Game apparatus and method of play

A method of playing a game comprising:

• establishing, on a physical game board, a playing field marked with a two-dimensional array of spaces representing allowable positions for markers, said allowable positions being arranged in mutually perpendicular rows and columns, the field having at least eight rows and at least five columns, the playing field having first and second opposite ends to which the columns are-perpendicular;
• setting up first and second groups of movable markers on said playing field in a starting arrangement, the first group being associated with a first player and the second group being associated with a second, opposing, player, the markers of the first group being distinguishable from the markers of the second group, the markers of the first group being disposed in a pattern consisting of a number of markers in successive allowable positions in a first row closer to one of said opposite ends than to the other, an identical number of markers in successive allowable positions in a second row adjacent said first row, the second row being closer than the first row to said other end of the playing field, each marker in the first row being in the same column as an adjacent marker in the second row, and additional markers disposed in at least one V-shaped pattern, each V-shaped pattern consisting of two oblique rows extending to the second row from an apex position spaced from the second row by at least one unoccupied space, the second group being disposed in a pattern that is a mirror image of the pattern of the first group, each apex position marker of the second group being in the same column as an apex position marker of the first group, and said .rows and V-shaped patterns of the first and second groups of markers comprising substantially all of the markers on the playing field;
• wherein the first and second players, taking alternating turns, move their own markers only in row-wise or column-wise directions, in each turn, a player either passes, giving up a turn, or selects a marker, and moves the same in one of three categories of moves, the categories consisting of (a) moving the marker to an adjacent unoccupied allowable space, ending the turn, (b) jumping over an adjacent marker into an unoccupied allowable space on the opposite side of said adjacent marker, ending the turn, and (c) jumping over an adjacent marker into an unoccupied allowable space on the opposite side of said adjacent marker, and continuing to jump one or more adjacent markers into unoccupied spaces on the opposite sides thereof;
• wherein each player removes jumped markers from the field if the jumped markers are associated with the other player;
• and
• wherein, at a mutually agreed upon time or under mutually agreed-upon conditions, the player who has jumped and removed the larger number of the opponent's markers is considered a winner.