How to play Checkers
- The board has 8 rows of 8 squares, and the game is played only on the dark squares. Each player starts with 12 pieces on the three rows nearest them: Orange at the bottom, Purple at the top.
- Players take turns. Orange goes first in the first round, then the first move switches every round.
- A plain piece moves one square diagonally forward to an empty dark square.
- To capture, jump diagonally over a rival piece next to yours onto the empty square just beyond it. The piece you jumped over is taken off the board.
- Jumping is a must. If you can capture, you have to. When several captures are possible, you choose which one.
- After a jump, if the same piece can jump again, it keeps jumping in the same turn. One piece can take two, three or even more pieces in a row.
- When a piece reaches the far side of the board it is crowned a king. Kings move and jump diagonally forwards and backwards. If a piece is crowned in the middle of a jump, its turn ends there.
- You win when your rival has no pieces left or cannot make a move.
Controls
| Device | How to play |
|---|---|
| Phone or tablet | Tap one of your pieces, then tap the square to move to. For a double jump, tap each landing square in turn. |
| Mouse | Click a piece, then click where it should go |
| Keyboard | Press Tab to reach a piece, Enter to pick it, Tab to a highlighted square and Enter to move. Esc puts the piece back. |
Pieces that must jump glow yellow, and dots show every square the selected piece can reach, so you never need to remember the jumping rule yourself.
Computer levels
The computer sees only the board, just like you. It plays better by thinking further ahead, never by cheating.
| Level | How the computer plays |
|---|---|
| Easy | Looks two moves ahead and often makes a careless move. Good for learning the rules. |
| Medium | Looks four moves ahead. It spots simple jumps but still slips up. |
| Hard | Looks seven moves ahead, and always follows a chain of jumps to the end. |
| Expert | Thinks as far ahead as it can in about a second. Very hard to beat. |
Tips to win
- Keep your back row. While your pieces still sit on the row nearest you, your rival can't crown a king easily. Move those last.
- Hold the middle. Pieces in the centre of the board have more ways to move and are harder to trap than pieces on the edge.
- Move in pairs. A piece with a friend right behind it can't be jumped from the front, because there is no empty square to land on.
- Use the forced jump. Because jumping is a must, you can offer one piece on purpose so that your rival's jump lands where you can take two back.
- Swap when you're ahead. If you have more pieces, trading one for one brings you closer to winning. If you're behind, avoid trades.
- Get a king early. A king can attack from behind and chase down the last pieces. In the endgame, kings decide the game.
How a game can end in a draw
When only kings are left, both players can sometimes move around forever. To stop that, the round is a draw if 40 moves each go by with no capture and no plain piece moving forward. Shuffling kings back and forth does not count as progress.
About Checkers
Checkers is the American name for the game that is called draughts in Britain. Games with jumping captures on a checkered board have been played in Europe for centuries, and the rules used here, with 12 pieces each on an 8×8 board and kings that move one square at a time, are the standard English draughts rules. In 2007, a research team at the University of Alberta led by Jonathan Schaeffer showed with their program Chinook that checkers ends in a draw if both sides play perfectly. Lucky for us, people don't.
Questions
Is Checkers free to play?
Yes. It's free in your browser, with no download and no sign-up. There are never ads during a game.
Can two people play on one device?
Yes. Choose 2 Players and take turns on the same screen. Orange plays from the bottom and Purple from the top, so you can sit facing each other with a tablet flat on the table.
Do I have to jump?
Yes. If any of your pieces can capture, you must capture. The game only lets you choose from the jumps, and those pieces glow so you can see them.
What is the difference between checkers and draughts?
They are the same game with different names. Some countries play other kinds of draughts on bigger boards, such as international draughts on a 10×10 board, where kings can fly across many squares. This game uses the 8×8 rules.
Updated 2 November 2026