The board and setup
Checkers, also called English draughts, is played on an 8 by 8 board of light and dark squares. Only the 32 dark squares are used. Each player starts with 12 pieces, called men, on the dark squares of the three rows nearest them. On Arena13 one side is Black and the other is Red, and Black always moves first.
The dark squares are numbered 1 to 32, the standard way to write down a game of checkers. Black starts on squares 1 to 12 and Red on 21 to 32. The numbers are shown on the board, and the Square numbers switch in the settings hides them. Open Move history to see every move written out: 11-15 is a move from square 11 to square 15, and 22x18 is a capture.
Checkers rules: how pieces move
Players take turns, one move each. A man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. It can never move backward, which is why kings matter so much.
Captures are forced
You capture by jumping. If an enemy piece is diagonally next to yours and the square right behind it is empty, your piece jumps over it and the enemy piece is removed. Men only capture forward, just as they only move forward.
Capturing is not optional. If any of your pieces can jump, you must jump. If several jumps are possible, you choose which one; it doesn't have to be the longest. When a capture is forced, the turn bar says "Capture is mandatory", and only the pieces that can capture will move.
Multi-jumps
If the same piece can jump again after landing, it must keep going, and the whole chain counts as one move. A man can zigzag left and right as long as every jump goes forward; a king can jump in any diagonal direction. When you select a piece, the game marks the square where each possible jump or chain ends and the pieces it would take. Tap that landing square and the whole chain is played.
Kings
When a man reaches the far row, it is crowned and becomes a king, shown with a crown. A king moves and captures diagonally forward and backward, one square at a time, which makes it worth much more than a man. If a man reaches the far row during a chain of jumps, it is crowned and its move ends there, even if it could jump again as a king.
How you win
You win when your opponent cannot move on their turn. That happens when you have captured all of their pieces, or when every piece they have left is blocked. Being blocked is a loss, not a draw.
Draws
If 40 moves in a row, counting both players, are king moves with no capture and no man moving, the game is a draw. When only 8 of those moves are left, the turn bar starts counting down. There are no draw offers in this version, so that is the only way a game is drawn.
Checkers strategy
- Control the centre. A man in the middle has two forward squares and can join an attack on either side. A man on the edge has only one.
- Keep your back row as long as you can. Your opponent crowns on your back row, and a man can't be crowned on a square you still occupy.
- Move in groups. A piece with a friendly piece right behind it can't be jumped from the front along that diagonal, because there is no empty square to land on.
- Use the forced capture. Give up one piece on purpose so the forced jump pulls an enemy piece into place for your double jump. Players call this a shot, and it is one of the most common ways games are won.
- Look for double jumps before every move. Check whether your move leaves an empty square behind one of your pieces that an enemy piece could land on and then jump again.
- Trade when you are ahead. Even trades help the side with more pieces. When you are behind, avoid them.
- Edges are safe but slow. A piece on the side edge can't be jumped, but it has fewer ways forward.
- Crown kings early and use them. A king can attack men from behind, and men can't capture backward to fight back.
Playing the computer
Tap New game to choose vs Computer or Two players. Against the computer you also choose a level and whether you play Black (first) or Red (second).
- Easy picks a random legal move. It still has to capture when it can, but it doesn't plan.
- Medium looks three moves ahead, counting both sides' moves, and plays for material, valuing a king above a man.
- Hard looks five moves ahead and also judges position: advancing men, guarding the back row and holding the centre.
Medium and Hard keep following a run of forced captures past their normal depth, so they see a short exchange coming. To beat them, plan shots that take more than a few moves to pay off.
Undo, new games and two players
Undo, or the U key, takes back your last move. Against the computer it takes back your move and its reply together, so you can try a different idea. N opens the new game menu. In Two players mode, two people share one device and take turns as Black and Red.
