Checkers is a strategic board game for two players, and it is played
on a board that resembles a chess board, but isn't.
Short History of Checkers
Checkers, or Draughts, as it is better known as in Europe, was first
played in the 12th century. It is believed that the origin of the game lays
in Spain or France. in these countries, books about how to play were published
in the mid-1500s.
Playing the game
The board
An official checkers board has either 100 or 64 squares, usually black
and white. They are arranged in rows to form a board of 10 * 10 or 8 *
8 squares.
The 64 square version is most popular, but having 8 more pieces to take care
of certainly add to the game. (i.e I personally prefer the 100 square board)
The pieces
The checkers pieces are circular and flat "slices", looking rather
like poker chips. They are usually made of wood.
If played on a full 100 square board, each player gets 20 pieces. (4 rows
á 5). If played on the 64 square board, each player gets 12 pieces.
(3 rows á 4). One player plays white, the other plays a different colour,
usually black or red. (according to eco, black and red is also normal...)
Setting up
To set up the board for play, put pieces on all the black squares of the
board, on your side. The white squares are never, under any circumstances,
used in chechers.
If done correctly, you will have three rows of pieces, then two empty rows,
and finally three rows of opponent pieces.
Black always has the first move.
Moving
Normal checkers pieces (more about non-normal pieces later) can only move
forward, diagonally, one step at the time. If you cannot jump a piece, and
there is no space for the piece to move, you piece is blocked, and
cannot move.
Jumping
To "take" a piece of the opponent, you have to jump over it.
You can only jump over one piece at a time, and the space on the other side
of the piece you are trying to take has to be free.
At any time in checkers (and unlike chess), if you can jump a piece,
you have to. When you are just learning, this is utterly annoying.
However, this very much increases the strategic dimension of checkers.
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | :-) | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | W | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| B | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
In the example above (presuming you are black) you can jump over the white
piece to the square marked with the smiley. The person playing white
has to remove the piece from the board.
Multiple jumps
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | W | | W | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| B | | | | 2 | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
In this example, the black piece can take two white pieces in one turn. The
first jump goes to the square marked 1. the second jump goes to the square
marked 2. In this situation, both jumps are mandatory.
Kings
If you manage to get one of your pieces to your opponent's first row, you
place one of your own pieces (one of the ones that have been taken out of
the game) on top of the piece that made it to your opponent's first row. This
double piece is now a king. This piece can now move as far as you want it
to, and kings are also the only pieces that can move backwards on the board.
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | W | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| BK | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | W | | W | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
If the board above is the current situation, and it is Black's turn White
is fucked; The black king (BK) can clear the board completely:
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | W | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| BK | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | 2 |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | W | | W | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | 1 | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
However:
- If a king can jump, it still has to
- Kings still have to move in diagonals only
- Kings can still just jump over one piece at the time
- If a king can jump, the kings jumps have higher priority than the other
pieces. in other words, if there had been a black piece on the square marked
"3" above, the black king would still have to do the jumps 1 and
2 before the last piece would be able to do anything.
Frequent mistakes for new checkers players
- Black always moves first
- You cannot jump over your own pieces
- You can never jump over two pieces. There must be a free space behind a
piece to be able to jump it.
- If you can jump, you must
- Single men can never move backwards - not to jump pieces, and not for "regular"
moves.
- If there are several jumps, you must take all the jumps
How you win a game
- All your opponent's pieces are wiped off the board
- All your opponent's pieces are blocked
- Your opponent forgets to take a jump - It is good sportmanship to remind
them, but if you want to be a bastard about it, they lose if they don't.
Strategy
- To win games in checkers, you have to be sneaky. Good checkers players
sacrifice a piece to be able to take 2-3 pieces.
- If your opponent has a king, use it against him: It isn't hard to trap
a king.
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | W | | W | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| BK | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | W |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
If this is the situation in the game and it is blacks turn, Black loses his
king. yes, he gets to capture two white pieces, but he will have to end his
turn right next to the single white piece. Next turn, the white piece can
jump the black king.
Most of all:HAVE FUN!
Sources:
Sadly enough, I haven't used a single source in this writeup, My dad taught
me to play checkers when I was about eight, and I have loved the game ever
since :)
The history tidbit in the beginning of this w/u was brutally stolen from
some online gaming site that bombarded me with pop-up ads, and I will therefore,
just to spite them, not quote them as a source. They probably stole it from
some other site themselves.. So there :)
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