How to Play Checkers
Checkers is a classic two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 board. The goal is to capture all of your opponent’s pieces or block them so they have no legal moves remaining.
What you’ll need
- A checkers board (standard 8×8 board)
- 24 checkers pieces (12 per player)
- 2 players
Set up
- Place the board so that each player has a dark square in the lower-left corner.
- Each player places their 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three rows closest to them.
- The light-colored squares are not used during play.
Standard checkers starting position.
One player moves first. Players then alternate turns.
How pieces move
Regular pieces
- Move diagonally forward one square
- May only move on dark squares
Kings
- Move diagonally forward or backward
- Remain kings for the rest of the game
Capturing pieces
A capture is made by jumping diagonally over an opponent’s piece onto an empty dark square immediately beyond it.
- The jumped piece is removed from the board
- Regular pieces may capture diagonally forward only
- Kings may capture diagonally forward or backward
Captures are mandatory. If a capture is available, the player must take it.
Multiple captures
If, after making a capture, another capture is immediately available with the same piece, the player must continue jumping.
The player’s turn ends only when no further captures are possible.
Becoming a king
When a regular piece reaches the farthest row on the opponent’s side of the board, it is crowned a king.
- Stack a second piece on top to mark it as a king
- If a piece reaches the king row by capturing, the turn ends immediately
Ending the game
The game ends when:
- One player has no pieces remaining, or
- A player has no legal moves available
Winning the game
The player who captures all of their opponent’s pieces, or leaves them with no legal moves, wins.