Checkers
How to play Checkers
Kings move one square, and a man captures only forwards.
About Checkers
Checkers is played on an 8x8 board with 12 men each, and Black moves first.
Men move and capture only forwards, and kings move and capture one square at a time in any diagonal direction.
You may choose any capture, not only the one that takes the most pieces, but a capture you start must be finished. A man that reaches the far row while capturing is crowned, and its move ends there.
A game is drawn when the same position comes up three times, or after 40 moves each with no man moved and nothing captured.
The goal of Checkers
Checkers is played by two players, Black and White, each with a set of men on the dark squares of the board, and here you play against a computer player. Capture your opponent's pieces by jumping over them, and win by leaving your opponent with no legal move, either because every piece is gone or because the ones left are blocked.
How to set up Checkers
Checkers, Russian Draughts and Brazilian Draughts are played on an 8x8 board with 12 men each, on the dark squares of the three rows nearest each player. International Draughts is played on a 10x10 board with 20 men each, on the four nearest rows. Each player has a dark square in the near left corner.
The colours are drawn by lot at the start of each game. In Checkers Black moves first, and in the three draughts games White moves first.
Checkers rules
A man moves one square diagonally forwards to an empty dark square. A man that ends its move on the far row is crowned and becomes a king.
A capture jumps diagonally over an enemy piece to an empty square beyond it, and the jumped piece is taken off. Capturing is compulsory: if you can capture, you must, and a capture that can go on with another jump must go on until no jump is left.
Captured pieces come off the board only when the move ends, and no piece can be jumped twice in one move, so a piece already jumped still blocks the way.
In Checkers a man captures only forwards, and a king moves and captures one square at a time in any diagonal direction. In the three draughts games men capture backwards as well as forwards, and a king flies: it moves any distance along a free diagonal and can capture a piece at any distance, landing on any empty square beyond it. If one of those squares lets it capture again, it must land on one that does.
When several captures are possible, Checkers and Russian Draughts let you choose any of them. International and Brazilian Draughts make you take the capture that takes the most pieces, with a king counting as one piece, like a man.
How to win at Checkers
You win when your opponent has no legal move on their turn, either because all their pieces have been captured or because the pieces they have left are blocked.
A game is drawn when the same position comes up for the third time with the same player to move. It is also drawn after a long run with no man moved and nothing captured: 40 moves each in Checkers, 25 in International Draughts, and 15 in Russian and Brazilian Draughts.
The draughts games also draw some endgames after a fixed number of moves, such as three kings against a lone king, after 15 moves each in Russian and Brazilian Draughts and after 16 in International Draughts. These counts are kept for you, and the game ends by itself.
Checkers strategy tips
Keep your back row in place for as long as you can. While those men stay at home, your opponent's men cannot reach the far row to be crowned.
Because captures are compulsory, offering a piece forces your opponent's reply. A well-placed sacrifice can draw an enemy piece onto a square from which you take two or more back.
Hold the centre of the board. A piece in the middle has more squares to move to and is harder to block than a piece on the edge.
In International and Brazilian Draughts the rule to take the most pieces binds your opponent as much as you, so you can work out in advance which capture they will be made to take.
In the draughts games a king can capture from far along a diagonal, so look down every long diagonal an enemy king stands on before you leave a piece there.
Checkers questions and answers
Do you have to jump in checkers?
Yes. In every variant here a capture is compulsory: if any of your pieces can jump, you must jump, and a capture that can go on must be finished. In International and Brazilian Draughts you must also choose the capture that takes the most pieces.
Can a man move or jump backwards?
A man always moves forwards. In Checkers it also captures only forwards, but in International, Russian and Brazilian Draughts a man can capture backwards as well. Kings move and capture in every diagonal direction.
How does a piece become a king?
A man that ends its move on the far row is crowned. In Checkers a man that reaches the far row during a capture is crowned and its move ends there. In Russian Draughts it is crowned at once and goes on capturing as a king. In International and Brazilian Draughts it stays a man if it can capture on from there, and is crowned only if its move ends on the far row.
Can a king move more than one square?
Not in Checkers, where a king moves and captures one square at a time, forwards or backwards. In the three draughts games a king flies: it moves any distance along a free diagonal and captures a piece at any distance, landing on any empty square beyond it. If one of those squares lets it capture again, it must land on one that does.
Who moves first in checkers?
In Checkers Black moves first, and in International, Russian and Brazilian Draughts White does. Here the colours are drawn by lot at the start of each game, so you may play either.
What is the difference between checkers and draughts?
They are two names for the same family of games: checkers in the United States, draughts in Britain and many other countries. The game called Checkers here is the American and English game, with kings that move one square. International, Russian and Brazilian Draughts are related games with flying kings and men that also capture backwards.
Can you play checkers online with a friend?
Yes. Sign in, follow the Multiplayer link and open a table for two, choosing Checkers or one of the three draughts games, then send your friend its code or list the table in the lobby. A player who takes more than 60 seconds over a move has the computer move for them, and a player who leaves loses the game while the computer plays their side to the end.
Can you play checkers against the computer?
Yes, every Checkers page is you against a computer player, and you do not need to sign in. The menu beside New game sets it to Easy, Normal or Hard, and Undo takes back your move and the computer's reply as often as you like.