Chinese checkers finishers. The rules are simple, so even young children can play. Despite its name, the game is not a variation of checkers, nor did it originate in China or any part of Asia (whereas the game 象棋 "xiangqi", or "Chinese chess", is from China). The game was invented in Germany in 1892 under the name "Stern-Halma" as a variation of the older American game Halma. The "Stern" (German for "star") refers to the board's star shape (in contrast to the square board used in Halma). The name "Chinese Checkers" originated in the United States as a marketing scheme by Bill
Chinese checkers and Jack Pressman in 1928. The Pressman company's game was originally called "Hop Ching Checkers". The game was introduced to Chinese-speaking regions mostly by the Japanese. The aim is to race all one's pieces into the star corner on the opposite side of the board before opponents do the same. The destination corner is called "home". Each player has 10 pieces, except in games between two players when 15 are used. (On bigger star boards, 15 or 21 pieces are used.) In "hop across", the most popular variation, each player starts with their colored pieces on one of the six