Leave your opponent with no move

You win by capturing every piece your opponent has, or by boxing in the pieces they have left so none of them can move on their turn.

Most games are decided well before the last piece falls. One extra piece or an early king can be enough, so think hard before every trade.

Red jumps Black’s last piece and wins the game.

Twelve pieces each, on the dark squares

Checkers is played on an 8×8 board, and only the 32 dark squares are ever used. Each player starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three rows closest to them.

The two middle rows start empty. Black always moves first, then the players take turns, one move each.

The starting position. In these diagrams Red plays up the board and Black plays down.

Men move one square, diagonally forward

A regular piece is called a man. On your turn, a man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square.

Men can’t move backward or sideways, so every step is a commitment. Each move also stays on the dark squares, which means a piece on the edge has only one forward square to choose from.

This man can step to either empty square ahead of it.

Jump over a piece to capture it

If an opposing piece is diagonally next to yours and the square just beyond it is empty, you can jump over it. The piece you jumped comes off the board.

Men capture the same way they move: forward only. A piece with another piece behind it can’t be jumped, because there’s nowhere to land.

Red jumps over Black and lands on the empty square beyond.

If you can jump, you must jump

Captures are compulsory. If any of your pieces can jump, you have to make a jump on that turn, and every ordinary move is off the table.

That one rule shapes the whole game, because a good player can offer you a piece on purpose and know exactly where your piece will land. On LarkSpark only legal moves are accepted, so you can’t miss a jump by accident.

“Before you move, check what it forces me to do. Then check what it forces you to do.”
Nova

The jump is Red’s only legal move, so the man in the corner has to wait.

With several jumps, you pick

When more than one capture is available, you can choose any of them. It can be a different piece or a different direction.

You don’t have to take the route that captures the most. A single jump that keeps your position together can be better than a double jump that walks into trouble.

Red can take one piece on the left or two on the right. Both are legal.

Keep jumping until you run out

If the piece that just jumped can jump again from where it landed, it has to keep going in the same turn. It can change direction along the way.

You can’t stop partway through. Your turn is over when that piece has no more jumps, and only the piece that started the jump can continue it.

One turn, two captures, and a change of direction.

Reach the far row to earn a crown

When a man reaches the row farthest from where it started, called the king row, it becomes a king.

If it gets there during a jump, it’s crowned and the turn ends right away, even if a king could have kept jumping from that square.

“A crown changes everything. Get one early and your opponent has to answer it.”
Nova

Red lands on the king row and is crowned. The turn ends, so the second jump has to wait.

Kings go both ways

A king moves one square diagonally in any direction, forward or backward. It also captures in any direction, and it can mix directions in a multiple jump.

Kings still move only one square at a time unless they’re jumping. Jumps stay compulsory for kings too.

A king can step to any of the four diagonal squares around it.

Capture, block, or draw

If it’s your turn and you have no legal move, you lose. That covers both having no pieces left and having every piece blocked.

A game is a draw when both players have made 40 moves in a row using only kings, with no captures. Moving a man or making a capture starts that count again.

In a timed game, running out of time loses the game. Casual games have no clock.

It’s Black’s turn. Its last man can’t move or jump, so Red wins.

If you learned a different version

LarkSpark plays American checkers, also known as English draughts. Rules vary around the world, so here is what might differ from the game you know:

Men capture forward only here. In many international versions, they can also capture backward.
Kings move one square here. Some versions have flying kings that travel any distance along a diagonal.
You can choose any available capture here. Some versions make you take the route that captures the most.
Jumps can’t be skipped here, so the old house rule of removing a piece that failed to jump doesn’t come up.

“Grew up with flying kings? Same board, very different game. Give yourself a few rounds.”
Nova

Playing on LarkSpark

To move, click a piece and then one of its highlighted squares, or drag the piece there. Only legal moves are highlighted, so forced jumps take care of themselves.

You can play one of eight bots, send a friend a link, or get matched with another player online. The bots range from Altair at level 1 to Orion at level 8.

Altair Level 1
Halley Level 2
Nova Level 3
Zhao Level 4
Juno Level 5
Lyra Level 6
Rigel Level 7
Orion Level 8

Your opponents, from friendliest to toughest.

Words to know

Look up men, kings, multiple jumps, and other terms in the Checkers Glossary.

Your turn in four checks

Look for a jumpA capture comes before every ordinary move.
Choose your routeIf there are several jumps, take the one you like best.
Finish the jumpKeep going with the same piece until it can’t jump again or reaches the king row and is crowned.
Otherwise, moveWith no jump available, move one square diagonally.