Checkers rules
Opening position on dark squares
Overview
American checkers on the dark squares of an 8×8 board. Twelve men per side. White moves first.
Objective
Capture all enemy pieces or leave the opponent with no legal move. No draws in the current engine.
Game setup
Black on ranks 7–8 area (three rows of dark squares); White on ranks 1–3 area. Only dark squares are used.
Jump capture (example)
How to make moves
Click a piece, then a highlighted square.
Ordinary moves
- Men move one diagonal forward to an empty dark square
- Kings move one diagonal in any direction
Captures
- Jump an adjacent enemy piece to the empty square beyond
- Mandatory when any capture exists
- Multi-jump — continue with the same piece in one turn when possible
Crowning
A man reaching the far back rank becomes a king immediately, even mid-jump.
Edge cases
Forced capture
Quiet moves are illegal when a capture is available.
Multi-jump lock
During a chain, only that piece may move.