Checkers Games

Checkers is a two-player board game: you move your pieces diagonally and capture your opponent's by jumping over them. There are about 30 games, so you'll find the classic and a few variants worth knowing.

The variants on the list

Classic checkers appears under many names: Damas, Checkers, Checkers Classic, Master Checkers or Dames Classique. They're played on an 8x8 board, with pieces moving diagonally and capturing by jumping. When a piece reaches the far end it's crowned a king and gets more freedom of movement. It's the version you've seen on any kitchen table.

Russian Draughts is the Russian version, similar but with slightly different capture rules, and Neon Checkers and Checkers Legend are versions with a different look. Some are made for two people on the same device (Checkers for Two Players, Two Player Checkers) and a few have online play, like Master Checkers Multiplayer and Checkers RPG: Online PvP Battle.

Chinese checkers (Damas chinas clásico, Chinese Checkers) have nothing to do with the regular kind: the board is a star, pieces hop without capturing, and the winner is whoever first gets all their pieces to the opposite side. Othello and Reversi aren't checkers either: you place pieces to flip your opponent's, and whoever has the most pieces of their color at the end wins.

Playing better

A basic tip: don't push one piece too far ahead. Advance as a group so it can't be captured, and keep the pieces on your back row as long as you can, since they stop your opponent from getting a king. In classic checkers, jumping is usually mandatory, so use that to force your opponent into a move that hurts them. Other games on the list, like Othello, reward the opposite: sometimes it's better to capture less.

To start, Checkers or Master Checkers show the usual rules best, and if you're unsure, play a few games against the computer on the easy level. Chinese checkers are friendlier for kids, since there are no captures and the goal is just to get across. And try Othello if you like board games with short rules but lots of ideas: corners are key, because a piece in a corner can never be flipped.