Chinese checkers board

We use a \foreach loop that takes the number of positions in each row as the loop list. For the standard chinese checkers boards, that could look like \foreach \m [count=\count] in {1,…,4,13,12,…,9,10,11,…,13,4,3,…,1}.

If you systematically name the nodes you create in this loop, you’ve got a very nice framework for drawing Chinese Checkers setups and moves. I’ve written a couple of macros and styles for this.

The command \checkerboard[checkerboard labels] will draw a blank board with the fields labeled –.

We can then place pieces using

\placepieces[]{}

and show moves using

\showmove{}

\documentclass[tikz,border=10pt]{standalone}
\usetikzlibrary{backgrounds,decorations}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}

\newif\ifcheckerboardlabels
\tikzset{
    pieces/.style={
        fill,
        circle,
        minimum size=0.5cm
    },
    positions/.style={
        fill=black!5, draw=gray,
        solid,
        circle,
        minimum size=0.6cm,
        inner sep=0pt,
    },
    checkerboard labels/.is if=checkerboardlabels,
    checkerboard labels/.default=true,
    move/.style={
        -latex,
        densely dashed,
        very thick,
        bend right=45
    }
}

\newcommand{\checkerboard}[1][]{
    \begin{scope}[#1]
        \foreach \m [count=\count] in {1,...,4,13,12,...,9,10,11,...,13,4,3,...,1}{
            \foreach \n in {1,...,\m}
                \node at (\n-\m/2,\count) [
                    positions,
                    name=pos-\count-\n,
                    outer sep=0.5cm,
                    label=center:{\ifcheckerboardlabels \count-\n\fi}] {};
        }

        \begin{pgfonlayer}{background}
            \draw [gray,thick,rounded corners=0.4cm,fill=yellow!30] (pos-1-1.240) -- (pos-5-5.240) -- (pos-5-1.240) --
                (pos-5-1.180) -- (pos-9-1.180) -- (pos-13-1.180) --
                (pos-13-1.120) -- (pos-13-5.120) -- (pos-17-1.120) --
                (pos-17-1.60) -- (pos-13-9.60) -- (pos-13-13.60) --
                (pos-13-13.0) -- (pos-9-9.0) -- (pos-5-13.0) --
                (pos-5-13.300) -- (pos-5-9.300) -- (pos-1-1.300) -- cycle;
        \end{pgfonlayer}
    \end{scope}
}

\newcommand{\placepieces}[2][]{
\begin{scope}[#1]
    \foreach \checker in {#2} {
        \node [pieces,#1] at (pos-\checker) {};
    }
\end{scope}
}

\newcommand{\showmove}[2][]{
\begin{scope}[#1]
\foreach \position [remember = \position as \previousposition,count=\count] in {#2}{
    \ifnum \count=1
        \node at (pos-\position.center) [positions,black,ultra thick,fill=none] {};
    \else   
        \draw [move] (pos-\previousposition.center) to (pos-\position.center);
    \fi
}
;
\end{scope}
}

\checkerboard
\placepieces[red!75!yellow]{1-1,2-1,2-2,3-1,3-2,3-3,4-1,4-2,5-8,7-7}
\placepieces[blue!75]{17-1,16-2,15-1,15-2,15-3,14-3,14-4,13-6,11-6,10-6}

\showmove{2-1,4-3,6-8,8-6}
\showmove{17-1,16-1}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}