Checkers

Checkers is played by two people on the dark squares of an 8 × 8 board. Each side has twelve pieces, and the aim is simple: capture every enemy piece, or leave your opponent with no move to make.

What makes it sharp is one rule — if you can capture, you must. That turns every move into a question of what you are forcing your opponent to take, and good players win by offering one piece to collect two.

How to start a game

1. 1Open Checkers on Alex Play Zone, choose a nickname and pick the bot or a private room with a friend.
2. 2Tap one of your pieces: the squares it can move to light up. If a capture is available, only capturing moves are offered.
3. 3When a jump lands where another jump is possible, keep going — the chain is part of the same turn.
4. 4Each move has a 45-second timer.

The rules of Checkers

Moving

• Pieces only ever stand on the dark squares.
• An ordinary piece moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty square.
• Ordinary pieces never move backwards.

Capturing

• You capture by jumping over an enemy piece next to you, diagonally, onto the empty square directly behind it. The jumped piece leaves the board.
• Capturing is compulsory: if any of your pieces can jump, one of them must.
• If the piece that just jumped can jump again from where it landed, it must carry on in the same turn. A single move can remove several pieces.

Kings

• A piece that reaches the farthest row is crowned a king.
• A king moves and captures one square at a time like any other piece, but both forwards and backwards.

Winning

• You win by capturing all the enemy pieces, or by blocking them so that your opponent cannot move.

How to play well

Hold your back row

A piece can only be crowned on your back row if a square there is empty. Leaving two or three pieces at home for as long as you can denies your opponent kings while you race for your own.

Use the forced capture

Because your opponent must jump, you can decide where their pieces go. Offer one piece so that the jump pulls an enemy piece onto a square where you take two back.

Move together

A piece with a friend diagonally behind it cannot be jumped. Advance in pairs and triangles; a piece out on its own is the first one to be lost.

Head for the centre

A piece on the edge can only move one way. Pieces in the middle have two choices every turn and control more of the board.

Remember: Keep your back row filled as long as you can — it stops your opponent from crowning kings.

Common mistakes

• Emptying the back row early, which lets the first enemy piece through become a king.
• Forgetting that jumps are forced, and walking into a two-for-one.
• Rushing a single piece forward on its own, where it is surrounded and taken.
• Trading pieces when behind: with fewer pieces left, every exchange makes the gap count for more.

Questions and answers

Do I have to jump if I can?

Yes. Capturing is mandatory, and a chain of jumps must be completed.

Can ordinary pieces capture backwards?

No — only kings move and capture backwards in this version. In international Draughts, which we also have, ordinary pieces can capture backwards.

How far can a king move?

One square at a time, in any diagonal direction. For kings that fly the length of the board, try Draughts.