How to play Checkers
Each player starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares. You control red and move up the board; your opponent moves down. Pieces slide one square diagonally forward. To capture, jump diagonally over an opponent's piece into the empty square beyond — and if another jump is available with the same piece, you must keep jumping. Captures are mandatory: if you can jump, you must. Reach the far side to crown a piece a king, which can move and jump in all four diagonal directions. Win by capturing all your opponent's pieces or leaving them with no legal move.
Tips & strategy
- Control the center. Central pieces have more options and are harder to trap.
- Keep your back row intact early. It stops the opponent from crowning kings.
- Trade when ahead. If you have more pieces, swapping evenly increases your advantage.
- Bait and punish. Since captures are forced, you can offer a piece to set up a bigger multi-jump in return.
About the game
Checkers — known as draughts in much of the world — is one of the oldest board games still played today, with ancestors reaching back thousands of years. Simple enough for a child to learn in minutes, it hides real strategic depth, which is why it was one of the first games ever "solved" by computers.