Checkers
Checkers is the diagonal capture game most of us learned at a kitchen table, played here on an 8x8 board with 12 pieces per side. Your job is to take all of your opponent's pieces or leave them stuck with nothing legal to play.
The board uses a sharp black-and-white style that is easy on the eyes. It loads in an ordinary browser tab, which makes it handy on a school Chromebook. Pick a computer opponent at one of three strengths, or play a friend by taking turns on the same screen.
How to play Checkers
Black makes the first move. A regular piece, or man, slides one dark square diagonally forward and never retreats.
You capture by hopping over an enemy piece that is diagonally adjacent, as long as the square past it is empty. Keep hopping if another capture lines up from the new square. You only need to tap where the chain finishes, and every jump in it happens together. Captures are mandatory, so a plain move is off the table whenever a jump exists.
Reach the opposite end of the board and your man becomes a king, which can move and jump in both directions. A side with no pieces, or no legal move on its turn, loses. Against the computer you choose black or white, and Undo returns you to the start of your previous turn.
Controls
| Action | Keyboard | Mouse | Touch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move | Arrow keys to a square, Enter to select | Click a piece, then the landing square | Tap a piece, then the landing square |
| Choose a mode | — | 2 Player (local) or vs Computer | 2 Player (local) or vs Computer |
| Begin a computer game | — | Set color and level, click New game | Set color and level, tap New game |
| Take back | — | Click Undo | Tap Undo |
| Show the mode buttons mid-game | — | Click Menu | Tap Menu |
Tips
- Leave your back row alone for as long as you can. While those squares are occupied, the computer cannot sneak a man through to be crowned.
- Because jumps are forced, you can bait the computer. Offer one piece so that its only capture lands it where you get a double jump back.
- Central squares give a man two ways forward, while an edge piece has one. Fight for the middle early.
- Advance pieces in pairs. A man with a friend right behind it on the diagonal cannot be jumped from that direction.
- In a thin endgame, kings decide everything because they can back away. Count how many moves each side needs to crown before you trade.
If you like Checkers, try these
KonaneJumping captures are every move in this Hawaiian stone game, and you lose once you have no jump left.
FanoronaCapturing works by approach or retreat in this game from Madagascar, so a single move can take a whole line.
Questions
Do you have to jump in Checkers?
In this version, yes. If any capture is available on your turn you must take one, and a chain of jumps continues as long as more captures are possible.
Can Checkers kings move backward?
Yes. A man that makes it to the last row gets crowned, and from then on it can move and capture diagonally in all four directions. Regular men only go forward.
Will my Checkers game still be there if I refresh?
It should be. The current game is saved in your browser's local storage and reloads with the page, unless you are in a private window or have cleared site data.
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