Chinese Checkers: Rules and How to Play
Chinese checkers is a game for 2–6 players, about 20 minutes. By default, finish when the opposite goal is full and at least one peg is yours. Free. In-browser. No account.
Objective
Chinese checkers — known in Japan as Diamond Game and elsewhere as Sternhalma — is a board game for 2 to 6 players on a six-pointed star board. Move your pegs one step at a time, or jump them over neighbouring pegs to cross the board faster, and be the first to fill the point opposite your own.
Setup
- The board is a six-pointed star. 2 to 6 players each fill one point of the star with 10 pegs of their own colour.
- Turns go clockwise, starting with whoever sat down first. The starting player rotates to the next seat each time you play again.
How to play
- On your turn, move exactly one of your pegs: step it into an empty neighbouring hole, or jump it over an adjacent peg (yours or an opponent's) into the empty hole just beyond.
- A peg that can keep jumping may chain as many jumps as it likes in a single turn — but a turn can't mix a single step with a jump.
- Each jump in a chain can bend into a new direction, so a single turn might jump one way and then turn to jump another.
- Jumped pegs are never captured; they stay on the board.
- Pegs may pass freely through anyone else's point of the star, not just their own.
- If you have no legal move, your turn is skipped automatically.
Winning and scoring
- Fill the point directly opposite your own with your pegs and you finish — as soon as every hole in your goal is occupied and at least one of them is yours, even if opponents' pegs remain there.
- With three or more players, play continues after someone finishes until everyone's place is settled (a setting can switch this off, ending the game at the first finish).
- If nobody finishes within the move limit, the game is drawn. If play grinds to a halt with no progress for a long stretch, places are instead decided by how far each player got — pegs already home first, then the shortest remaining distance.
- You may resign at any time. With two players your opponent wins outright; with more, you simply drop to last place and the rest of the game continues.
- Switch the settings to the Japanese Diamond Game variant to play the 2–3 player version with 15 pegs and a king.
Common variants
- The Japanese Diamond Game variant (2–3 players) gives each side 15 pegs — 14 ordinary pieces plus one taller king — and adds the six border cells next to the hexagon to each camp. Pegs may not enter another colour's point, and you're only home once your king peg sits on the tip of your goal point.
- Five-player games sit outside the traditional rules — one player ends up with no seat directly opposite them — but BoardGameJoin still lets five people play if they want to.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 2–6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rule setRule setThe king is a special peg, one per player, that can jump a whole straight row of pegs at once. No peg may jump over a king. In the Japanese variant your king must also reach the tip of your goal to finish, and pegs may not enter other colours' camps. With four or more players the standard rules are used. | Choose the internationally common rules (10 pegs, no king, 2–6 players) or the Japanese variant (Diamond Game: 15 pegs with a king, 2–3 players). | Standard | Yes |
| Fill ruleFill ruleSquatting means leaving pegs in your starting camp, which is someone else's goal, so they can never fill it. With this on, you finish once your goal is full and holds at least one of your pegs, so squatting cannot stop you. With it off, squatting becomes a usable tactic. | You finish once every hole in your goal is filled and at least one is yours, even if opponents' pegs remain there. Switch it off and your goal must be entirely your own pegs. | On | Yes |
| Play to the end | With three or more players, keep playing after someone finishes until everyone's place is decided. Switch it off to end the game at the first finish. | On | Yes |
| Show legal moves | Mark the holes a selected peg can reach, by stepping or jumping. | On | Yes |
| Swap who starts | Rotate the starting player to the next seat each time you play again. | On | Yes |
Terms
- Jump
- Hopping a peg over one adjacent peg into the empty hole just beyond it. The same peg may keep jumping as long as jumps are available.
- Goal
- The point of the star directly opposite your own starting point. By default, finish when every hole is occupied and at least one peg is yours. With the fill rule off, every peg there must be yours.
- Fill rule
- The house rule (on by default) that lets you finish as soon as your goal is full and at least one peg in it is yours — an opponent camping there can't block your win.
- King peg
- The oversized peg used only in the Japanese Diamond Game variant. It can jump a whole straight line of pegs at once, but no peg can jump over another king.
FAQ
Do pegs get captured?
No. A jumped peg simply stays where it is.
Can I mix a single step and a jump in the same turn?
No. A turn is either one step, or one or more chained jumps — never both.
How many jumps can I chain?
As many as the board allows. You can stop at any hole along the way.
Can I finish while an opponent still has a peg in my goal?
Yes, by default (the "fill" rule): once every hole in your goal is occupied and at least one is yours, you're home. You can switch this rule off.
With three or more players, does the game end as soon as someone finishes?
Not by default — play continues until everyone's place is decided. A setting lets you end the game at the first finish instead.
Can five people play?
Yes, though five-player games sit outside the traditional rules — one player ends up with nobody seated directly opposite them.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-23 · Run by Qdan, Inc.