About Checkers
Checkers, also called draughts, is played on the dark squares of an 8x8 board. You command the red pieces against a computer playing black, moving diagonally, jumping to capture and racing to crown kings. Captures are compulsory, which makes setting traps a big part of the game.
How to play
- Each side starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three rows nearest them. You play red from the bottom of the board and always move first.
- Ordinary pieces move one square diagonally forward onto an empty square. They can only capture forwards as well.
- A capture is a jump over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square directly beyond it; the jumped piece is removed. If any capture is available, you must take one, though you may choose which.
- After a capture, if the same piece can jump again, it must continue jumping in the same turn.
- A piece that reaches the far row is crowned king. Kings move and capture one square diagonally in any direction. Being crowned ends the turn, even mid-jump.
- A player with no pieces left, or no legal move, loses. There is no draw rule, so a game continues until one side is stuck.
Controls
- Click or tap one of your pieces to select it, then click a highlighted square to move there. Pieces that can legally move have a light ring.
- During a multi-jump your piece stays selected; just click each landing square in turn.
- The message above the board says You must capture! whenever a jump is compulsory.
- Squares are buttons, so Tab and Enter or Space also work.
Tips and strategy
- Keep your back row occupied for as long as you can. It stops the computer from crowning kings cheaply.
- Use forced captures to your advantage. Offering one piece can pull an enemy piece into a spot where you jump two in return.
- Move in pairs and keep pieces backed up diagonally. A piece with a friend behind it cannot be jumped from the front.
- Control the centre squares; pieces on the edge have only one forward move.
- The computer looks only one move ahead and avoids landing where it can be jumped immediately. Traps that take two moves to spring are your best weapon.
Background
Games of this type have been played in Europe for many centuries, and the 8 by 8 version with compulsory captures and kings that move one square at a time is known as English draughts in Britain and checkers in North America. Other countries play related games, such as international draughts on a 10 by 10 board. In 2007 a team led by Jonathan Schaeffer announced that their program Chinook had solved checkers: with perfect play by both sides, the game is a draw.
Questions
- How strong is the computer?
- It scores each legal move by whether it captures, sets up a further jump, crowns a king, or leaves the piece open to an immediate jump, with a slight preference for advancing. It does not search deeper than that, so it can be outplanned.
- Who moves first?
- You do, with red. In many rule books the darker side moves first, so this is a small difference from tournament checkers.
- Can kings fly across the board?
- No. Kings move one square at a time, forwards or backwards, as in English draughts and American checkers.