Halma
Halma is a famous old Victorian game in which the objective is not to capture your opponent's pieces but instead to hop over them in an effort to get to the opposite side first. "Halma" means "jump" in Greek and the game is the ancestor of a family of games including Chinese Checkers. But the game has slightly more depth than Chinese Checkers because there are 8 directions of movement instead of 6.
Click on the picture to enlarge.
Halma
is quite difficult to obtain these days and certainly there have been
no quality versions of the game since the early 1900s. We have rectified
this with our beautiful hand-made board show below.
Hand-made to our own commission by an experie
nced
Marquetry craftshop - these boards are unique to Masters Traditional Games.
For the games enthusiast or any lover of fine wooden objects, the Halma board is faced entirely with inlaid natural wood. The lines and spots are inlaid. We studied a number of antique boards to find the most elegant corner design. In the end, we weren't happy with any of the old designs which are either cluttered or ugly and we came up with our own idea that we feel is the most aesthetic of any board we have yet seen - dark spots for the inner borders and white spots for the 2 outer borders.
The board comes with 13 green and red halma pawns and 19 black and white pawns so that either 2 or 4 people can play. Board dimensions are 36 cm (14 inches) square and rules are included. This product contains small parts that represent a choking hazard for small children. Not suitable for children under 5 years old.
November 2008: Sorry; this product is suspended for the time being as our craftsman has retired. It may be reinstated in the future if we can find a replacement craftshop who can produce boards of an adequate quality.
In the meantime, we do still have sets of Halma pawns available for those who might want to make their own board. Pieces are approx. 15mm diameter, 17mm high.
Change to $  Change to  |
UK pounds (ex.VAT) |
Pounds (incl. VAT) |
Typical ETA in wkg days |
Add to basket |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Set of 64 Halma Pawns (13 black, 13 white, 19 red, 19 green) |
£8.25 | £9.49 | 2 + transit time | ||
Set of 64 Halma Pawns (19 black, 19 white, 13 red, 13 green) |
£8.25 | £9.49 | 2 + transit time | ||
For an immediate quote and ETA, add to the basket & select your location. |
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Origin of Halma
Most people consider that Halma is a Victorian British game and perhaps it was the Victorians who took to the game and made it popular. However, ironically, the best evidence found to date indicates that the Halma or Hoppity was invented by between 1883 and 1884 by George Howard Monks, an American. The game of Chinese Checkers is a later descendent of Halma made popular in America in the 1930s but actually was invented pre-1900 in Europe.
For more information on Halma and its descendent, Chinese Checkers, please see The Online Guide to Traditional Games.