BrainKing - Game rules (Checkers)

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Statistics of won games
black	28204 (44.55 %)
white	29853 (47.16 %)
Draws	5239 (8.27 %)

Short description of specific rules of Checkers variants

Game type	Board size	Number of pieces	Long moves of promoted piece	Pawns can jump backwards	*Quantity rule ()**	Quality rule ()**	Preference rule ()*	Special rules
Checkers	8x8	12
Anti Checkers	8x8	12
Czech Checkers	8x8	12	x				x
Corner Checkers	8x8	12	x				x	Pawns promote in corner squares only.
One Way Checkers	8x8	12	x				x	All pawns move and jump in the same direction.
Parachute Checkers	8x8	12	x				x	Parachutist does not have a jumping preference.
Gothic Checkers	8x8	16
Turkish Checkers	8x8	16	x		x
Alquerque	5x5	12		x				Pawns do not promote.
Hawaiian Checkers	8x8	32		x				Pawns do not promote and multiple jumps must be in the same direction.
International Checkers	10x10	20	x	x	x
Russian Checkers	8x8	12	x	x				If pawn jumps to last row, it promotes and continues jumping immediately.
Canadian Checkers	12x12	30	x	x	x
Thai Checkers	8x8	8	x					Queen must jump to the first square after jumped piece.
Brazilian Checkers	8x8	12	x	x	x
Portuguese Checkers	8x8	12	x		x	x
Italian Checkers	8x8	12			x	x		More complicated quality jumping rules.
Dameo	8x8	18	x	x	x			Pawns can make linear moves and all pieces can jump only orthogonally.

(*) It is mandatory to capture as many pieces (as one multi-jump) as possible.
(**) It is mandatory to capture the maximum possible amount of promoted pieces.
(***) It is mandatory to capture with a promoted piece if possible.

Checkers

Start position and game object

Checkers is played on a standard 64 square chess board. The whole game is performed on dark squares only and each player starts to play with twelve pieces - pawns, located in three rows on the player's side.

The object of this game is to capture all opponent's pieces or reach a position where your opponent cannot make a legal move.

Movement of pieces

Pawns can move only one space diagonally forward, they cannot move backward. The following picture shows an example of white pawn move.

If a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board (the last row), it turns to a king who adds backward moves to his abilities.

How to capture opponent's pieces

If a pawn stands next to an opponent's piece (forward direction) and the next space beyond this piece is empty, then the player must capture the opponent's piece by jumping over it and removes it from the board. The captured piece will appear under (or over, depending on the board orientation) the board in Captured pieces field to inform the players about the game status.

If, after jumping, it is possible to jump over another opponent's piece, the player must capture this piece too. It means that the player can capture several pieces in one move.

The same rule applies on a king with the only difference - kings can capture an opponent's piece backward as well.

Other important rules

The player can jump over opponent's pieces only, not over his/her own ones.
Jumping is mandatory. BrainKing.com will not allow you to make a "normal" move if you can capture one or more opponent's pieces in the current position.
If the player has more possibilities to capture opponent's pieces, he/she can select any of them. However, when a queen (in variants with long jumps) can make a jump, the player cannot select a pawn to jump with.
The pawn that have jumped over an opponent's piece and turned to a king (reached the opposite side of the board), does not have to continue jumping as a king in this round, even if it would be possible. When a pawn promotes to a king, the move is ALWAYS finished.

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See also: Checkers, Anti Checkers, Czech Checkers, Corner Checkers, One Way Checkers, Parachute Checkers, Gothic Checkers, Turkish Checkers, Alquerque, Hawaiian Checkers, International Checkers, Russian Checkers, Canadian Checkers, Thai Checkers, Brazilian Checkers, Portuguese Checkers, Italian Checkers, Dameo