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Checkers

tip

If you want to know how to start or end a game, or how to see your stats and ranking, please see our general help for two-player games.

There are several variants of checkers. ghosty implements the English draughts variant of checkers. Variants of checkers are distinguished by the board size, the number of pieces per player, mandatory capturing, and the abilities of the king.

Getting Started​

Checkers Board​

  • The eight files are indicated by the small letters from a to h.
  • The eight ranks are numbered from 1 to 8.

These squares are used to indicate moves in checkers.

Checkers board that is numbered from a1 to h8

Moves and Notation​

To make a move, you simply send a message with the move in the appropriate notation. An example of a simple move could be d1e2, moving a piece diagonally forward, from the origin square d1 to the destination square e2.

<origin square><destination square>

Capturing​

Capturing is done by jumping over an opponent's piece. For example, if you have a piece on d1 and want to capture the piece at e2, you can send the message d1f3.

If you want to capture multiple pieces, you can chain the moves together. For example, if you have a piece on d1 and want to capture the pieces at e2 and e4, you can send the message d1f3d5 (or shortcut to d1d5 in case the move in unambigious).

English Draughts​

As in all forms of draughts, English draughts is played by two opponents, alternating turns on opposite sides of the board. Enemy pieces are captured by jumping over them. The pieces move diagonally, one square at a time. Pieces may only move forward, except for the king which can move in any direction. A player wins when the opponent has no more pieces or cannot make a move.

English draughts specifically is played on a 8×8 checkerboard with 12 pieces per player.

  • When capturing an opponent's piece is possible, capturing is mandatory. If multiple captures are possible, the player must choose one of them. It does not matter which capture is chosen and is not required to be the one that maximizes the number of jumps in the turn.
  • When a piece reaches the opponent's side of the board, it is promoted to a king. A king can move and capture in any direction. A king can still only move one square at a time (as opposed to some variants that have flying kings).