OMGLoftClassic games. Real players. Checkers
Draughts 8×8: men capture backwards.
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How to play — Checkers
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In short
Checkers is a game for two players on an 8×8 board. You move your pieces over the dark squares and capture your opponent's pieces by jumping over them. You win by capturing all the opposing pieces or leaving your opponent with no move.
Board and setup
Each player has 12 pieces placed on the dark squares. White moves first. To move, select your piece and then the square you want to move it to.
Starting position in 8×8 checkers A normal move
A piece moves one empty square diagonally forward. A king (described below) moves diagonally in any direction, any number of empty squares.
Capturing: jumping over an opposing piece
A piece captures by jumping over an adjacent opposing piece and landing on the empty square right behind it. You may capture forwards and backwards. If you can keep capturing after a jump, the series continues with the same piece. For a longer route, click each square in turn. In the diagram a white piece captures two black pieces in one move.
A white piece captures two black ones in a single move (route marked) Capturing is compulsory
When you can capture, you must. If you have several series to choose from, pick the one that captures the most pieces (a king counts the same as a man). Captured pieces are removed only after the whole move: during a series you cannot pass through them or capture them a second time.
Kings
A piece that finishes its move on the last row becomes a king. A king moves diagonally in any direction and captures from a distance: it travels along a diagonal to an opposing piece and lands on any empty square behind it. If a piece reaches the last row in the middle of a series and can keep capturing, it continues as an ordinary piece and does not become a king.
How a game ends
You lose when you have no pieces or cannot make a move. You may resign or offer a draw. A draw also happens automatically when the same position occurs for the third time with the same player to move, or when long endings with kings only make no progress. The move limits follow the official 64-square draughts rules: 15 moves by kings alone without a capture, and in endings with kings on both sides 30 moves by each side (4–5 pieces) or 60 moves (6–7 pieces). Three or more kings that cannot capture a lone king within 15 moves also give a draw. A random opening starts the game from a position after a few legal moves.
The clock
At the table you set each player's time for the whole game (1 to 15 minutes) and an increment added after every move (0 to 10 seconds). The clock runs only on your turn. When your time runs out, you lose.