Checkers Game Board Pieces & Rules

• Checkerscheckers 2 image by Lisa Hendrickson from Fotolia.com
  
  Checkers is a two-player board game played around the world. Checkerboards and pieces come in all price ranges depending on the material. Plastic, cardboard, wood and stone are all possibilities. There are many variations to the game of checkers played around the world. In the United States, standard British-American rules for checkers are commonly used. However, players should agree to the rules they intend to follow before they begin playing.
  
  

Game Board

• A checkerboard consists of 64 squares arranged in a 8-inch square grid of 32 dark and 32 light squares. The checkerboard pattern alternates the dark and light squares. The two players sit across from one another.
  
  

Game Pieces

• Game pieces are 12 colored discs, wider than they are tall. One set is typically red and the other set is black. The pieces are placed on the 12 dark squares in the three rows closest to the edges on opposite sides of the game board.
  
  

Game Rules

• The player with the black pieces typically makes the first move. From there, players alternate moves, making one move per turn. The moves are only allowed on the dark squares, so pieces always move diagonally. Single checker pieces can only move forward across the board toward the opponent's territory. Capture your opponent's pieces by jumping over his game pieces in a diagonal line. If the same piece can make multiple jumps in a row, that is allowed. Remove all the captured pieces from the board.
  
  On your turn, if you have the opportunity to jump an opponent's piece you must make the move. If you have more than one opportunity to jump, you can choose which piece to move. But, if you fail to jump when given the chance, your opponent can take the piece that should have jumped.
  
  You can not jump over your own pieces.
  
  

King

• Once a piece reaches the last row on the opponent's side of the board, it becomes a king. The piece gets crowned with another disc of the same color. King pieces still move diagonally, but they may move or jump backwards and forwards. Kings can be captured like any other game piece. The game of checkers is won when all of the opponent's pieces are removed from the board or are trapped so that they cannot make a move.