Checkers Strategy: Win With Forced Jumps
Checkers (draughts) strategy under American rules: using compulsory captures, holding the back row, centre control, trading when ahead, kings and endgames.
Checkers looks simple, twelve pieces a side moving diagonally on the dark squares, but the compulsory capture rule turns it into a game of forcing sequences: you can make your opponent jump where you want them to. Checkers follows the American rules, and this guide covers the strategy that follows from them, from the first moves to the endgame against the Hard robot.
The rules in brief
- Pieces move one square diagonally forward on the dark squares. Black moves first.
- A piece jumps over an adjacent enemy piece onto the empty square beyond to capture it. Captures are compulsory, and a jump continues with the same piece while another jump is available. When several captures are possible you may choose which.
- A piece reaching the far row is crowned a king and can move and jump backward as well as forward. A piece crowned during a jump stops there.
- You win when your opponent has no legal move (no pieces, or all blocked). Forty moves each without a capture or an ordinary piece moving, or the same position three times, is a draw.
Compulsory capture is your weapon
Because your opponent must jump when they can, you can force their pieces onto squares of your choosing. The basic pattern is the two-for-one: offer a piece in a place where the capturing piece lands on a square from which you can jump two. More elaborate "shots" sacrifice two or three pieces to set up a long multi-jump or a breakthrough to the king row.
Look for shots whenever an enemy piece has a single empty square behind it and your pieces are arranged to use the landing square. Conversely, before every move check what jumps you would be forced into after each of your opponent's replies.
A two-for-one
Your pieces sit on squares that we will call A and B, and an enemy piece sits next to A with an empty square behind it. You move a third piece to a square where the enemy must jump it, landing next to B with an empty square beyond. Now your piece on B jumps the piece that just landed, and continues to jump the piece originally next to A. One piece given, two taken. The robot at Normal and Hard sets these up constantly; learn to see the landing squares.
Hold the back row
Pieces on your back row stop the opponent from crowning. Keep them there as long as you can, especially the two that guard the squares an enemy piece would need to reach. Advance the back row only late in the game, when crowning is no longer the threat or when you need the pieces to win.
The centre and the edges
A piece in the centre controls more squares and has more jumping chances; a piece on the edge can only move one way and is easy to trap, but it cannot be jumped. Early on, fight for the centre with your front pieces and keep a compact formation: pieces that support each other diagonally cannot be jumped (there is no empty square behind them). Loose single pieces in the middle are the ones that get taken.
Trading when ahead
Each exchange when you are a piece up increases your advantage: twelve against eleven is close; four against three is usually a win. So trade pieces freely when ahead and avoid trades when behind. The compulsory rule makes forcing a trade easy: move a piece next to an enemy piece with a square behind it, and they must take, then you retake.
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Kings and the endgame
A king is worth about two ordinary pieces. Get one early if you can do so safely, then use it to attack from behind. In endgames with few pieces, the key skill is the opposition: having the move in a position where whoever moves loses ground. Two kings against one in the centre is a win with correct play by driving the lone king to the double corner and then out of it; one king against one is a draw if the lone king reaches the double corner (the two connected dark squares at the corner of the board), so race for it when behind and keep your opponent out of it when ahead.
Playing the robot
Easy walks into two-for-ones; Normal avoids them but can be out-manoeuvred; Hard counts shots several moves deep. Against Hard, keep your formation tight, hold the back row, and look for a trade whenever you are ahead, because it will not give pieces away in the open.
Common mistakes
- Advancing the back row early. It opens the king row.
- Leaving a piece with an empty square behind it. That is a jump waiting to happen.
- Taking a piece without checking the recapture. Compulsory jumps run both ways.
- Avoiding trades when ahead. Trading is how a lead becomes a win.
- Letting the enemy king into your back area. A king behind your lines picks off loose pieces.
Glossary
- Shot: a sacrifice that forces a sequence of captures in your favour.
- Two-for-one: giving one piece to take two.
- Back row (king row): the rank where enemy pieces are crowned.
- Double corner: the corner with two connected dark squares, where a lone king can hold a draw.
- Opposition: a position where the player to move is at a disadvantage.
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Questions and answers
Do I have to capture in checkers?
Yes. Under the American rules used here, if any of your pieces can jump you must jump, and you must keep jumping with that piece while another jump is available. If several captures are possible, you choose which.
How does a king move?
One square diagonally in any direction, and it can jump backward as well as forward. A piece crowned in the middle of a jump stops there.
Who moves first?
Black. Choose Black to open or White to let the robot start.
When is a checkers game drawn?
After forty moves each with no capture and no ordinary piece moving, or when the same position occurs three times. One king against one is a draw if the lone king reaches the double corner.
Written by the DailyGameClub team from the rules as DailyGameClub plays them. Updated October 15, 2026. New to a word? See the glossary. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.