Checkers

Checkers (also called draughts) is played on an 8×8 board. Each side starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares. The goal is to capture all of your opponent's pieces, or leave them with no legal move.

Pieces move one square diagonally forward to an empty dark square. You capture by jumping diagonally over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond it, and if another jump is available from the new square, you keep jumping in the same turn.

• Reach the far row and your piece is crowned a King, which can move and jump both forward and backward.
• Captures chain: a single turn can remove several enemy pieces in one multi-jump.
• You win when your opponent has no pieces left or cannot make a legal move.

• Desktop: click one of your pieces to select it, then click a highlighted square to move or jump.
• Phone & tablet: tap a piece, then tap the highlighted destination, no keyboard needed.
• Legal moves are highlighted for the piece you pick, so you can always see your options.

• Vs Computer, choose Easy, Medium, or Hard; the harder levels look further ahead and rarely miss a capture.
• 2-Player (hot-seat), pass one device back and forth with a friend.
• Online, invite someone with a code and play a live match head-to-head.

• Control the centre early; pieces in the middle have more squares to jump from.
• Keep your back row intact as long as you can, it stops the opponent from crowning kings.
• Look for trades that force a multi-jump in your favour, and watch for jumps you are forced to give up.
• Race a piece to the far row: a King is worth far more than an ordinary piece.

Checkers descends from games played for thousands of years; the modern 8×8 version spread across Europe and the Americas as draughts. It is simple to learn yet genuinely deep, strong players calculate long forced sequences of jumps. This is an original, ad-supported browser version you can play instantly, with no download or sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.