Checkers

Checkers, a timeless board game, has origins tracing back to approximately 3000 BC. Though easy to learn, it offers a great deal of enjoyment! In England, it is referred to as Draughts, and numerous versions of the game exist globally. The game is played on an 8×8 checkered board, much like a chessboard. Each player begins with 12 pieces, positioned on the dark squares nearest to them. The goal is to capture all of the opponent’s pieces by jumping over them.

Gameplay

Pieces can only move diagonally on the dark squares; the light squares are not used in gameplay. A standard move involves moving a piece one square diagonally forward.

Initially, pieces can only advance diagonally and cannot move backward. You cannot move to a square that is already occupied by another piece. However, if an opponent’s piece occupies the diagonal square in front of you and the square behind it is empty, you can (and must!) jump over it, capturing it.

If you land on a square where you can capture another opponent piece, you must immediately jump over that piece as well. One turn can result in multiple captures. It is mandatory to jump over pieces whenever possible.

When a piece reaches the last row on the opponent’s side of the board, it becomes a King. Kings have the advantage of moving diagonally both forwards and backwards, enhancing their ability to jump over opponent pieces. However, if you jump over a piece to become a King, you cannot continue to jump backward over another piece in the same move; you must wait until the next turn to start moving backward.

Jumping over opponents is compulsory. However, if you have two potential moves—one that jumps over one opponent and another that jumps over two or more opponents you are not obligated to choose the move that captures the most opponents. You are only required to make any available jump move.

Winning

The game can conclude in one of four scenarios:

A player loses if they have no pieces left.
If a player is unable to make any legal moves because all their pieces are blocked, they lose.
If the exact board position repeats three times consecutively without any captures in between, the game ends in a draw. This rule prevents an endless loop where two pieces keep moving without the possibility of capturing each other.
The game also ends in a draw if 100 moves are made (50 by each player) without any captures.