Checkers Rules: How to Play, Kings and Jumping
Nov 7, 2026 · The Editors
Checkers rules for beginners: setting up the board, moving, jumping and the forced-capture rule, multiple jumps, becoming a king and how kings move, how to win, and how other countries play.
Checkers — called draughts in Britain — is one of the oldest board games in the world, and one of the quickest to learn. These are the rules of standard American checkers.
Setup
- An 8 × 8 board, placed so each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner (the same as chess).
- 12 pieces each, dark and light (often black and red).
- Pieces go on the dark squares only, filling the three rows nearest each player. The two middle rows stay empty.
Every move in the game is made on the dark squares.
Who goes first
The darker pieces move first — black in a black-and-white set, red in a red-and-white set. In red-and-black home sets, simply agree who starts. Players then alternate.
Moving
A regular piece (a man) moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. It cannot move backwards.
Jumping (capturing)
If an opponent's piece is diagonally next to yours, and the square directly beyond it is empty, you can jump over it and remove it from the board.
Captures are compulsory. If you can jump, you must. If more than one jump is available, you may choose which.
Multiple jumps
After a jump, if your piece can jump again from where it landed, it must keep jumping in the same turn — changing direction if needed, as long as each jump is forward (for a man). A long chain of jumps can clear half the board.
Becoming a king
When a man reaches the far row, it is crowned: put a second piece of the same colour on top of it. Reaching the far row ends that turn, even if the new king could jump again.
How kings move
Checkers rules: king. A king moves one square diagonally in any direction — forwards or backwards — and jumps in any direction too. In American checkers, kings move just one square at a time (unlike some other countries' versions).
Winning
You win by:
- Capturing all your opponent's pieces, or
- Blocking them so they have no legal move.
If neither player can force a win, the game is a draw. In 2007, a computer program proved that perfect play from both sides always ends in a draw.
International variations
- International draughts is played on a 10 × 10 board with 20 pieces each.
- In international, Russian and Spanish versions, men can capture backwards, and kings are "flying kings" that move any distance along a diagonal.
- Pool checkers, popular in the American South, uses flying kings on an 8 × 8 board.
Tips
- Keep your back row as long as you can — it stops your opponent getting kings.
- Control the centre.
- Use forced captures to lure pieces into a trap.
