Play checkers online, free, against the computer

English draughts on an eight-by-eight board, with the compulsory captures that turn a simple game into a tactical one.

By the AI Vibe Coded Games editors Updated 3 min read

How this checkers game works

You play red and move up the board against a computer playing black. The rules are English draughts: pieces move diagonally one square, you must capture when a capture is available, a capturing piece keeps jumping while more jumps exist, and a piece that reaches the far row is crowned a king that moves both ways. You win by capturing or blocking every opposing piece.

Tap a piece and its legal moves are highlighted, so you never have to guess whether a jump is allowed. A toggle switches between Easy and Hard. A new game button resets the board in one tap, and the board resizes for phones.

The rule that makes checkers interesting

Compulsory capture is the whole game. Because you have to take, you can force your opponent into a bad capture by offering a piece, then jump more than you gave up. Strong players plan these sacrifices three moves ahead. It also means a casual move can hand the other side a forced sequence you didn't see.

A game that has been solved

Checkers has a surprising claim to fame. In 2007 a team led by computer scientist Jonathan Schaeffer, working on a program called Chinook, announced in the journal Science that the game is a draw with perfect play by both sides. Draughts families of games are far older than that: forms of the game were played on chessboards in medieval France, and the idea goes back to much older board games.

Tips that work against the computer

  • Keep your back row filled for as long as you can. It stops the other side from getting kings.
  • Take the centre squares. Pieces there have more options and are harder to trap against the edge.
  • Keep pieces in connected pairs so a jump has nowhere to land.
  • Trade pieces when you're ahead and avoid trades when you're behind.
  • Before every move, look for the forced capture you might be allowing.

Mistakes the computer loves

  • Advancing a lone piece. A piece without neighbours has nobody to recapture for it.
  • Emptying the back row early. That opens a door to an easy king.
  • Forgetting that captures are forced. The computer will happily offer you a piece to drag your formation apart.
  • Trading when you're behind. Fewer pieces make a deficit harder to recover.

Reading a multi-jump

A single capture can chain into several. If your piece lands on a square from which another jump is available, it must keep going. Before you make a move, scan the whole board for chains in both directions: yours, and the ones your opponent could be setting up. Kings change the maths, since they can jump forwards and backwards, so crowning a piece is often worth a small sacrifice.

Written as a prompt, played as a game

Like every original on this site, the checkers game began as a plain-English brief to an AI coding tool. You can read the exact prompt and compare the request with what came back.

Questions people ask

Which rules does this checkers game use?

English draughts on an 8 by 8 board: diagonal moves, compulsory captures, multi-jumps and kings that move both ways.

Are captures compulsory?

Yes. If you can capture, you must. The highlighted squares show you the legal options.

Is there an easy mode?

Yes. Switch between Easy and Hard with the toggle on the board.

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