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Checkers on an 8×8 board with the English draughts rules (as played by the American Checker Federation and the English Draughts Association): twelve pieces a side, mandatory captures, multi-jumps and crowning. Play the computer on four levels, or another person on the same device.

Play Checkers Full guide

How to play

If you learned a different variant, note the differences: here men only capture forwards, kings move one square at a time (they don’t “fly” along the diagonal) and you must capture, but you don’t have to choose the longest capture.

Controls

Move: Tap one of your pieces (those that can move have a ring), then the destination square
Multi-jump: Tap each landing square in turn; the piece stays locked until the chain is done
Keyboard: Arrow keys to move around the board; Enter or Space selects; Escape drops the piece (if the chain hasn’t started)
Options: Mode (vs computer or two players), level and which colour you play

Modes and options

Easy: Looks two moves ahead and sometimes slips on purpose. Good for learning the rules.
Normal: Calculates four moves and rarely gives pieces away. Punishes simple oversights.
Hard: Calculates six moves, follows captures to the end and values the centre, the back row and kings.
Expert: Searches deeper (up to nine moves, within a time budget) and makes no random mistakes.
Two players: Two people on the same device, taking turns. Stats count finished games.

Rules

Play is on the dark squares. Each side starts with 12 men on its first three rows. Dark moves first.
A man moves one square diagonally forwards, onto an empty square.
To capture, a man jumps over an adjacent enemy piece diagonally forwards and lands on the empty square beyond. The jumped piece is removed.
If after a jump the same piece can capture again, it must keep jumping until it can’t. You can’t stop a chain halfway.
Capturing is mandatory: if any of your pieces can capture, you must make a capture. If there are several, you choose which (it needn’t be the one that takes the most pieces).
A man that reaches the far row is crowned and becomes a king: from then on it moves and captures backwards too, one square at a time. If it’s crowned in the middle of a capture, the move ends there.
You win by leaving your opponent with no pieces or no legal moves. It’s a draw if both sides make 40 moves each without a capture or a man moving, or if the same position comes up three times.

Strategy

The forced capture is the game’s main weapon: giving up a man can force your opponent to jump onto a square from which you take two. Look for these “shots” in your moves and, above all, in your opponent’s.

Kings are worth far more than men because they can go back. Crowning first often decides the game, but a lone king doesn’t win: it needs its men to trap the enemy pieces.

Go deeper

Checkers guide: rules, openings and how to beat the computer

Tips

Don’t empty your back row in a hurry: while there are men on it, your opponent can’t crown.
The centre matters: a man on the central squares controls more diagonals and is harder to surround.
Before moving, check which forced capture you’re handing your opponent. Many losses come from a forced sacrifice.
When you’re ahead on pieces, trade: every one-for-one exchange brings the ending closer and leaves your opponent with fewer resources.

Common mistakes

Moving without checking which forced capture you hand your opponent: a man given away can cost you two in reply.
Emptying your back row early: with no defenders behind, your opponent crowns in a few moves.
Pushing a lone man down the edge: it gets isolated and is easy to capture or trap.
When ahead, shuffling kings instead of trading or pushing men: after 40 moves without a capture or a man moving, it’s a draw.

Mechanics

The tags that describe Checkers. Those with a page lead to similar games.

Glossary

Draw: A game nobody wins. In chess it comes from stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule, insufficient material or agreement; in Tic Tac Toe, when the board fills with no line; in checkers, after 40 moves each without a capture or a man moving, or by threefold repetition.
Forced capture: A checkers rule: if any of your pieces can capture, you must capture. Under English rules you choose which capture to make, but the one you choose is completed to the last jump.
King (crowning): A checkers man that reached the far row and was crowned: from then on it can move and capture backwards too. Under English rules it moves one square at a time.
Shot: In checkers, giving up a piece on purpose so that your opponent, forced to capture, ends up losing more pieces. The most common is the two-for-one.

See the full glossary

FAQ

Why can’t my men capture backwards?: Because in English draughts only kings capture backwards. It’s one of the differences from Spanish, Italian, Russian or international draughts.
Do I have to take the most pieces?: No. Capturing is mandatory, but if there are several captures you can choose any. The one you choose must be completed to the last jump.
When is it a draw?: When both sides make 40 moves each with no capture and no man moving, or when the same position, with the same side to move, appears three times.
Does the computer cheat?: No: it plays by the same rules, searching moves with minimax and alpha-beta pruning. On Easy and Normal it adds deliberate mistakes to feel more human.
Where are my games saved?: In your browser: the game in progress (resumed when you come back), your history and your stats by level, captures and crownings.

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