How to play checkers: rules and how to win

Checkers (also called draughts) is one of the oldest board games still played today, and one of the easiest to learn. You can learn the rules in five minutes, and getting good takes a lifetime of games.

How to set up checkers

• The board is 8 × 8, with alternating light and dark squares. Only the dark squares are used.
• Turn the board so each player has a dark square in the bottom-left corner (and a light square in the bottom-right).
• Each player has 12 pieces (called men). Place them on the dark squares of the three rows closest to you: 4 pieces in each row.
• The two middle rows start empty.
• Dark (or the player at the bottom in Kepo Checkers) moves first.

If you’re a complete beginner, that’s the hardest part done: everything else is just moving diagonally.

How pieces move

• A man moves one square diagonally forward, onto an empty dark square.
• Players take turns, one move per turn.
• Men never move straight forward or sideways, and (in standard rules) never backward.

How to capture

• To capture, jump diagonally over an opponent’s piece that is right next to you, landing on the empty square just behind it. The jumped piece is removed.
• Captures are compulsory. If you can capture, you must.
• Multiple jumps: if, after a jump, the same piece can jump again, it must keep going in the same turn. A long chain of jumps can win a game on the spot.
• When several captures are possible, standard American rules let you choose which one to take.

Kings

• When a man reaches the far row, it’s crowned and becomes a king (stack a second piece on it in a real board game).
• A king moves and captures diagonally in all four directions: forward and backward.
• In American rules, a king still moves only one square at a time (or one jump at a time).

How to win

You win when your opponent can’t make a move: either they have no pieces left, or every piece they have is blocked. If the game reaches a point where neither side can make progress, it’s a draw.

Other rule sets: Brazilian and international checkers

In Brazil and much of the world, the rules differ in a few ways:

• Men can capture backward (but still only move forward).
• Kings fly: they slide any number of squares along a diagonal and can land on any empty square past the piece they capture.
• You must take the biggest capture: when several captures are possible, you have to choose the one that takes the most pieces.

Kepo Checkers lets you play both: Classic (American) rules and Flying kings (Brazilian rules on an 8×8 board).

Strategy: how to win at checkers

1. Control the center. Pieces in the middle of the board have more moves and support each other; pieces stuck on the edge are easy to trap.
2. Keep your back row as long as you can. As long as your back row is guarded, your opponent can’t crown a king. Many players keep two back-row pieces home until the middle of the game.
3. Move in pairs. A piece with a friend behind it can’t be jumped from that side. Lone pieces in the open get picked off.
4. Use the forced-capture rule. Because captures are compulsory, you can offer one piece on purpose to drag an opponent’s piece into a spot where you then jump two or three of theirs.
5. Count before you trade. Trading one for one is good when you’re ahead and bad when you’re behind. With more pieces, simplify; with fewer, keep the board busy.
6. Get a king, then use it. A king can attack from behind, where men can’t defend. In the endgame, kings decide most games.

Play checkers online

Kepo Checkers is free in your browser, with no download, no sign-up and no ads. Play against Kepo on Easy, Medium or Hard, or against a friend on the same device, with Classic or Flying-kings rules. The game highlights your legal moves, so it’s a great way to learn: it won’t let you skip a compulsory capture.