How to Play Checkers
The objective is to win under the selected variant's rules, commonly by leaving the opponent without legal moves or pieces. Choose a variant before the first game because captures and king movement are not identical across rule sets.
Open the rules guideAmerican checkers · quick lesson
See how a double jump works
When a capture is available, you must take it. After landing, check whether the same piece can jump again.
Black to move. The man on square 9 can jump the white piece on 14 and land on the empty square 18.
What to know
Men move diagonally on the playable squares and become kings after promotion. Exact movement, compulsory captures and sequence choice must be checked for the chosen variant.
On CheckersArena.com you can reinforce the basics with puzzles, courses and computer practice before moving to multiplayer.
- Boards
- 10×10 or 8×8
- Movement
- Diagonal on playable squares
- Important
- Captures and kings depend on the variant
Getting started
- Choose a variant.
- Learn man movement, captures and promotion.
- Practise a position against the computer before playing online.
Questions and answers
Do all forms of checkers use the same rules?
No. Board size, capture rules and king movement vary between rule sets.
Which variant should I learn first?
Choose the rule set used where you plan to play and study consistently on that board.