How to play checkers: rules and winning strategy
Also known as: Draughts, Dama
Checkers rules for beginners: how pieces move and jump, why captures are compulsory, how to crown a king and the best strategy to win at draughts.
- Type
- Board game
- Players
- 2
- Age
- Ages 6+
- Play time
- 10–40 min
- Origin
- Europe, from older Middle Eastern and Mediterranean games
Checkers, called draughts in Britain and many other countries, is a two-player strategy game played on the dark squares of a checkered board. Each player has twelve round pieces and moves them diagonally forward, jumping over enemy pieces to capture them. A piece that reaches the far side becomes a king and can move backward too. The game as played today took shape in Europe several centuries ago, building on older board games. Different countries use different versions: English draughts and American checkers use an eight-by-eight board, while international draughts uses a ten-by-ten board with twenty pieces each. Checkers is often the first strategy board game children learn, and it remains a serious competitive game.
Our verdict
Checkers is quick to set up and teaches key strategy ideas such as planning, sacrifice and position. Because captures are compulsory, clever players can force their opponent into traps, which makes even simple positions interesting. A game rarely takes more than half an hour, and the same board is used for chess. It is an excellent bridge game between grandparents and grandchildren, since both can enjoy it at their own level.
What works
- Easy rules and fast setup
- Real tactics with forced captures
- Shares a board with chess
What does not
- Many drawn games at high level
- Different national rules can cause confusion
How to play Checkers (Draughts)
This guide uses the common English and American rules. The board has eight rows and eight columns. Each player places twelve pieces on the dark squares of the three rows closest to them. The player with the dark pieces usually moves first. A normal move is one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. To capture, a piece jumps diagonally over an adjacent enemy piece onto the empty square just beyond it, and the jumped piece is removed. If after a jump another jump is possible, the same piece must continue. Capturing is compulsory: if any capture is available, you must take one. When a piece reaches the opponent's back row, it is crowned as a king, usually by stacking a second piece on top. Kings move and capture diagonally forward and backward. A player wins when the opponent has no pieces left or cannot make any legal move.
Tips for new players
- Keep your back row filled for as long as possible to stop enemy kings.
- Move pieces in groups; single pieces in front are easy to capture.
- Use compulsory captures to force your opponent into a double jump for you.
- Control the centre squares, where pieces have the most options.
Good for
Checkers (Draughts): common questions
Is capturing compulsory in checkers?
In standard English and American checkers, yes. If a capture is possible, you must make one.
How do you get a king in checkers?
A piece becomes a king when it reaches the farthest row on the opponent's side of the board.
What is the difference between checkers and draughts?
They are the same family of game. Checkers is the American name, and draughts is the British name; international draughts uses a larger board.
Checkers (Draughts) belongs to its owners. Playdonya is not connected to them and does not sell this game; the cover is our own illustration.
