Checkers Variations and House Rules

Almost everyone who grew up with checkers learned it from someone at home, and home rules drift. Maybe your grandfather let you skip a jump, or your cousins insisted the light pieces go first. None of that is wrong at the kitchen table, as long as everyone agrees before the game starts. This page explains the common house rules, which of them you can switch on in our online checkers game, and how checkers is played in other parts of the world.

Who Moves First

Under the standard American rules, Dark moves first. With a black-and-red set, black starts. Older books and some families do it the other way round, and many households simply let the youngest player start, or take turns going first from one game to the next.

Huffing: the Old Penalty for a Missed Jump

Jumps are required. In the old days, if a player failed to make a jump, the opponent could huff the piece that should have jumped, removing it from the board as a penalty, and then make their own move. Some families still play this way, and it adds a nice bit of "watch the board!" to a friendly game.

Modern rules simply say the jump must be made, and a player who notices a missed jump asks for the move to be taken back. Our game doesn't let you miss a jump at all: when one is available, only the pieces that can jump are outlined. So huffing never comes up.

Must You Take the Most Pieces?

In American checkers, when you have a choice of jumps you may pick any of them, even a single jump when a double jump is available. You only have to finish the route you start. Many players don't realize this, and plenty of families play that you must take the route that captures the most pieces. That rule is standard in international draughts and several European versions.

Crowning in the Middle of a Jump

In American checkers a man that reaches the far row during a jump is crowned, and that ends the move, even if a king could jump again from there. In some other versions the piece continues jumping as a king, or passes over the back row and keeps going as a man. Our game uses the American rule: crowning ends the move.

Flying Kings and Backward-Jumping Men

The biggest differences between national versions are in how far pieces move:

• Flying kings. In many versions a king slides any number of squares along a diagonal, like a bishop in chess, and can jump a piece from a distance. American kings move one square at a time.
• Men jumping backward. In international draughts and some others, men may jump backward (though they still move forward). American men only jump forward.

These change the game a great deal, so they are separate games rather than house rules, and our game plays the American version only.

Draw Rules

Friendly games often end with "let's call it a draw" when two kings are chasing each other around the board. Tournament rules make it formal: a game is a draw if the same position comes up three times with the same player to move, or if a set number of moves go by with no jumps and no men moving. The usual count is 40 moves by each player, but you will see other numbers in older rule books and family traditions.

Tournament Openings

Among expert players, so many games from the normal start ended in draws that tournaments began dealing out the first two or three moves at random from a list of approved openings. Players then play both sides of the opening in turn. It is a fascinating way to play, but for friendly games the ordinary starting position is all you need.

Checkers Around the World

Whichever version your family played, the heart of the game is the same: look ahead, keep your pieces together, and make your opponent's forced jumps work for you. Our checkers strategy guide has more on that, and the full rules page covers every detail of the American game.