Checkers
100% FreeNo sign-upYou are Red and move first, up the board. Tap a piece to see its moves — captures are compulsory, and multi-jumps are taken one hop at a time. Reach the far row to crown a king, which moves both ways.
Play checkers — also called draughts — free online against the computer. Capture your opponent's pieces by jumping over them, crown your men as kings and clear the board to win. Everything, including the computer opponent, runs in your browser.
How to play checkers
You control the red pieces and move first, up the board. A piece slides one square diagonally forward to an empty dark square. To capture, jump over a neighbouring enemy piece into the empty square beyond it, removing the piece you jumped. The game ends when a player has no pieces left, or no legal move.
Compulsory jumps and multi-captures
If a capture is available you must take it. Better still, a single piece can chain several jumps in one turn — landing, turning and jumping again — clearing a whole row if the pieces line up. Zerdly walks you through the chain one jump at a time and only offers legal landings, so you never lose track of a multi-capture.
Kings
Get one of your men all the way to the top row and it becomes a king, marked with a crown. A king moves and captures diagonally in every direction, forwards and backwards, so a single king can dominate the board. Trading evenly while you push a man to the back rank is a classic winning plan.
Beating the computer
The computer looks several moves ahead, so avoid leaving a piece where it can be jumped for free. Try to force trades when you are ahead, keep your back row intact to stop the computer kinging, and set traps where any capture it makes hands you a bigger multi-jump in return.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play checkers?
Each player has 12 pieces on the dark squares. You move a piece diagonally forward to an empty dark square. To capture, you jump diagonally over an adjacent opponent piece to the empty square just beyond it, and the jumped piece is removed. Clear all your opponent's pieces — or leave them with no legal move — to win.
Are captures compulsory?
Yes. If a jump is available you must take it, and if the same piece can keep jumping after landing, it must continue the chain in the same turn. Zerdly steps you through a multi-jump one hop at a time and only lets you land on legal squares.
What is a king?
When one of your men reaches the far row it is crowned a king. Kings may move and capture diagonally in all four directions — forwards and backwards — which makes them much stronger than ordinary men.
Who do I play against?
You play Red against a computer opponent that plays Black. It looks several moves ahead to choose its reply, so it will punish loose moves — set up double jumps and protect your back row.
Can I change the difficulty or play a friend?
Yes. Choose Easy, Medium or Hard to set how many moves ahead the computer looks, or switch to 2 Players to play a friend on the same device — the board simply passes turns between Red and Black. You can undo moves at any time, and there is a win/loss/draw record against the computer.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The whole game, including the computer opponent, runs on your device, and your game is saved in your browser only. There is no account and nothing is sent to Zerdly.
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