a deck of three-move cards. Two hypothetical cards are seen on the left. On the back of each card is a number, 1 through 6. On the front of each card are six of the 144 openings, numbered 1 through 6. An opening is chosen by picking a card at random (by shuffling or repeated cutting), and remembering the number on the back (6 in this case). Then that card is placed back into the deck and another card (maybe the same card) is chosen. In this case, we look at the openings on the front. And we choose the opening which was indicated by the previously chosen number (1-6). In this case, we end up with the opening: 11-15 22-18 15-22.

There are 144 openings, so this system gives the same odds for every opening. If there were fewer than 144 openings, as there were in the past, you might end up choosing no opening. In that case you should shuffle and start over, to retain the equal odds. If there were more openings, as there might be in the future, then there will be more cards, and probably seven numbers. Then again, you might end up choosing no opening, and should reshuffle and start over.

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