Play Checkers Online Free — Solo or With Friends

How to Play

1. Pick your opponent: the computer, a friend on the same device, or a friend in an online room.
2. Violet moves first from the bottom of the board. Tap one of your pieces — pieces that can move glow softly.
3. Green dots show where the selected piece may go. Tap a dot to move there.
4. To capture, jump diagonally over an enemy piece into the empty square behind it. If another jump is possible from where you land, keep tapping the next dot until the chain is finished.
5. Reach the far side of the board and your piece is crowned as a king.
6. You win when your opponent has no pieces left or cannot make any legal move.

Rules

The game uses the dark squares of an 8×8 board only. Each side starts with twelve men on its first three rows. A man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty square, and it captures by jumping over an enemy piece that sits diagonally in front of it. Captured pieces are removed once the move is over. A capture chain must be completed — you cannot stop halfway while another jump is still available.

When a man reaches the row furthest from its start, it becomes a king and its turn ends straight away, even if it could jump again. Kings move and capture one square diagonally in any direction, forwards or backwards.

There are two rule settings. With Forced captures, taking a piece is compulsory whenever any capture exists, and the board shows a "Capture!" tag. With Captures optional, you may decide to make a quiet move instead. A side that cannot move loses. If forty moves pass for each player without any capture or new king, the game is declared a draw.

Tips & Strategy

• Guard your back row. Keeping two men on your home row, especially the squares an enemy would crown on, makes it very hard for the opponent to get a king.
• Use forced captures as a weapon. In the forced setting you can offer one piece on purpose so that the capture drags an enemy piece into a spot where you jump two back. Always count what happens after the capture.
• Move in pairs. A man with a friend right behind it cannot be jumped from the front, because the landing square is blocked. Lone runners are easy targets.
• Keep the centre. Pieces in the middle four columns have two directions to move and support each other. Pieces stuck on the edge have only one.
• Trade when you are ahead. One extra piece matters much more when the board is nearly empty, so swap pieces one-for-one once you lead.

Game Modes

Play vs Computer has Easy, Medium and Hard levels. Easy often misses captures and is a gentle start for new players. Medium looks a few moves ahead and punishes pieces left hanging. Hard searches deeper, plays out every capture sequence before deciding, and hunts down a lone king in the endgame.

Play with Friend puts both armies on one screen. Violet plays upwards from the bottom, amber plays downwards from the top, and the banner tells you whose move it is.

Play Online connects you with a friend on another device, and the board is turned so your own pieces always sit at the bottom.

Play with Friends Online

Choose Play Online and set up a room. You will get a room code plus a link you can paste into a message. Your friend opens it in any browser and joins you — no download or login is needed. The host picks the capture rule and begins the match once both names appear. Each jump is shown on both boards right away, and a player who drops out can rejoin through the same link.