Checkers: Rules and How to Play
Checkers is a board game for 2 players that takes about 10 minutes. Pieces step diagonally forward and capture by jumping; take all of your opponent's pieces to win. Free. In-browser. No account.
Objective
Checkers — called draughts in the UK — is a two-player game played on the dark squares of an 8×8 board. Pieces move diagonally forward and capture by jumping over an opposing piece. A piece that reaches the far side is crowned a king and can move backwards too. You win by capturing all of your opponent's pieces or leaving them with no legal move.
Setup
- Two players, an 8×8 board and twelve pieces each.
- Only the dark squares are used. Place one piece on every dark square of the three rows nearest you, leaving the two middle rows empty.
- Black (the darker pieces) moves first; the other side is Red. Here the first player to sit down plays Black in the first game, and colours swap after each game.
How to play
- An ordinary piece (a man) steps one square diagonally forward onto an empty square. It never moves sideways, straight ahead or backwards.
- If an opposing piece is on the square diagonally ahead and the square just beyond it is empty, jump over it and remove it from the board.
- Capturing is compulsory: if you can jump, you must. When several captures are possible, you may choose any of them — you do not have to take the most pieces.
- If the same piece can jump again from where it lands, it must keep jumping. A multiple jump cannot be stopped halfway.
- A man that reaches the far row is crowned a king. A king moves one square diagonally in any direction and jumps forwards and backwards.
- Being crowned ends the turn, even if the new king could jump again.
- You may not pass. On your turn you must move.
Winning and scoring
- Capture all of your opponent's pieces, or leave them with no legal move, and you win. Either player may give up.
- If the same position appears three times, the game is drawn.
- If 40 moves in total pass (20 each) with no capture and no man moving, the game is drawn. This ends endgames where kings only circle each other.
Common variants
- Optional capture: many casual players treat jumping as optional. Switch off "Capture is forced" to play that way. The old "huffing" rule, where a piece that failed to jump was removed, is no longer used.
- Draws: under tournament (WCDF) rules, a draw can be claimed when neither player has advanced an uncrowned man during their own last 40 moves. Here the limit is 40 moves in total, also reset by a capture, and it applies automatically.
- International draughts is played on a 10×10 board with 20 pieces each. Men may capture backwards, kings move any distance along a diagonal ("flying kings"), and you must take the largest number of pieces.
- Pool checkers and Russian draughts keep the 8×8 board but also let men capture backwards and kings fly. In Russian draughts, a man crowned in the middle of a jump carries on jumping as a king.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the standard reference rules |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the standard reference rules)
House rules
Defaults follow the standard reference rules. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capture is forced | When a capture is available, you have to take it. Switch it off to allow any legal move instead. | On | Yes |
| Show legal squares | Mark the squares a selected piece can reach, and the enemy pieces that can be taken. | On | Yes |
| Swap who starts | Swap Black and Red after each game. | On | Yes |
| Move limit | Draw the game once this many moves have been played. For tables that want to cut a long game short. | None | Yes |
Terms
- King
- A piece that has reached the far rank. It moves and jumps in all four diagonal directions and is marked with a crown.
- Multiple jump
- Capturing several pieces in one turn with the same piece. The turn continues while the jumps do.
- Forced capture
- The rule that you must take when a capture is available. It is on by default and can be switched off as a house rule.
- Quiet move
- A move with no capture and no ordinary piece moved. Forty of them in a row make the game a draw.
FAQ
Can I decline a capture?
Not by default: when a capture is available, only capturing moves are legal. Switch off the Capture is forced house rule and any legal move becomes available again.
If two captures are available, must I take the bigger one?
No. Either one is fine. We have not added the rule that you must take the longest jump.
Do I have to keep jumping?
Yes. Once a jump sequence has begun it runs until no further jump is possible.
Can an ordinary piece jump backwards?
No — only the two directions diagonally forward. Jumping backwards is for kings.
Can I keep jumping after being crowned?
No. Reaching the far rank crowns the piece and ends the turn. The new king jumps from your next turn onwards.
What if I cannot move?
You lose, even with pieces still on the board. Being blocked in completely counts the same as being taken.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-14 · Run by Qdan, Inc.