Board Games guide
How to play Checkers: rules, kings and beginner strategy
Checkers, known in Britain as draughts, is a game for two on an 8×8 board. Each player has twelve men that move one square diagonally forwards on the dark squares and capture by jumping over a piece into the empty square behind it. Jumps are compulsory, a man that reaches the far row becomes a king that can also move backwards, and you win by leaving the other player with no legal move.
What you need
Two players, a board of 8×8 squares and twelve pieces each, one set dark and one light. Only the dark squares are used.
This guide describes English draughts, the game Americans call checkers and tournament players call straight checkers. It is not the same as international draughts, which is played on a 10×10 board with twenty men each, kings that fly any distance along a diagonal, and men that may capture backwards.
Setting up
- Turn the board so that each player has a dark square in the corner on their left.
- Place your twelve men on the dark squares of the three rows nearest you.
- Leave the two middle rows empty.
- Dark moves first. After that the players take turns, one move each.
Moving and jumping
- A plain move: slide one man one square diagonally forwards onto an empty dark square.
- A jump: if a piece of the other side is diagonally in front of your man and the square straight beyond it is empty, jump over it and take it off the board.
- Keep jumping: if the same piece can now jump again, it must. One move can take several pieces.
Three points catch beginners out:
- Jumping is compulsory. If any of your pieces can capture, you have to capture. You cannot make a plain move instead.
- You choose which jump. With several captures on offer you may take any of them, and at a fork in a multiple jump you may take either branch. English draughts has no rule that you must take the most pieces. Whichever route you pick, you must follow it to its end.
- Men capture forwards only. A man never moves or jumps backwards.
Kings
When a man reaches the row furthest from its owner it is crowned: a second piece is stacked on it, or on a screen it is marked with a crown. The move ends at once, even if the new king could jump from where it stands.
A king moves one square diagonally in any of the four directions and captures the same way, forwards or backwards. It still moves only one square at a time. Kings can be captured like any other piece.
Worked example
Your man jumps a light man and lands on the far row. It is crowned and your turn is over, although a second light man now sits diagonally behind it with an empty square beyond. On your next turn, if that capture is still there, the king must take it, because jumps are compulsory.
Winning and drawing
| Position | Result |
|---|---|
| A player has no pieces left | That player loses |
| A player has pieces, but none of them can move | That player loses |
| Neither side can make progress | A draw |
Both ways of losing are the same rule: if it is your turn and you have no legal move, you have lost.
Draws are common between good players, usually when each side has a king or two and nobody can force a capture. On Yuzool the game is declared drawn after 40 moves each with no capture and no man moved.
Strategy for beginners
- Hold your back row. While your men stand on your first row the other player cannot be crowned there. Move them last.
- Fight for the centre. Pieces in the middle of the board reach both sides; pieces on the edge are safe from capture but do little.
- Advance together. A man with a friend diagonally behind it cannot be jumped from the front. A man alone in front of the others is a target.
- Look for two for one. Because jumps are forced, you can give up a man to drag a piece onto a square where you then take two.
- Get a king first. One king behind the other side's men can attack them from where they cannot defend.
- Trade when ahead. Each even exchange makes an extra piece count for more.
- Moving the back row early and letting a man through to be crowned.
- Forgetting that a jump is forced, and walking into a capture you did not have to offer.
- Pushing every man to the edges, where they cannot help each other.
Common variations
| Variation | What changes | On Yuzool |
|---|---|---|
| Captures are optional | The old kitchen-table rule: you may choose not to jump, with no penalty. | A Pro rule option |
| Men capture backwards | A man still moves forwards only, but may jump in any diagonal direction. | A Pro rule option |
| Flying kings | A king slides any number of squares along a diagonal, as in international draughts. | Not offered |
| The 10×10 board | International draughts: twenty men each, and you must take the most pieces you can. | Not offered |
Questions
Do you have to jump in checkers?
Yes. In the standard rules a capture is compulsory whenever one is available, and a piece that can go on jumping must do so.
Can a man jump backwards?
No. In English draughts a man moves and captures forwards only. Kings move and capture in both directions.
Can you jump two pieces at once?
Not in a single leap: there must be an empty square behind each piece you jump. You can take several pieces in one move by jumping them one after another.
What happens when a piece reaches the other side?
It is crowned a king and the move ends. From its next move it can go one square diagonally forwards or backwards.
Are checkers and draughts the same game?
Checkers is the American name for English draughts, the 8×8 game described here. International draughts is a different game on a 10×10 board.