Strategy with Nova
In checkers, an offered piece can decide where your opponent moves next. Learn how to use forced captures to set traps, where to put your pieces in the opening, and how to use your kings when the board clears.
Jumping games like alquerque predate modern checkers. The History of Checkers follows the game from the medieval record through tournament play and the Chinook computer program.
Early moves decide who controls the middle of the board. Pieces in the center have two forward squares to choose from; pieces on the edge have only one, and they can be pinned there.
Many players keep two back-row pieces in place for most of the game, with a gap between them. An opponent cannot slip through that pair without being jumped.
Because captures are compulsory, you can offer a piece to pull an opponent’s piece onto a square of your choosing. If the jump lands them where you can take two or three pieces back, you’ve set up a shot.
Before every move, ask two questions: which captures does this force my opponent to make, and what can I jump after they do? Ask the same question for your opponent’s last move, because they may be setting a shot for you.
A king moves and captures both forward and backward, which makes it worth roughly two ordinary pieces in most positions. Getting the first king usually decides an even game, so look for lanes your opponent has left open toward their back row.
Once you have a king, bring it back into the fight. A king sitting on the back row does nothing; a king behind enemy pieces can attack them from the side they cannot defend.
With only a few pieces left, the turn order can decide who gives way. If opposing pieces face each other and one side has to step into a capture, the side that can wait has the opposition.
The board has two kinds of corners. The single corner has a dark square in the corner itself. The double corner has a pair of dark squares on the diagonal next to the corner. A defending king can move between those two squares to stay out of reach.
Two kings against one is a win, but only if you drive the lone king out of the double corner. Practice it against a bot until it feels routine.
You can start a game on the Checkers page without an account. Play against one of eight bots, from Altair at level 1 to Orion at level 8. The lower levels move at random or grab the nearest capture, which makes them good for learning the rules; the top level searches deep and punishes loose pieces.
To play a person, pick an online match, or sign in and open a private room to send a friend a code. Games can be untimed, or played with a clock: a quick three minutes with a two-second bonus per move, or five or ten minutes each. Your recent results are listed on the game’s stats page.
Keep playing
The same 8×8 board with six kinds of pieces. If you enjoy planning a few moves ahead, chess rewards it even more.
One move can flip a whole line of discs. Corners matter, and the player ahead early often loses.
A race home with dice, where blocking and hitting your opponent’s pieces feels a lot like a checkers trade.
