Checkers & Draughts Information

Topic Editor: Jonathan Schaeffer

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Introduction

There are two types of checkers: Checkers/Draughts (8x8) and International Checkers (10x10). Here only information will be given about Checkers/Draughts (8x8).

Rules of the Game

There are over 100 variants of the game of checkers, however only two have large international playing communities. The 8x8 variant is popular in North America (where it is called Checkers) and in the (former) British Commonwealth countries (where it is called Draughts). The 10x10 variant is often called International Checkers, and it is popular in the former Soviet Union, parts of Europe and parts of Africa.

Checkers is played on an 8X8 checkerboard, where only half of the squares are used for play (it does not matter whether they are the white squares or the black). The starting position is as shown in Diagram 1 -- each side begins with 12 checkers. The Black pieces are normally put at the top of the diagram. Black moves first.


diagram 1

Checkers move one square forward diagonally. When a checker reaches the last rank of the board (the opponent's first rank), then it is promoted to become a king. Kings can move one square diagonally forward or backward.


diagram 2

Pieces are captured by "jumping" over them. As shown in Diagram 2, a jump consists of leaping over an adjacent opponent piece landing on the square immediately behind it. Captured pieces are removed from the board. Jump moves can be chained. A checker can make multiple captures, as long as it always jumps forward. Kings can make multiple captures, but are allowed to move forward and backward in a single move (see Diagram 3).


diagram 3

Play proceeds until:
  • one side loses all their pieces (a loss),
  • one side runs out of legal moves (a loss, unlike in chess where it is a draw), or
  • an agreed draw.
There is no formal rule that ends a game when a position is repeated three times (as there is in chess).

The standard notation used to specify moves is awkward. Each square is given a number, as shown in Diagram 4.


diagram 4

For example, the jump move from Diagram 3 would be given as 21-30-23-16-7. Attempts have been made to popularize the algebraic notation used for chess, but this has (unfortunately) not caught on.

Checkers Programs

The following programs are the major internationally known 8x8 checkers programs: