How to Play
Easy is the place to learn checkers. The computer only looks a move or two ahead and every so often plays a careless move, so your ideas get a chance to work. You still play by the full rules, the same ones used on Medium and Hard.
Pick Dark or Light, then press your color to start; Dark opens the game. Touch one of your pieces to see where it can go, then touch one of the marked squares. Dragging the piece works just as well, with a finger or a mouse.
Made a mistake? Undo steps back to your previous turn, removing your move and the computer's answer, so you can try another idea straight away.
Rules
- Pieces live on the dark squares only and always move diagonally.
- A man steps one square forward. A king, earned by reaching the last row, steps one square in any diagonal direction.
- Jump an enemy piece that sits next to yours when the square behind it is empty; the jumped piece leaves the board.
- If you can jump, you have to. After a jump, if the same piece can jump again, it continues in the same move.
- Reaching the last row crowns a man and stops the move there, even in the middle of a chain of jumps.
- Take all your opponent's pieces or leave it without a legal move to win. Long games with no captures and no men moving end in a draw, and so does a position repeated three times.
Tips & Strategy
Count before you jump
Before a capture, check whether your piece can be jumped back where it lands. A trade is fine; a free piece for the computer isn't.
Stay together
Pieces side by side protect each other: an enemy can't jump a piece that has a friend right behind it.
Race for a king
A king can move backward, which makes it the strongest piece on the board. Aim one man at an empty stretch of the far row.
FAQ
Does the easy computer really make mistakes?
Yes. On some of its turns it plays any legal move instead of the best one it found, so it can leave pieces open.
When should I move up to Medium?
Once you win most games here without using Undo, Medium will give you a real game.
Are my results kept?
Your wins, losses, draws and streak on Easy are saved in this browser, separately from the other levels.