Checkers / Draughts
Full-rule checkers — forced captures, multi-jumps and kings — versus a friend or an AI with four difficulty levels.
Set up the match
Standard American checkers — forced captures, multi-jumps and kings. Play a friend on this device, or take on the computer.
Men move one diagonal square forward. Captures are mandatory — if you can jump, you must, and you must continue a multi-jump chain when more jumps are available. Reach the far row to crown a King that moves and jumps in any diagonal direction. Win by capturing all enemy pieces or leaving them with no legal move.
Tap a piece to select, then tap a glowing square — or drag the piece. Captures are forced. U undo · H hints · N new Tap or drag a piece to a glowing square. Captures are forced.
Why you’ll love Checkers / Draughts
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Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is ever uploaded or stored on a server.
Works on any device
Fully responsive and touch-friendly — use it on your phone, tablet or desktop.
Beat your best
High scores and streaks save on your device — and results are shareable.
How to use it
Open it
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Use it
Enter your details or start interacting. Everything updates live as you go.
Get your result
Copy, download or share your result in a single tap. That’s it.
About Checkers / Draughts
Checkers — called draughts in most of the world — descends from board games played thousands of years ago, taking its modern form in medieval France when an older game called alquerque was moved onto the chessboard. It also holds a unique place in computing history: in 2007, after nearly two decades of computation, the game was solved — perfect play by both sides always ends in a draw, making checkers one of the largest games ever solved.
This version plays standard American (English) rules on the dark squares of an 8×8 board. Captures are mandatory: if a jump is available you must take it, and you must keep jumping while the chain continues. Reaching the far row crowns a king, which moves and jumps one diagonal step in any direction — there are no long-range "flying kings" as in international draughts. You can pass the device between two players, or face a computer opponent at four difficulty levels backed by a minimax search that looks up to eight moves deep on Expert. Move hints, one-tap undo and optional sound round out the table.
Strategically, resist the urge to advance everywhere at once. Keep pieces on your back row early to deny easy kings, fight for the centre where pieces control the most diagonals, and use the forced-capture rule as a weapon — offering a piece your opponent must take can set up a devastating double or triple jump in return. When you are ahead in material, trade pieces freely; a simplified board magnifies your advantage.
Popular uses
Frequently asked questions
Forced capture is a core rule of checkers, not a quirk of this version: if any of your pieces can jump an enemy piece, you must make a jump that turn, and if the landing square opens another jump with the same piece, the chain must continue. The "capture!" indicator and glowing squares show you when this applies. Strong players exploit the rule constantly by sacrificing one piece to force a reply that loses two.
No. This is American/English checkers, where a king moves and captures one diagonal square at a time, in any of the four diagonal directions. Long-range flying kings belong to international (10×10) draughts and some other national variants. A piece is crowned the moment it lands on the far row, including mid-jump landings that end there.
There are four levels. Easy searches shallowly and deliberately plays loose moves, making it friendly for kids and beginners; Medium plays a fair club-casual game; Hard searches six moves deep and punishes most mistakes; Expert searches eight moves deep and plays the best line it finds with no randomness. If Expert feels unbeatable, remember that even perfect checkers is a draw — trade carefully and avoid loose single pieces.
Yes. You win either by capturing all opposing pieces or by leaving your opponent with no legal move on their turn — a blockade. Endgame blockades are a real weapon: pinning the last enemy pieces against the board edge with a king or two ends the game just as decisively as taking them.
Checkers / Draughts is 100% free — no signup, no watermarks and no usage limits. It’s one of 200+ free tools we build and give away.
Yes — best scores save in your browser and most games give you a shareable result to challenge friends.
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