wunder beta⛁ Checkers for Absolute Beginners
Mandatory jumps, kings, and your first winning plan
What you’ll learn
- The Board and SetupSet up the checkers board correctly, place all pieces, and identify who moves first and how the game is won.Checkers is played on an 8 by 8 board using only the dark squares. Each player places twelve pieces on the dark squares of their three nearest rows, oriented so a light square sits in the near-right corner. In American checkers the darker color moves first, then players alternate. You win by leaving your opponent with no legal move, and if neither side can, the game is a draw.
- Moves, Jumps, and the Forced-Capture RuleMove and capture correctly, including multi-jumps, and apply the mandatory-capture rule.An ordinary checker moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. You capture by jumping over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond, removing it. Captures are mandatory: if a jump is available you must take it, and if the same piece can jump again after landing, it must keep going in that turn. When more than one jump is possible, you may choose which to make.
- Kings and the Back RowExplain how pieces are crowned, how kings move, and why holding your back row matters.A plain piece that reaches the opponent's back row is crowned a king, and its turn ends the moment it is crowned. A king moves and jumps one diagonal square in any direction, forward or backward, making it far stronger than an ordinary piece. Guarding your own back row blocks the enemy from getting crowned, so a single well-placed king can dominate several plain pieces late in the game.
- Your First Winning PlanApply beginner strategy: trade when ahead, control the center, set up two-for-one shots, and avoid common mistakes.When you are ahead in pieces, trade evenly to simplify the board and convert your lead. Control the central squares, where pieces have more reach and can defend each other. Use the forced-capture rule to set up two-for-one shots, offering one piece as bait to capture two. Avoid the common beginner mistake of pushing pieces forward loosely, which hands the opponent free jumps, and race to make the first king.
Questions this course answers
On which squares are checkers pieces placed and moved during the game?
Checkers uses only the dark squares of the board. All pieces start on dark squares and every move and jump stays on the dark diagonals, so the light squares are never used.
In a red-and-black American checkers set, which color makes the first move?
The convention in American checkers is that the darker colored pieces move first. With a red and black set, that means black goes first, then players alternate turns.
It is your turn. You have a quiet forward move available, and you also have a legal jump available. What are you allowed to do?
In checkers, captures are mandatory. If any jump is available, you must take a jump instead of a quiet move. You cannot decline the capture to make an ordinary move.
You jump one enemy piece, and after you land, the same piece can immediately jump another. What must happen?
When a landing square allows a further jump by the same piece, the capture must continue in the same turn. Multi-jumps are required until no more captures are possible for that piece.
How is an ordinary checker turned into a king?
A plain piece becomes a king when it reaches the farthest row, the opponent's back row. It is then crowned, and gains the ability to move both forward and backward.
How does a king move that an ordinary checker cannot?
A king moves one diagonal square at a time like any piece, but it can move and jump both forward and backward. A plain checker can only move forward toward the far side.
Grounded in trusted sources
- Britannica
- American Checker Federation
- World Checkers Draughts Federation
Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.
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