Checkers rules

Two players, twelve pieces each, sixty-four squares of which only the thirty-two dark ones are ever used. Pieces move diagonally, jump over enemy pieces to capture them, and become kings when they reach the far side. Take all of your opponent's pieces, or leave them with no move to make, and you win.

That much is the same everywhere. What is not the same is how far a king can move and which way a man can capture, and those two details change the game more than anything else. This page explains both versions played here: flying kings, the draughts played across Eastern Europe, and American checkers, also called English draughts.

The board and the pieces

The board is eight squares by eight, turned so that each player has a dark square in the corner on their left. All the play happens on the dark squares.

Each side starts with twelve men on the dark squares of the three rows nearest to them. The two middle rows start empty.

The start: twelve men each, on the dark squares only.

Who goes first depends on the version: in flying-kings draughts white moves first; in American checkers black does.

How a man moves

A man moves one square diagonally forwards, onto an empty dark square. It never moves backwards without capturing, and never sideways.

A man on c3 can go to b4 or d4.

Capturing

If an enemy piece stands diagonally next to one of yours, and the square directly beyond it is empty, you can jump over it and land on that square. The piece you jumped over is captured.

The man on c3 jumps the black man on d4 and lands on e5.

Capturing is compulsory. If you can capture, you must. You cannot make a quiet move instead and leave the capture for later.
A capture goes on as long as it can. If, after landing, your piece can jump another enemy piece, it must carry on in the same move. One move can take three, four or more pieces.
You choose the route. When several captures are possible — with different pieces, or along different paths — you may pick any of them. You do not have to take the route that captures the most.
Pieces come off at the end. The captured pieces are removed when the whole move is finished, and the same piece cannot be jumped twice in one move.

Here the two versions part ways. With flying kings, a man may capture backwards as well as forwards. In American checkers, a man captures forwards only.

One move, three pieces: the capture goes on for as long as there is something to jump.

A capture backwards: allowed with flying kings, not in American checkers.

Becoming a king

A man that ends its move on the far row — the row nearest your opponent — is crowned and becomes a king. On the board, a king is two pieces stacked, or a piece with a mark on it.

In flying kings, a man that reaches the far row in the middle of a capture is crowned at once and, if it can, carries on capturing as a king in the same move.

In American checkers, reaching the far row ends the move, even if the new king could otherwise jump again. It gets to use its new powers next turn.

How a king moves

This is the biggest difference between the two games.

	Flying kings	American checkers
A king moves	any distance along a diagonal	one square, any direction
A king captures	from a distance, landing on any empty square beyond	a piece right next to it
A man captures	forwards and backwards	forwards only
Crowned mid-capture	carries on as a king	move ends
First move	white	black

A flying king travels like a bishop in chess: along an open diagonal as far as it likes. It captures an enemy piece anywhere on its diagonal, as long as the squares between them are empty and there is at least one empty square beyond — and it may land on any of those empty squares. A single flying king can dominate the whole board.

An American king moves and captures one square at a time, but in all four diagonal directions. It is strong, but it is not a sniper.

A flying king takes from far away and may stop on any empty square beyond: f6, g7 or h8.

An American king steps one square any way, and takes only a piece right next to it.

How the game ends

You win when your opponent:

has no pieces left, or
has no legal move on their turn — every piece blocked in.

A game can also end by resignation, and it ends in a draw when:

the same position appears three times with the same player to move, or
only kings have been moving, with no capture, for too long — fifteen moves each in flying-kings draughts, forty each in American checkers. At that point neither side is making progress, and the table calls it.

Draws are called automatically. Nobody has to know the rule or claim it.

At a table with a friend you can also agree a draw: either player may offer a draw, and the other accepts or declines — playing a move instead of answering declines it too. One offer per move.

Which version should you play?

Play the one you grew up with. If you learned in Ukraine, Russia, Poland or anywhere nearby, the game you know almost certainly had men capturing backwards and kings flying across the board: that is flying kings, and it is what a table here starts with.

If you learned in America, Britain or Ireland, your kings moved one square at a time and your men only ever jumped forwards: that is American checkers. Choose it before the first move. At a table with a friend, whoever opened it picks the rules and their colour while waiting; the friend presses Ready, and whoever opened the table presses Start. After a game, Play again keeps the rules and the score, and Change settings goes back to change them.

Ready? Play checkers against the computer, or read how to win at checkers first.