⚫ Strategy Game

Checkers

Play draughts against the computer — captures are compulsory, and reaching the far row crowns a king.

1212

Your move

You are red and move up the board. Click a highlighted piece, then a highlighted square.

Overview

Checkers: the classic draughts game against a computer

Checkers — draughts outside North America — is one of the oldest and most played board games in the world, and its rules fit in a paragraph while its strategy takes years. Pieces move diagonally on the dark squares, capture by jumping over an opponent, and become kings that move both ways once they reach the far side. What makes it deep is that capturing is compulsory: you cannot decline a jump, which means a well-placed sacrifice can force your opponent into a sequence they never wanted to play.

This version plays standard English draughts on an 8×8 board with three difficulty levels. The computer searches ahead with alpha-beta pruning — Easy looks one move deep and is beatable, Hard looks six plies and will punish loose play. Legal pieces and destinations are highlighted, so you can learn the rules by playing rather than by reading them.

100% freeNo sign-upThree difficultiesRuns in your browser
How to play
  1. 1You are red and move up the board; click a highlighted piece to select it.
  2. 2Click a highlighted square to move there. Captures are compulsory — if a jump exists, that is all you can play.
  3. 3Multiple jumps in one turn are played as a single move, all the way to the end of the chain.
  4. 4Reach the far row to crown a king, which can then move and jump in all four diagonal directions.
Key features
  • Full standard rules: compulsory capture, multi-jumps and king promotion
  • Three difficulty levels backed by an alpha-beta search
  • Legal moves highlighted, including which pieces can move at all
  • Multi-jump chains resolved in a single click
  • Draw detection after forty moves without a capture or crowning
  • Piece and king counts for both sides, and nothing to install

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to capture if I can?
Yes. In standard English draughts capturing is compulsory, and if more than one capture is available you may choose between them — but you cannot choose a quiet move instead. This version enforces it by only offering jumps when one exists.
Can a man jump backwards?
No. Ordinary pieces move and capture forward only. Kings, made by reaching the far row, move and capture in all four diagonal directions, which is why getting one is usually decisive.
What happens if a jump would crown my piece mid-chain?
The move ends there. Crowning finishes your turn, so a man that reaches the back row by jumping cannot continue jumping as a king in the same move — it waits until next turn.
How does the game end in a draw?
After forty moves by each side with no capture and no crowning, the position is declared drawn. Without a rule like that, two lone kings can chase each other indefinitely.