How to play Checkers

Checkers is played by two people on the dark squares of an 8 by 8 board. Each side starts with 12 pieces on the three rows nearest to them. You win by taking all of your opponent's pieces, or by leaving them with no legal move. Black moves first, then the players take turns.

Moving

• A regular piece moves one square diagonally forward, onto an empty dark square.
• Tap one of your pieces to pick it up. The squares it can move to light up; tap one to move there.
• Pieces never move straight ahead or sideways, and the light squares are never used.

Jumping

• If an opponent's piece is diagonally next to yours and the square right behind it is empty, you can jump over it. The jumped piece is taken off the board.
• Jumps are required. If you have a jump anywhere on the board, you must take a jump this turn. When you have more than one, you choose which.
• After a jump, if the same piece can jump again, it keeps going: a double jump or even more. Tap each landing square in turn. You do not have to pick the longest route, but you must finish the one you start.
• Regular pieces jump forward only.

Kings

When a piece reaches the far row, it is crowned and becomes a king. On a real board you stack a second piece on top; here it gets a gold crown. A king moves and jumps one square diagonally in any direction, forward or back. A piece that is crowned during a jump stops there; the turn is over.

Draws

If forty moves go by on each side with no jump and no regular piece moving, the game is a draw. The same is true when the exact same position comes up for the third time with the same player to move. In practice this happens when only a few kings are left and nobody can force a win.

Tips

1. Guard your back row. As long as your pieces sit on your own first row, the other side cannot crown there.
2. Take the center. Pieces in the middle of the board have more moves and support each other.
3. Move in pairs. A piece with a friend behind it cannot be jumped from the front.
4. Count before you trade. Trading one for one is good when you are ahead in pieces, and risky when you are behind.
5. Use the forced jump. Because jumps are required, you can offer one piece to pull an enemy piece where you want it, then jump two in return.

Today's opening

The Daily Opening starts everyone from the same first two moves, against the same computer player. Win in as few moves as you can and see how you compare. A draw beats a loss, and in a loss, every piece you took still counts. Your first try of the day is the one that counts.

Questions

Who moves first? Black, as in tournament rules. In Settings you can choose to play Red and let the computer start.

Can I take a move back? Yes, against the computer, with Undo. It takes back your last move and the computer's answer. The Daily Opening has no Undo.

How strong is the computer? Easy makes beginner mistakes. Normal looks a few moves ahead. Sharp looks much deeper and rarely gives away a piece.

Can two people play on one phone? Yes. Choose "Two on one device" and pass the phone across the table.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.