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Game of Checkers Rules

The game of checkers, or draughts, has a 4,000-year history. The oldest version was played in Africa, but there are also varieties of the game played all over the world. Checkers got its name from a 14th-century innovation of playing draughts on the traditional checkered board used in chess. The two most popular forms today are Polish draughts (international draughts) and English draughts (American checkers). The rules for both games are almost identical, with one or two minor variations.

Setting Up the Game
- Polish draughts uses 20 checker pieces per player on a board of 100 light and dark alternating squares. English draughts uses only 12 pieces each and has 64 squares on the board. Players sit across from each other and place one checker on each of the dark squares closest to them. Checkers are usually black and white or red and white.
Playing the Game
- The player with the darker pieces moves first. As only the dark squares are used, players must move forward diagonally and only move one checker into one space per turn, unless capturing an opponent's checker by jumping over it and into an empty square behind it. Players can make multiple jumps if the position of an opponent's checkers allows for it. Players remove jumped checkers from the board after the turn is complete. If a player's checker reaches a square at the far end of the board in front of his opponent, his checker can then be crowned by placing a checker previously captured on top of it. This enables the crowned checker, or king, to now move and capture both forward and backward.
Winning the Game
- In both American checkers and international draughts, a player wins by capturing all of an opponent's checkers or when his opponent can no longer make any legal moves. A draw is declared when both players are reduced to having only a king left to play with or when it is determined that neither player can possibly win.

Chess & Checkers