--- title: "Checkers rules: moves, captures and kings, step by step" description: "Checkers rules: setting up the pieces, diagonal moves, compulsory captures, capturing backwards, kings and draws. Play checkers free in your browser." url: https://games.klyo.pl/rules/checkers/ canonical: https://games.klyo.pl/rules/checkers/ type: zasady language: en author: klyo organization: Klyo Illia Krasnopolskyi (NIP 7822656871), Łódź, Poland contact: kontakt@klyo.pl updated: 2026-10-18 llms: https://games.klyo.pl/llms.txt --- # Checkers rules Checkers is a game for two players on the dark squares of a board. Pieces move diagonally, you capture by jumping, and a piece that reaches the far side becomes a king. Checkers has several variants: below are the rules of checkers on klyo, played on an 8 by 8 board. [Play checkers](https://games.klyo.pl/checkers/) [All game rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/) - [![Warcaby: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Rasalhague](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-warcaby-800.6e0f6f8e.webp) 5–15 min **Checkers** Puzzle 5–15 min Checkers against the computer, hotseat and online.](https://games.klyo.pl/checkers/) ## In short 1. Played on the dark squares of an 8 by 8 board, twelve pieces each. 2. A piece moves one square diagonally forward. 3. Capturing is compulsory, and you must take the most pieces possible. 4. Ordinary pieces capture backwards too. 5. A king moves and captures across many squares. ## How do you set up a checkers board? The board has 8 by 8 squares, and the game is played only on the dark squares. Each player places twelve pieces on the dark squares of the three rows nearest to them. The two middle rows start empty. *The starting position on an 8 by 8 board: twelve pieces on the dark squares of each side's three rows.* ## How do checkers pieces move? An ordinary piece moves one square diagonally forward, onto an empty dark square. Players take turns. ## How do you capture in checkers? You capture by jumping diagonally over an opponent's piece right next to you onto the empty square right behind it. The captured piece leaves the board. Ordinary pieces capture both forwards and backwards. - Capturing is compulsory: if you can capture, you must. - If you have several options, you must choose the one that captures the most pieces. - After one jump, if another jump is possible, the move continues: this is a multiple capture. - Captured pieces leave the board only after the whole move ends, and until then they cannot be jumped a second time. ## When does a piece become a king and how does it move? A piece that ends its move on the last row on the opponent's side becomes a king. A king moves diagonally any number of empty squares, forwards and backwards, and captures from a distance in the same way, jumping an opponent's piece onto any empty square behind it. ## How do you win at checkers and when is it a draw? You win when your opponent has lost all their pieces or has no legal move left. The game is a draw when the same position appears three times with the same player to move, or when both sides make fifteen moves each with kings only, without a capture and without moving an ordinary piece. ## How do the checkers variants differ? International draughts is played on a 10 by 10 board with twenty pieces each and the same capture rules: compulsory, backwards too and taking as many pieces as possible, with kings that move many squares. English checkers uses an 8 by 8 board, but ordinary pieces capture only forwards and the king moves one square at a time. On klyo you can play checkers on an 8 by 8 board against the computer on three levels, with two people on one device or online. ## Can you capture backwards in checkers? Yes. In checkers on klyo, as in international draughts, an ordinary piece captures both forwards and backwards. It cannot move backwards without capturing: a normal move always goes forward. English checkers is different: there an ordinary piece captures only forwards. ## Combinations in checkers: how to win with a sacrifice Compulsory capture is the strongest weapon in checkers. Since your opponent must capture, you can give up a piece to drag one of theirs onto a square from which you take two or three in one move. Such a forcing sequence is a combination. Before every move, check two things: whether you can force your opponent to capture into a trap, and whether they can do the same to you. The most dangerous sacrifices are those after which your multiple capture ends on the last row and gives you a king. ## Strategy: how to play checkers better - Take the centre of the board: central pieces have more moves and are harder to cut off. - Keep your pieces together in a chain so they cover each other from captures. - Do not move the pieces on your back row too early: they guard the squares where your opponent would crown a king. - When you are ahead, trade pieces: fewer pieces on the board make the win easier. - A king is worth several pieces, so the road to one often justifies a sacrifice. ## Play Checkers for free You know the rules, now play. Checkers runs free in your browser, on a phone and a computer, with nothing to install and no account. [Play checkers](https://games.klyo.pl/checkers/) [![Warcaby: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Rasalhague](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-warcaby-800.6e0f6f8e.webp)](https://games.klyo.pl/checkers/) ## Similar free games - [![Saper: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-saper-800.c60de309.webp) new 1–5 min **Minesweeper** Puzzle 1–5 min Classic Minesweeper in your browser: clear the board and flag the mines.](https://games.klyo.pl/minesweeper/) - [![Sudoku: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-sudoku-2-800.a31ff905.webp) 5–15 min **Sudoku** Puzzle 5–15 min Free online sudoku: 6 levels, hints that teach and a daily challenge.](https://games.klyo.pl/sudoku/) - [![Mahjong Sanctuary: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-mahjong-sanctuary-800.e8ff51f5.webp) 5–15 min **Mahjong Sanctuary** Puzzle 5–15 min Free Mahjong Solitaire online: 144 tiles, hints, undo and a daily board.](https://games.klyo.pl/mahjong-sanctuary/) - [![Pasjans Pająk: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-pasjans-pajak-800.057ae24f.webp) 5–15 min **Spider Solitaire** Card 5–15 min Free Spider Solitaire online: 1, 2 or 4 suits and a daily deal.](https://games.klyo.pl/spider-solitaire/) ## Rules of other games - ![Szachy: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-szachy-480.39a1c156.webp) **[Chess rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/chess/)**: [Castling](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/chess/castling/) · [En passant](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/chess/en-passant/) · [Stalemate](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/chess/stalemate/) · [Chess openings](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/chess/openings/) - ![Sudoku: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-sudoku-2-480.e9b513a7.webp) **[Sudoku rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/sudoku/)** - ![Pasjans Klondike: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-pasjans-klondike-480.04d31a38.webp) **[How to play solitaire](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/solitaire/)** - ![Saper: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-saper-480.2f9ac47d.webp) **[How to play Minesweeper](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/minesweeper/)** - ![Kółko i krzyżyk: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-kolko-i-krzyzyk-480.50e8a2d8.webp) **[How to win at Tic Tac Toe](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/tic-tac-toe/)** - ![Mahjong Sanctuary: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-mahjong-sanctuary-480.8437fb0c.webp) **[Mahjong rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/mahjong/)** - ![Pasjans Pająk: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-pasjans-pajak-480.a79add80.webp) **[Spider Solitaire rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/spider-solitaire/)** - ![Pasjans FreeCell: gra w przeglądarce od twórcy Klyo](https://games.klyo.pl/foto/zrzut-gra-pasjans-freecell-480.681af1e1.webp) **[FreeCell rules](https://games.klyo.pl/rules/freecell/)** --- Source: https://games.klyo.pl/rules/checkers/ · Built and run by klyo, a Polish technology company (Łódź) · Contact: kontakt@klyo.pl · Index for language models: https://games.klyo.pl/llms.txt