The timeless game of diagonal moves and clever captures. Simple enough to learn in a minute, deep enough to have kept people arguing for centuries. Play it against the computer at three strengths, or hand the device back and forth with somebody sitting next to you.
The goal
Capture all of your opponent's pieces, or trap them so that they have no legal move left.
How to play
- Move diagonally. Pieces move one square diagonally forward onto the dark squares.
- Capture by jumping. Jump over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond. Captures are mandatory — if a jump is available, you must take it.
- Chain your jumps. If the same piece can keep jumping, your turn continues until it runs out of targets.
- Crown your kings. Reach the far end of the board and your piece becomes a king, free to move and capture in both directions.
Controls
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Green dot | A legal move for the piece you selected. |
| Red ring | A capture. Click it to jump. |
| Undo | Takes back your last move. |
Tap a piece and every legal move lights up, so it is impossible to make an illegal move by accident. In the side panel you can choose Easy, Medium or Hard, or switch to two-player mode and pass the device back and forth with a friend.
Everything runs on your own device. Once the page has loaded there is no server involved, no account and nothing to sign up for — which also means a dropped connection cannot interrupt a game in progress.
Game modes
| Mode | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Easy | A relaxed opponent that plays casually — good for learning. |
| Medium | Plans a few moves ahead. A fair fight. |
| Hard | Looks six moves deep and punishes mistakes. |
| Two players | Pass-and-play on the same device. |
Want to play a real person?
This board is you against the computer, or two people sharing one device. If you are after an opponent somewhere else in the world, Checkers Arena has online matchmaking, Elo ratings and a friends list — plus Brazilian, International and Turkish draughts alongside the classic 8×8 game.
Three quick tips
- Use the forced capture. Because your opponent must jump when they can, you can offer a piece to steer them into a position that sets up your own chain.
- Hold your back row. Back-row pieces stop the enemy from crowning kings. Give them up late, not early.
- Control the centre. Pieces on the edge have fewer squares to move to and are easier to trap.
Diagram a position
Want to write a position down — for a forum post, a lesson, or a puzzle you set a friend? The Checkers Diagram Maker builds any board by clicking, draws the move on it as arrows, and exports the result as PNG, WebP or SVG. The whole position travels in the link, so sharing one costs nothing and it reopens exactly as you left it.
And if you would rather play at a real table, print yourself a board: the printable checkers board puts a full-page board, cut-out pieces and one-page rules on three sheets, in colour or ink-saving black-and-white.
About the game
Checkers — draughts in Britain — grew out of the medieval game Alquerque when players moved its pieces onto the chessboard around the twelfth century. The 8 by 8 game was weakly solved by computer in 2007: with perfect play from both sides it is a draw.
The rules in full
Checkers rules and strategy covers the whole game — forced captures, kings, the opening principles, and the endgame patterns that decide most club games.
