An Age-Old Game of Checkers.
I bet you weren’t expecting this game, huh?
Checkers is a very old and very well-known game, to the point where if you were to throw a stone at a board game store, you would likely hit Checkers. Checkers, also known as Draughts in Britain, was first invented…probably at the dawn of human history. This board game, and those of similar make, have been around since humans first sat down with nothing to do. Various games like Go, Alquerque, and more have been extremely popular pastimes for people. This makes sense, given that humans like having stuff to do.
Okay, what is Checkers?
So, the premise is pretty simple. There are two players and two sides. Red and Black, on an 8×8 board. On each side, there are 14. There are no special pieces at the beginning of the game, but let’s put a pin on that.
The objective is simple: You have to eliminate the other side’s pieces. Each piece can only move square. You do this by having one piece “jump” over an opposing piece horizontally or vertically. That said, in American Checkers, you cannot move backward, only forwards. Once a piece “jumps” over an enemy, the enemy is “captured” and taken off the board. If you can capture multiple pieces in a row, you are encouraged to do so.
And remember that pin? Let’s cover that right now. If a piece makes it to the opposite side, they are crowned “king” and has additional powers. To start, they can move forward and backward and can cover any number of squares.
You win once the opponent’s pieces have all been removed from the board.
Are there any other versions?
Oh, so many. While this game is quite old, people will be people and put their spin on the game. So much so that trying to list them here would probably take up far too much space. But here is a short list:
- Pool Checkers
- Polish Checkers
- Damath
- Chinese Checkers
So, how do I win?
Alright, that’s enough fluff. Let’s get down and figure out how to win a game of Checkers. So, let’s cover a few tips and tricks!
- Control the middle. While playing the edges may seem like a good idea at first, this makes that much easier for the opponent to capture your pieces. Instead, you want to try to control the middle with mass movements. This will allow your pieces to safeguard each other, so long as you don’t place them in a way that allows for continuous capturing.
- Play Aggressively. Like it or not, you can’t win this game by using defensive tactics. Trying to move your pieces away from your opponents will simply wind up losing them. What’s more, the objective of the game is to remove the opponent’s pieces entirely. Ergo, you should always be thinking of how to eliminate as many as possible in one move.
- King Me. And as said above, the King pieces are extremely powerful, due to their ability to move forward and backward. This makes them useful, and you should always try to have at least one by the mid-game.
- One or One hundred? But, this isn’t a game you can’t win without any losses. And while it may be sad, it can be beneficial if you were to use a piece as a decoy, or a sacrificial pawn.
- I’m skipping ahead. Following that, when you get a King piece, one thing that is highly encouraged to do is perform continuous captures. Normally, a piece cannot capture more than one enemy unit at a time, but when you have a king, the rules change. You can capture as many as you can, so long as you can keep up the movement.
And there’s plenty more but for right now…
Checkers FAQ
Is Checkers harder than Chess? No, not really. Chess has multiple variant units that have their movement abilities and rules. Checkers do not, and as such, it is simpler by comparison.
What are Checkers‘ rules? Players take turns moving one checker per turn. A piece can move one space sideways, forward, or diagonally toward the opposing home space. It CANNOT move backward towards its own home space. Expect for kings.
What is the difference between Draughts and Checkers? International or Polish Draughts are played on a 10×10 board with twenty pieces per player, the red or lighter-colored men move first. Checkers is the American name for the same game, American Checkers is played on an 8×8 board with twelve pieces for each player, black moves first.
And that’s all for now folks! Remember to check out the rest of CheatCC for even more gaming news, cheat codes, and reviews!
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