Checkers

Game Type: Strategy Game

Number of Players:2

Checkers Objective

The goal of Checkers is to be the only player left with pieces on the board by capturing your opponent's pieces through jumping or blocking them so they have no legal moves left and must surrender.

Playing Checkers on Solitaire Bliss

Before you start a new game, you can customize your setup with these features:

Mode: Select from a variety of styles, such as International Draughts, Pool Checker, and Straight Checkers. Although Custom Rules is a specific mode, you can still start with any variety and further customize how it's played with the features listed here.
Difficulty: Choose the level that best fits your skills, whether it's Easy, Medium, Hard, or Ultra.
Board Set: Play a standard game with an 8x8 board and 12 men per side, use just 8 men, or increase the board to a 10x10 and use 20 men.
Opening Move: Choose whether White or Black goes first.
Your Team: You can select to be White or Black or let the game choose randomly.
King Moves: Decide whether the king is allowed to move just one space at a time or any distance.
Capture Direction: You can allow pieces to capture forward only, both directions, or force players to capture forward first and then any subsequent direction when making a series of jumps at once.
Skip Capture Moves: Unless you have selected the Custom Rules mode, players must jump when possible by default unless you use this feature to customize whether players are forced to do so.
Kings: You can also check or uncheck a series of boxes listed after the features that mostly deal with how kings can move or be captured.

Checkers Setup

Checkers is a two-player game that requires just two items. For a standard game, setup is as follows:

Board: The board has alternating dark and light squares that are offset by row. A standard board has eight spaces in each of the eight rows, but Solitaire Bliss also allows you to change it to a 10x10 that plays with 20 pieces per person.
24 men: The game pieces (men) are divided evenly into black and white, one color for each player. The players place their men on the dark squares of the first three rows of the board nearest to them. Although 24 men is standard (12 for each player), Solitaire Bliss allows you to adjust it to 8 pieces per player on an 8x8 board or 20 each on a 10x10.

Checkers Rules

Pawns only move forward in a diagonal direction one dark square at a time. All men stay in dark squares throughout the game whether moving or jumping.
Your man can jump an opponent's man diagonally. If an opponent's man is directly in front of your piece and has an empty dark square behind it, you can jump it and remove their piece.
You must jump if you have the opportunity. Unless you customize your game to allow the option, you must jump opponent's pieces when you have a legal jump.
You can jump more than one piece in a single move. If one jump of your opponent's man lands you in a square with another legal jump, you can jump again and continue a succession of jumps, if available, with your same piece.
If your man makes it to the opponent's side, it becomes a king. Kings are "crowned" by adding another man on top of them and are signified online with a crown emblem on the piece. Kings have more power than the regular men on the board.
Kings can move in any direction and jump in any direction. Although kings must still only jump diagonally and move one space at a time, they can maneuver in any direction. So they could jump forwards and backwards in a succession of jumps or move forward and then on the next turn move backward if you need to adjust your strategy.
If you've cleared the board of your opponent's pieces or have surrounded their last pieces so they can't make a legal move, you win!

Checkers Strategies

Plan ahead. Checkers is a simple game with simple rules, but if you don't plan ahead, your opponent will gain control quickly. So don't make a move until you've thought through how you'll make your subsequent moves.
Move your men into the middle. You need room to maneuver, and most spaces are in the middle. So don't keep your pieces off to the side and limit what they can do. Instead get control of the middle of the board.
Be willing to sacrifice your men. Sometimes, the best move means sacrificing one of your pieces to your opponent. If you have to put a piece in front of your opponent to force them to jump to give you the opportunity to make two or three successive jumps, sacrifice that man.
Prioritize upgrading to king. When the board opens up, you need both offense as well as defense, and a king has much more flexibility to change up your strategy. Because kings can move and jump in either direction, you can switch a king from offense to defense in one move. The more kings you have on the board, the better chance you have at taking your opponent's pieces or backing them into a literal corner!
Prevent your opponent from upgrading to king. Balance your men across your side to keep your opponent from making their way to becoming king.
Look for multiple jumps and avoid them from your opponent. If you're planning ahead, you should be laying the way for multiple jumps, which can quickly devastate your opponent. But be wary of them turning the tables, so keep an eye out for how they may be planning the same for you.

If you like the strategy of Checkers, then you should also check out the variety of card games you can play for free on Solitaire Bliss. From Pyramid Solitaire to Yukon, you're sure to find a new favorite that gives you more opportunities to strategize.