What are Checkers?
If you look at the oldest and most popular board games, you’re sure to find checkers in that list. According to various historical evidence, it was invented somewhere about 3000 BC. In England, it’s also called Draught, and because the game dates back so far, there are plenty of its variations you can find in different countries. Although checkers seem to be rather simple, it requires some understanding and skill to play it successfully. And surely it’s a lot of fun!
Checkers Game Play Online Free
The layout and objective
The game requires a chequered board counting 8 cells horizontally and vertically. Each of the opponents has 12 pieces of either white or black color. The pieces are aligned on the opposite ends of the board and are placed on the black squares regardless of the color. As you move your pieces, you have to ‘eat’ all of the pieces belonging to your opponent which is done by ‘hopping’ over them.
The conditions of victory
There are four possible endings in checkers:
1) You lose if you lose all of your pieces
2) You also lose if there are no ways to move any of your pieces (i.e. the placement of your opponent’s pieces don’t allow you to do it
The game ends in a draw in the following cases:
3) Each of you have made 50 moves (100 in total) and neither of the pieces has been ‘eaten.’
4) It’s the third time the same situation repeats itself on the board, and neither of the pieces has been ‘eaten.’
How to play checkers
All pieces, with no regard to their color, only move on the black sauces and diagonally. That means you will never put any of your pieces on the light squares. By default, each piece can move only one square, and only forward. Backward moves aren’t allowed.
There is no way to move into a cell if it’s already taken by another piece, either your or your opponent’s. However, if the opponent’s piece is placed right in front of your piece diagonally and there is an empty square right behind it, you can ‘hop’ over it with your own piece, and the former is then removed from the board. If the square your piece ends up on allows you to repeat the maneuver and capture another of your opponent’s pieces, you can do it once again, and as many times as it’s possible within one move.
The most interesting thing starts when one of your pieces reaches the opposite end of the board. Then it turns into a King that has an advantage over regular pieces. In particular, it can move both forward and backwards (but still only diagonally) and they’re not required to stand right in front of the opponent’s piece to go all the way up to it and capture it. There is a nuance though – if you become a King ‘hopping’ over another piece, you can’t keep doing it backwards in the same move. To do that, you have to wait for your turn.
Capturing the opponent’s pieces is an obligatory move. That is, if you’re in a position where such a move it’s possible, you have to do it anyway whether it’s profitable for you in the end or not. However, at the presence of two alternative moves – for instance, one where you capture only one piece and another where you ‘hop’ over multiple pieces – you can choose any option. Good luck!