Games

Checkers

Q: Can I play against a friend?

Yes — choose A friend and take turns on the same device. The board shows the player who moves first at the bottom.

Checkers is part of Toolspire and is ready as soon as this page loads. Jump, capture and crown kings — classic American checkers or international, Brazilian and Russian draughts, against the computer or a friend on the same screen.

Runs in this tabFreeNo account

You

Draws

Computer

Your turn

American / English checkers · Dark moves first · 12 dark / 12 light pieces left

Rules

8×8. Men move and jump forward only; kings move one square any way. Jumps are compulsory, but you may pick which.

Play against

Difficulty

Looks four moves ahead and follows every capture to the end.

You play

Show compulsory capturesRings the pieces that must jump when a capture is on.Square numbersNumbers 1–32, as in checkers notation.Sound

Scores are kept for each set of rules, on this device.

Tab or arrows move between squares, Enter picks a piece and its square · Esc deselects · N new game · U undo · H hint

On this page

What you can do here

The rules you grew up with

Pick American checkers, international draughts, Brazilian or Russian rules — the board, first player and capture rules follow automatically.

Captures made clear

When a jump is compulsory the tool says so and rings the pieces that must jump; landing squares are marked for the piece you pick.

Multi-jumps your way

Click each landing square in turn, or go straight to the final square when only one route ends there.

A computer that fights back

Three levels, from random-ish moves for beginners to a search that sees exchanges coming.

Learn the notation

Moves are written the standard way for each variant, with optional square numbers on the board.

Two players, one screen

Play a friend with your own names; the board turns so the first player sits at the bottom.

The sequence

How to play checkers

1
Choose the rules
American / English checkers is the default; pick international, Brazilian or Russian draughts if that is what you play.
2
Choose an opponent
Play the Computer at Easy, Medium or Hard (and choose your colour), or A friend on the same device.
3
Move diagonally
Click one of your pieces, then a highlighted square. Men move forward one square on the dark squares; kings move both ways.
4
Capture by jumping
Jump over an opponent’s piece to an empty square beyond it. If you can capture, you must — and keep jumping while you can.
5
Crown and win
A man reaching the far row becomes a king. You win when your opponent has no pieces left or no legal move.

Worth knowing

Checkers on Toolspire: four rule sets: American / English checkers (8×8), international draughts (10×10), Brazilian draughts (8×8) and Russian draughts (shashki) (8×8).
Every rule that differs between them is built in: backward captures by men, flying kings, the rule to capture the most pieces (international and Brazilian), and the Russian rule that a man crowned mid-jump keeps jumping as a king.
Captures are compulsory and multi-jumps must be finished; jumped pieces leave the board only when the move ends, so no piece can be jumped twice.
Play the computer on Easy, Medium or Hard — Hard thinks for about a second a move and follows every exchange to its end — or a friend on one device.
English checkers is solved: Jonathan Schaeffer’s team showed in 2007 (Science) that perfect play from the start is a draw. The game has 500,995,484,682,338,672,639 possible positions.
Hints, undo, a move list in standard notation (11-15 or e3-d4), optional square numbers, sound and keyboard play. Free, with no account.

How the rule sets differ

	American / English	International	Brazilian	Russian
Board	8×8	10×10	8×8	8×8
Pieces each	12	20	12	12
Moves first	Dark	Light	Light	Light
Men capture backwards	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kings	One square	Flying (any distance)	Flying	Flying
Must take the most pieces	No	Yes	Yes	No
Man reaching the far row mid-jump	Is crowned; move ends	Not crowned unless it ends there	Not crowned unless it ends there	Is crowned and keeps jumping

Checkers strategy

Control the centre. Pieces in the middle of the board have more moves and support each other.
Keep your back row. Leaving your own back-row pieces at home stops the opponent from crowning cheaply.
Use the compulsory capture. Offer a piece so that the forced jump lands your opponent where you can take two back.
Trade when ahead. With a piece more, swapping pieces off makes your advantage count.
Kings win endgames. Get a king early in the endgame — in the flying-king variants one king can control whole diagonals.

When the game is a draw

In every variant a game is drawn when the same position, with the same player to move, comes up a third time. Each rule set also ends games that make no progress after a set number of moves by each side, and the tool applies these automatically, warning you in the last ten moves. A player who cannot move loses, whether their pieces are all gone or just blocked.

Rules	Automatic draw after
American / English	40 moves each without a capture or a man moving. Official rules have no automatic limit: a player who refuses a draw offer must show a win within 40 moves. With no draw offers here, the limit applies to every game.
International (FMJD)	25 moves each with only kings moving and no captures; 16 moves each with three pieces (at least one a king) against a lone king; 5 moves each with two pieces or one, including a king, against a lone king.
Brazilian	20 moves each with only kings moving and no captures, which also covers three kings against one.
Russian	15 moves each with only kings moving and no captures, or with three or more kings against a lone king; with kings on both sides and no capture or crowning, 5 moves in 2–3 piece endings, 30 in 4–5 and 60 in 6–7; 5 moves with three pieces against a lone king on the main road (a1–h8).

FAQ

Questions about Checkers

Where does Checkers run?

Checkers runs in this tab on Toolspire. What you type or drop in is not sent to us and is not stored on a server.

Is capturing compulsory in checkers?

Yes, in all four rule sets: if you can jump, you must, and a multi-jump must be finished. In American checkers and Russian draughts you may choose which capture to make; in international and Brazilian draughts you must take the greatest number of pieces.

Who moves first in checkers?

In American / English checkers the dark pieces (often red or black) move first. In international, Brazilian and Russian draughts, light (white) moves first.

Can kings move more than one square?

In American checkers, no — a king moves one square diagonally in any direction. In international, Brazilian and Russian draughts kings “fly”: they move any distance along a diagonal and can capture from afar.

Is checkers solved?

Yes. In 2007 Jonathan Schaeffer’s team at the University of Alberta published a proof (in Science) that English checkers is a draw with perfect play from the starting position.

How do I make a multiple jump?

Click the piece, then click each landing square in turn — or click the final square directly if only one route ends there. The tool won’t let you stop part-way.

When is a game of checkers a draw?

When the same position comes up three times with the same player to move, or when nobody makes progress for a set number of moves: 40 moves each without a capture or a man moving in American checkers, 25 moves of kings only in international draughts, 20 in Brazilian and 15 in Russian draughts. Endgames against a lone king have shorter limits in international and Russian rules.

Can I play against a friend?

Yes — choose A friend and take turns on the same device. The board shows the player who moves first at the bottom.

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Last updated 20 October 2026Report a problem or suggest a feature