🔴 Checkers
🎲 Board · 1 playsCheckers
Draughts against a computer opponent, where forced captures shape every plan.
About Checkers
Checkers looks simpler than it is, largely because captures are compulsory: a move that offers a piece is also a move that dictates your opponent's reply, and that makes the board far more controllable than beginners expect. Pieces advance diagonally, captures chain into multiple jumps in one turn, and a piece that reaches the far row becomes a king able to move in both directions. Strong play means trading pieces when you are ahead, holding the back row together early, and looking one exchange further than the immediate capture to see what it forces. The higher difficulty levels search several moves deep and will punish a piece left hanging on an open diagonal.
How to Play
Select a piece to see its legal moves, then choose a highlighted square. Captures are compulsory, and a capture that can continue must continue. Reach the far row to be crowned a king. You win by taking every enemy piece or leaving your opponent with no legal move.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Control the centre and keep your back row intact for as long as you can. The four squares on your home row prevent enemy kings from crowning, and a player who advances their whole back rank early usually faces a king they cannot answer.
Think in exchanges rather than single moves. Because captures are forced, offering a piece often compels a recapture that walks your opponent into a double jump. Before any move, check what you are forcing them to do next.
Advance in connected groups. A lone piece pushed forward becomes a target, while pieces that defend each other cannot be taken without a return capture. Keep your formation in touch.
In the endgame, the player with more kings and the centre usually wins. Kings move both ways and dominate open boards, so trading evenly while you are ahead is the right instinct — and trading while behind is what loses drawn positions.