English / American Checkers

UK · USA

The classic that 'checkers' means in the English-speaking world. Played on an 8×8 board with 12 men each, it has some of the simplest rules of any variant.

Captured 0
Captured 0
Note: a few tournament subtleties (draw rules, rare priority cases) are simplified in this online version.

Rules

  • Men move and capture diagonally forward only.
  • Kings do not fly: they move one square in any diagonal direction.
  • Capturing is compulsory, but taking the maximum is not.
  • It became the first major game fully solved by computer (1994–2007): perfect play is a draw.

About the game

Blindfold and match play made this game a 19th-century spectator sport in Britain and the USA. Since Chinook solved it in 2007, top-level play relies on restricted three-move openings to keep games alive.