Checkers Rules

Checkers Rules: The Basics

Checkers is a two-player board game played on the dark squares of an 8×8 checkerboard. The light squares are not used. Each player begins with twelve round pieces, usually called checkers, men, or pieces, arranged on the three rows closest to that player. The two middle rows start empty.

One side moves at a time. A regular piece travels diagonally forward, toward the opponent's side of the board. If an opposing piece sits diagonally next to it and the square beyond is empty, the player can jump over that piece to capture it. Captures are compulsory: when any legal jump exists, an ordinary move is not allowed.

The main goal is to leave the opponent with no pieces or no legal move. Reaching the far row crowns a regular piece as a king. Kings add backward movement, which makes them useful for defending, capturing, and stopping an opponent from crossing the board. There are also draw rules; they matter most when neither side can make progress.

This page describes American checkers, also called English draughts. International draughts is a separate game with a 10×10 board, twenty pieces per side, flying kings, and a maximum-capture rule. See the game page to play the American 8×8 version, or read checkers strategy for practical plans that use these rules.

Checkers Board Setup

Turn the board so each player has a dark square in the near-left corner. Place twelve pieces on the dark squares of the three rows nearest each player, with no pieces in the two rows between them. The board has 32 playable dark squares in total. Every legal move and jump starts and ends on one of those dark squares.

• Use an 8×8 board with alternating light and dark squares.
• Keep a dark square at each player's lower-left corner.
• Place twelve pieces on the dark squares in the three nearest rows for each side.
• Leave the central two rows empty at the start.
• Agree which color each player controls and who moves first.

WCDF equipment uses dark pieces for the side called Red in its rules; checkers notation and books often call that same side Black. In a standard red-and-white set, “Red” describes the dark pieces and “White” the light pieces. These traditional names do not guarantee that the same named color moves first in every casual game.

This website uses black and red pieces and starts with Black to move. That is the actual setup in the browser game, so follow the on-screen turn label when you play. The dark side moves first here even though WCDF tournament rules specify Red. A short illustrated guide to the layout is on the checkers board setup page, and you can play free checkers in your browser.

How Pieces Move in Checkers

A regular piece, often called a man, moves one square diagonally forward into an empty dark square. “Forward” means toward the far edge of the board where the opponent began. A man cannot move straight ahead, sideways, or backward. It cannot move onto an occupied square or a light square.

For example, a man with two empty forward diagonals may choose either one. If one destination is occupied, that diagonal is blocked. A regular move ends after one square; pieces do not slide across several empty squares. The highlighted destinations in this game show which moves are currently legal after you select a piece.

A man that reaches the farthest row becomes a king. Under WCDF rule 1.16, promotion completes that turn. The newly crowned king cannot use its backward movement during the same turn, even if it appears to have another capture. The opponent moves next.

On a later turn, a king moves one square diagonally forward or backward into an empty dark square. This is a short-range king: it steps to a neighboring square. It does not fly over open squares the way a king does in international draughts. A king remains a single piece and can itself be captured.

Capturing in Checkers (Jumping)

A capture happens when one of your pieces jumps diagonally over an adjacent opposing piece and lands on the empty square immediately beyond it. A man captures forward only. A king may capture forward or backward, always over one adjacent opponent to the next square. The jumped piece is removed from play.

Capturing is mandatory. If even one legal jump is available, you must take a capture instead of making an ordinary move. If more than one capture is available, American checkers lets you choose any legal capture. You do not have to choose the jump that takes the most pieces. This is a key difference from international draughts, where the longest capture is compulsory.

A single turn can include more than one jump. After landing, if the same piece can immediately jump another opposing piece, it must continue. Keep moving that same checker through every available jump in the sequence. You cannot stop halfway, switch to another checker, or make an ordinary move after the first jump. A piece may be jumped only once in one multi-jump sequence.

There is a difference in removal timing between the formal rule and this game. WCDF rule 1.19 says all pieces captured in a multiple jump are removed after the whole sequence is complete. This browser game removes each captured piece as its jump is made. The same checker must still finish every available jump.

WCDF rules also specify how an illegal move is handled in tournament play. Under rule 1.25, omitting a capture or stopping a multiple capture draws a caution and the move is recalled for a first offense; a later false, improper, or illegal move in that game forfeits it. Rule 1.26 says an illegal move is condoned if the opponent makes their next move. A casual browser game enforces legal destinations directly, so it does not reproduce the referee's warning process. It does not use the old “huff” practice of removing a piece as an informal penalty.

Kings in Checkers

A checker becomes a king by reaching the opponent's back row. In physical play, a second piece of the same color is commonly stacked on top to mark the crown. In the browser game, a crown symbol marks it. Promotion does not happen by passing over the far row during a capture: the man must end its turn on that row. In American checkers, if a man reaches the king row during a jump, it is crowned and the turn ends; it cannot continue jumping as a king until the opponent has moved.

Once crowned, the piece can step diagonally one square in any of the four directions. To capture, it jumps one neighboring opposing piece and lands on the empty square directly beyond it. It cannot cross a gap of empty squares or choose a more distant landing square. That “flying king” movement belongs to variants such as international draughts, not the American rules used here.

Kings are valuable because they can move backward as well as forward, but a king is not invincible. It can be trapped against the edge, forced toward an unfavorable square, or captured by a legal jump. Keep track of the opponent's available captures before moving a king into range.

How to Win a Game of Checkers

You win if the opponent has no pieces left or if every remaining piece is blocked and has no legal move on their turn. A player can therefore lose while checkers remain on the board. The objective is not simply to collect as many pieces as possible; a position that prevents the opponent from moving also wins.

WCDF rules separately list resignation, forfeiture, and failing a clock time control as ways a player can lose. This site has no resign button or tournament clock. In computer mode, play against the computer; in two-player mode, pass the same device and take turns. The game declares a winner when one side has no legal moves or no pieces. Learn the controls in how to play checkers, or open the computer game.

Draws in Checkers

WCDF rules recognize a draw when both players agree. They also allow a player to demonstrate to the referee that their next move would create the same position for the third time during the game. This is a claim-based repetition rule: a player must identify the repetition and show that the proposed move would produce it. The rule does not mean that this browser game automatically scans position history.

The WCDF 40-move rule requires two conditions during each player's previous forty moves: neither player has advanced an uncrowned man toward the king row, and no piece has been removed. This is forty moves by each player, or eighty individual turns (often called half-moves). A man advancing or a capture breaks the quiet stretch. The complete tournament wording includes procedural details about demonstrating the claim to the referee.

This game uses a simpler automatic cutoff. It counts quiet half-moves and declares a draw at 80, resetting the count whenever a man moves or any piece is captured. It does not implement the WCDF third-repetition claim, mutual agreement, referee claims, or every tournament procedure. There is no draw-offer control. For a move-by-move guide to the browser game, see the linked instructions above.

Common Rule Variations

Several games use a checkerboard and diagonal movement but differ in important ways. Confirm the variant before applying a rule from another set of instructions. This website plays American checkers only.

These are separate rule families, not optional settings on this page. When comparing checkers rules from different countries, first check the board size, king movement, and capture choice. International draughts' flying king and largest-capture requirement do not apply here. Pool checkers' backward captures by men likewise do not apply. The browser board keeps the American rules described above.

Play Checkers by the Rules

These checkers rules describe the game you can play here. Use the legal-move highlights to follow compulsory captures and multi-jumps. Start a fresh game from the checkers board, choose computer or two-player mode, and use the turn label to keep track of who moves next. For strategic examples of center play, trades, and kings, read the guide linked near the top of this page.