checkers

Checkers, also known as draughts, is a two-player strategy board game with a long history and widespread play. The standard version is played on an 8x8 board using 12 dark-square pieces per player. The objective is to capture all of the opponent’s pieces or block them so they have no legal move.

Setup and movement: Each player places their pieces on the dark squares of the first three ranks. On his or her turn, a non-king piece moves one diagonal square forward to an unoccupied dark square. If an adjacent diagonal square contains an opponent’s piece and the square immediately beyond is empty, the piece may capture by jumping over it to that square. In most variants, multiple captures are possible in a single turn, and players may have choices among different capture sequences. In many tournaments, capturing is mandatory, and some rules require the maximum number of captures when options exist.

Promotion: Reaching the opponent’s back rank promotes a piece to a king. A king gains the ability to move and capture backward, in addition to forward movement. In common American/English checkers, kings move one square at a time with backward captures; in international draughts, kings have greater mobility, able to move and capture over longer distances.

End and variants: A player wins by removing all opponent pieces or leaving them with no legal move. Variants include English/American checkers on 8x8 and international draughts on 10x10 boards, which features flying kings and different capturing rules. Draughts remains a globally played family of games with numerous regional rules and strategies.