Checkers

Checkers is a board game played between two players, who alternate moves. The player who cannot move, because he has no pieces, or because all of his pieces are blocked, loses the game. Players can resign or agree to draws.

The board is square, with sixty-four smaller squares, arranged in an 8x8 grid. The smaller squares are alternately light and dark colored in the famous "checker-board" pattern. Our game of checkers is played on the light squares versus the normal dark squares.

The starting position is with each player having twelve pieces, on the twelve light squares closest to his edge of the board.

Moving: A piece which is not a king can move one square, diagonally, forward. A king can move diagonally, forward or backward. A piece (piece or king) can only move to a vacant square. A move can also consist of one or more jumps (next paragraph).

Jumping: You capture an opponent's piece by jumping over it, diagonally, to the adjacent vacant square beyond it. A king can jump diagonally, forward or backward. A piece which is not a king, can only jump diagonally forward. You can make a multiple jump, with one piece only, by jumping to empty square to empty square. You can only jump one piece, with any given jump. But you can jump several pieces, with a move of several jumps. You remove the jumped pieces from the board. You cannot jump your own piece. You cannot jump the same piece twice, in the same move. If you can jump, you must. And, a multiple jump must be completed. You cannot stop part way through a multiple jump. If you have a choice of jumps, you can choose among them, regardless of whether some of them are multiple, or not. A piece, whether it is a king or not, can jump a king.

Kinging: When a piece reaches the last row (the King Row), it becomes a King. The peg is flipped over, by the opponent, to reveal a new color to represent Kinging. A piece that has just kinged, cannot continue jumping pieces, until the next move.

Red moves first. The players take turns moving. You can make only one move per turn. You must move. If you cannot move, you lose. Players normally choose colors at random, and then alternate colors in subsequent games.