How to play
- Choose New game to play the computer at Easy, Medium or Hard, as Dark or Light, or to play a friend on this device. Each side has 12 pieces on the dark squares, and Dark moves first.
- Tap or click one of your pieces, then the square to move it to, or drag the piece there. Pieces move one square diagonally forward.
- Capture by jumping over an opponent’s piece to the empty square beyond it. If a capture is possible, you must take it.
- After a jump, keep jumping while you can: tap each landing square in turn, or drag the piece straight to the last one. If there’s more than one way to capture, you choose.
- A piece that reaches the far row is crowned a king, marked with a crown. Kings move and capture backwards too. A piece crowned in the middle of a jump stops there.
- You win when your opponent has no pieces left or no move to make.
Checkers or draughts?
Both. The game is called checkers in the United States and Canada, and draughts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth. The rules here are the standard ones for both, also known as American checkers or English draughts: an 8 × 8 board, men that move and capture forward only, and kings that move one square at a time in any diagonal direction.
Other kinds of draughts are different games. International draughts is played on a 10 × 10 board with 20 pieces each, men can capture backwards, and kings fly along the diagonals. Russian, Brazilian and Turkish draughts each have rules of their own.
Captures are compulsory
If you can capture, you must, and the game only lets you choose pieces that can. When a jump lands where another capture is possible, the same piece must carry on jumping until no capture is left, so one move can take several pieces.
When there are several captures to choose from, you may take any of them. You don’t have to take the most pieces, but you must finish the sequence you start. The old huff rule, where a piece that failed to capture was removed, isn’t part of the modern game, and isn’t needed here because a capture can’t be missed.
Playing the computer
Easy looks at its move and your reply, and doesn’t always choose its best move. Medium looks six turns ahead, counting yours and its own. Hard thinks for up to a second and a half and looks as far ahead as it can in that time, usually much further. Your side is always at the bottom of the board.
Undo takes back your last move and the computer’s reply. A game you win after using undo counts separately in your statistics, as a win with undo.
Draws
The game is drawn when the same position comes up for the third time with the same player to move, or when both players make 40 moves each without a capture or a man moving.
The move list
Below the board, Move list shows the game so far in standard checkers notation. The dark squares are numbered 1 to 32, starting from Dark’s side, so Dark’s pieces begin on 1 to 12 and Light’s on 21 to 32. A move is written from square to square, such as 11-15. A capture uses an x, and a multi-jump names every landing square, such as 1x10x17. Each row is one turn: Dark’s move, then Light’s.
The last move is marked on the board with a dashed outline. Turn it off with Show the last move.
Keyboard
| Arrow keys | Move around the board |
|---|---|
| Enter or Space | Choose a piece, then each square to move it to |
| Esc | Cancel the piece you chose |
Playing on a phone
Tap Play and the board fills the screen. Tap a piece and then its square, or drag it. Statistics, the move list and the last-move switch are below the board when the game isn’t filling the screen.
Accessibility
The board can be played with the keyboard alone and with a screen reader. Squares are read out by their numbers, 1 to 32, with what’s on them, and every move is announced, the computer’s included. Kings carry a crown, so they don’t depend on color, and the pieces glide only if your device allows motion.
Your game is saved
The game is saved in this browser after every move, so you can close the tab and carry on later. Your statistics for each level are kept in this browser too. Nothing is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser’s site data removes them.
Questions
Who moves first in checkers?
Dark. In printed rules the sides are usually called Black and White, and Black, the darker side, moves first. Against the computer you can choose to play Light and let it start.
Can a man capture backwards?
No. In checkers and English draughts a man moves and captures forward only. Once it’s crowned it can do both in every direction.
Why can’t I move the piece I tapped?
Most often because another piece can capture, and a capture is compulsory. The pieces that can capture are marked, and the line under the board explains why. A piece can also simply have no square to move to.
Can I beat the computer on Hard?
Yes, but it takes care. Hard rarely leaves a piece to be taken, so wins come from position: keep your back row while you can, hold the center, and trade pieces only when you’re ahead. It has no opening book or endgame tables, only what it can work out in a second and a half.
Does the computer play the same way every time?
No. When several moves look equally good it picks one at random, and Easy often chooses a weaker move on purpose, so no two games run the same.
Can two people play on one phone?
Yes. Choose Two players in New game and pass the device between turns. Dark is at the bottom of the board, and games between two players don’t count in your statistics.
More to play
- Sudoku: Fill the grid so every row, column and box holds 1 to 9.
- Queens Puzzle: Place one queen in every row, column and colored region.
- Minesweeper: Open every square without a mine. The numbers tell you where they are.
- 2048: Slide the tiles and join equal numbers. Can you make 2048?
- Double Drop: Drop numbered blocks into five columns. Equal blocks join and set off chains.
- Memory Match: Turn over two tiles at a time and find every matching pair.
- Snake: Steer the snake to the food and grow longer. Don’t hit the wall or your tail.
- All games
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