About Checkers
Checkers, called draughts in Britain, is one of the oldest board games there is: two players, twelve pieces each, moving diagonally on the dark squares of an 8×8 board. Jump an opponent's piece to capture it, reach the far side to crown a king, and win by capturing every opposing piece or leaving your opponent with no legal move.
You can play two versions here. English checkers is the standard game in the US and Britain, with short-range kings. Russian checkers uses the same board and pieces, but ordinary pieces can capture backwards and kings fly along the diagonals, which makes it faster and far more tactical.
English and Russian rules side by side
| Rule | English | Russian |
|---|---|---|
| Who moves first | Red | White |
| Ordinary pieces move | One square diagonally forward | One square diagonally forward |
| Ordinary pieces capture | Forward only | Forward and backward |
| Kings move | One square, any diagonal direction | Any distance along a clear diagonal |
| Crowned during a capture | The turn ends | The piece keeps capturing, as a king |
| Captures | Compulsory, any route | Compulsory, any route |
| Draw by no progress | 40 moves each without a capture or ordinary-piece move | 15 moves each in the same situation, plus limits for small endings |
| Rules followed | WCDF English draughts | IDF draughts-64 |
In both versions you may choose any capture route: you do not have to take the one that captures the most pieces.
How to play
- Choose English or Russian with the rules switch. Changing rules starts a new game.
- Select a piece, then one of the marked squares to move it to.
- When you have a capture, the pieces that can jump are highlighted and ordinary moves are disabled. You must capture.
- After a jump, keep going with the same piece while it can jump again.
- A piece that reaches the far row becomes a king. In English rules that ends the turn. In Russian rules, if it got there during a capture, it carries on capturing as a king.
- Win by taking all your opponent's pieces or leaving them with no legal move.
Russian checkers in more detail
Three rules change the feel of the game:
- Backward captures. An ordinary piece can jump backwards, so a piece that has advanced is never completely out of the fight.
- Flying kings. A king moves any number of squares along an open diagonal and can capture a piece from a distance, landing on any empty square beyond it. One king can control the whole board.
- Captured pieces block until the turn ends. During a multi-jump, the pieces you have already jumped stay on the board until the move is complete, and you cannot jump the same piece twice. That can cut a long capture short.
Draws
A game is drawn when the same position comes up three times with the same player to move. In English checkers it is also a draw after 40 moves by each player with no capture and no move by an ordinary piece. In Russian checkers the limit is 15 moves each, and shorter limits apply in endings with very few pieces left.
The computer: Easy, Medium and Hard
Easy makes mistakes you can learn to spot. Medium looks ahead and punishes loose pieces. Hard searches deep and rarely gives anything away. All three play both rule sets and run in your browser.
English checkers is a solved game: with perfect play from both sides it is a draw. Hard is not perfect, but a draw against it is a good result, and a win is something to show off.
Play a friend
Choose the rules first, then Play with a friend, and create a room. Your friend gets the same rules, which stay fixed for the room and its rematches. Colours and the first move switch after each rematch. The room keeps both seats and a jump in progress for 24 hours, so a lost connection does not lose the game.
Tips
- Keep your back row as long as you can. Pieces on it stop your opponent from crowning a king.
- Control the centre. Pieces in the middle of the board have more moves and are harder to trap.
- Move in pairs. A piece with a friend behind it on the diagonal cannot be jumped from that side.
- Use forced captures. Offering one piece can force a jump that sets up a double jump for you.
- In Russian checkers, guard the long diagonal. A flying king on the main diagonal, corner to corner, is often enough to win an ending.
More in how to win at checkers.
Scoring
Wins and draws are counted in the current match against the computer or in a private room. Checkers is not ranked on a global leaderboard.
