COMMENT ⊗   VALID 00002 PAGES
C REC  PAGE   DESCRIPTION
C00001 00001
C00002 00002	LOA was a game that was played with checkers on a chekerboard,
C00004 ENDMK
C⊗;
LOA was a game that was played with checkers on a chekerboard,
and it enjoyed a brief stint of popularity at the AI Lab.
The program plays very well against human opponents, probably because the
complicated moves make look-ahead incredibly difficult for poor humans.

The game is played with a standard checkerboard and twelve checkers
for each player.  The initial setup is as shown in the typeout
when you start the program.

The object of the game is to get all one's pieces into one
contiguous group.  Horizontal, vertical, and diagonal adjacencies
all count for this purpose.
(Does LOA stand for Lines of Action?)

Players move alternately.  A move consists of moving one piece
(of one's own color) along a row, column, or diagonal (which we
call a line here.)  The number of spaces the piece may move is
exactly equal to the number of pieces on that line, whether they
are friendly or opposing.  You may jump OVER your own piece, but
you may not jump over an opposing piece.  You may land ON TOP OF
an enemy piece to capture it and remove it from the board, but you
may not land on top of your own piece.