How to Play Checkers: Rules and Strategy

How to Set Up the Checkers Board

Checkers is played on an 8×8 board with 64 alternating light and dark squares. Only the dark squares are used. Each player starts with 12 pieces placed on the dark squares of the three rows closest to their side. The two middle rows are left empty as the battle zone.

The player with the darker pieces moves first. Players alternate turns until one player captures all opponent pieces or leaves them with no legal moves.

How Pieces Move and Capture

Regular pieces (called men) move diagonally forward one square at a time onto empty dark squares. If an opponent's piece sits on an adjacent diagonal square and the square beyond it is empty, you must jump over it — removing the captured piece from the board. Jumps are mandatory.

Multi-jumps: if another jump is available after completing one, you must continue jumping with the same piece. A single piece can capture multiple opponents in one turn.

Kinging

When one of your pieces reaches the last row on the opponent's side of the board, it is crowned a King. Kings can move both forward and backward diagonally, making them far more powerful than regular pieces.

Important: a piece that reaches the king row ends its move there, even if a jump would be available as a King. The promotion takes effect on the next turn.

Simple Strategy to Start Winning

Three principles that immediately put you ahead of most casual players:

• Control the centre — pieces in the middle exert pressure in more directions than edge pieces.
• Think before you jump — trace the full sequence before executing a capture; an exchange that leaves you exposed is often a loss.
• Keep your back row intact — advancing it early creates lanes your opponent can use to promote pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions