How to Play Checkers

Posted on January 1st, 2009 by monsterguide

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Some people think of checkers and imagine people in a nursing home moving pieces together to pass the time. Some may even think of a game that bar patrons play before they get tipsy on the drinks for the night. Yet for all the odd things a person could think about when checkers comes into mind, it is an enjoyable, soothing, and quiet game that can challenge your strategy and tactics. If you don’t know how to play checkers, or if you want to reacquaint yourself with the game, here are some checkers-playing basics you have to know.

The Goal of Checkers

Checkers is a game usually played on a square board with 100 squares. Unlike chess, which is also played on a checkered game board, checkers is played on only one color of the checkerboard, or 50 squares of the board. The pieces are most commonly played on the dark-colored squares, but there are variations of checkers played on the white squares.

The goal of checkers is to eliminate all of the opposing player’s pieces by skipping over them. Pieces can only move one square forwards in a diagonal motion. Players take turns moving the pieces along the board during play. To capture an opponent’s piece, the player’s piece will skip over the square where the target piece is in, and the piece is captured.

A piece can move only once per turn, but a piece can move multiple times as long as it can capture pieces in an uninterrupted sequence. When a piece reaches the back row of the opponent’s side of the board, the player says “King Me!” and the piece is “promoted” by adding another disc on top of it. The piece can then move an unlimited number of squares, both forward and backward.

Equipment

To play checkers, you need the following pieces of equipment:

Checkerboard. Checkers played for sport uses a 100-square board arranged in alternating colors. A chessboard is often used to play American checkers, although the eight-by-eight checkerboard is not used for some variants of checkers. Other variants and types of checkers may use special boards meant for the game.
Playing pieces. Checkers uses light and dark colored discs. At the start of the game, 20 pieces are arranged in alternating squares on the four rows nearest the player. For checkers played on eight-by-eight checkerboards, the three rows nearest the player are filled with 15 pieces.

Types of Checkers

The kind of checkers game varies depending on the checkerboard used for the game:

International draughts is played on a board with 100 squares. International draughts is played mainly for international checkers competitions.
American checkers is played on a standard eight-by-eight chessboard. Sometimes chess pieces are used instead of checkers discs.
Brazilian draughts are played on a game board with dots and lines instead of squares, although the rules remain the same. Instead of moving along squares, the pieces move along the lines drawn on the board.
Chinese checkers is a game with a similar goal as checkers, although it is played on a star-shaped board that can accommodate up to six players. Chinese checkers is especially popular among children. The game does not actually come from China, but from a Greek game called “Halma.”

Winning Checkers

Checkers may be a simple and peaceful game to play, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be competitive. Checkers tournaments are held regularly, pitting the best players against each other to crown champions. Here are some ways that you can rack up winning streaks in checkers, and win tournaments as well:

Give up jumps, but be careful. While it’s possible to win checkers without losing pieces, the game flows best when you give up some of your pieces to a jump. Be careful not to allow your pieces to be captured with a double or a triple jump; remember that to win the game, you must have more pieces than your opponent.
Control the center. The best moves you can make at the beginning is if you move the first two pieces at the front row. If you control the center, you have more options to explore and a bigger place to make moves to capture your opponent’s pieces. Be careful not to offer a jump if your strategy does not involve losing a piece at the beginning of the game.
Move some of the pieces to the side. If you’re at a disadvantage late in the game, you may want to move some of your pieces to the side of the game board. The strategy is particularly useful if you don’t have as much pieces as your opponent, or if you haven’t kinged any pieces yet. By moving the pieces to the side, you deny your opponent the ability to get the jump on your pieces.

Checkers may not have the same excitement as a quarter of basketball or a few laps along the race track, but it is oodles of fun, and it stimulates your mind as well. With these tips to help you win checkers, you can play through checker games faster and say “King Me!” more often.