Rules of checkers
These are the rules used in Jump Club’s live games. Other checkers variants differ as noted below.
01
Setup
Each player starts with 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three nearest rows. Jump Club uses an 8×8 board with international-style rules. The light pieces move first.
02
Moving
A man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. It cannot make an ordinary move backwards, but it can capture backwards.
03
Jumping
Jump over an adjacent opponent onto an empty square behind it. Captures are compulsory: choose a route that captures the greatest number of pieces, and complete every jump in that route.
04
Kings
A piece that finishes its turn on the far row becomes a king. Kings can move any distance along an empty diagonal, forwards or backwards, and capture along diagonals.
05
Winning
Win when your opponent has no pieces or no legal move. Games may also be drawn by agreement or by the game’s repetition and no-progress rules.
06
Variants
| Game | Board | Pieces | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| American checkers | 8×8 | 12 | Forward captures; short-range kings. |
| International draughts | 10×10 | 20 | Backward captures; flying kings. |
| Jump Club / Brazilian-style | 8×8 | 12 | International-style captures on an 8×8 board. |