The Game For All Generations: Checkers


Defined Tag: Checkers.

Without doubt, the checkers board game has been around for as long as any of us can remember. Most of us played checkers with our parents and other relatives from an early age. For one thing, a checkers board game is one of the ways that one generation binds itself to the next. How many of us remember being taught how to play checkers by a parent or grandparent? Engaging in a checkers game with an adult was almost like a rite of passage; it indicated we were moving past the little kid stage into a big kid stage.

Checkers rules include a number of generalities and nuances. Here is an overview of checkers rules for those who may be curious as to what the rules entail: For a start, the game is being played by two persons and each player is entitled to 12 colored pieces. One player will usually take the red pieces and the other taking the black ones. The board consists of 64 squares, consisting of 32 dark and 32 light squares. It is positioned so that each player has a light square on the right side corner closest to him or her.

At the beginning of each game, each player has to place the designated pieces on the 12 dark squares closest to him or her. Usually, the person having the black seeds have the priority to move first and then the players will alternate their moves. Moves are allowed only on the dark squares, so pieces always move diagonally.  A piece making a non-capturing move (not involving a jump) may move only one square. A piece making a capturing move (a jump) leaps over one of the opponent's pieces, landing in a straight diagonal line on the other side. Although only one piece may be captured in a single jump, multiple jumps are allowed on a single turn. When a piece is captured, it is removed from the board.

If a player is able to make a capture, there is no option -- the jump must be made. If more than one capture is available, the player is free to choose whichever he or she prefers. When a piece reaches the furthest row from the player who controls that piece, it is crowned and becomes a king. One of the pieces which had been captured is placed on top of the king so that it is twice as high as a single pieces.

Kings are limited to moving diagonally, but may move both forward and backward. Single pieces are always limited to forward moves. Kings may combine jumps in several directions -- forward and backward -- on the same turn. Single pieces may shift direction diagonally during a multiple capture turn, but must always jump forward (toward the opponent). A player wins the game when the opponent cannot make a move. In most cases, this is because all of the opponent's pieces have been captured, but it could also be because all of the pieces are blocked in.

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