How to Play Checkers
Checkers, or draughts, is played on the dark squares of a board with twelve pieces each. You win by capturing every enemy piece or leaving your opponent with no legal move.
The rules fit in a paragraph and the strategy takes years, which is the mark of a good game.
Play CheckersHow to play
- Pieces move one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square.
- You capture by jumping an adjacent enemy piece and landing on the empty square beyond it.
- If a capture is available you have to take it, and if the landing square allows another jump you keep going in the same move.
- A piece that reaches the far row is crowned a king and can move and jump both forwards and backwards.
- You win when your opponent has no pieces left or cannot move.
Strategy
Keep your back row intact as long as you can. Those two squares stop enemy pieces being crowned, and giving them up early tends to cost the game later.
Move pieces in pairs so they defend each other. A lone piece on an open diagonal invites a double jump.
Forced captures are a weapon. Offer a piece that leads your opponent into a line where you take two back, because they have no choice but to accept.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have to jump in checkers?
Yes. If a capture is on the board you have to play it, and if the same piece can keep jumping, it must.
Can a king move backwards?
Yes. That is the whole point of being crowned, and a king is worth roughly two ordinary pieces.
What is the difference between checkers and draughts?
They are the same game. Draughts is the British name, and some variants use a bigger board with slightly different rules.