This board plays the standard English and American rules on the 32 dark squares of an 8 by 8 board. Men move forward only. Kings move one square at a time in any diagonal direction. The rule that makes the game deep is the forced capture. When a jump is available, the side to move must take one. That rule cuts both ways. It means you can force the computer's hand, and it means the computer can force yours.
Shape before speed
Good checkers is mostly about keeping your men in solid groups and keeping key squares covered.
- Hold your back row. Your men on the bottom row stop the computer from crowning. Keep at least two of them home for most of the game. The best pair to keep varies, but leaving the back row empty early gives away kings.
- Take the centre. The four squares in the middle of the board let your men reach both sides. Men on the side edges are safe from capture but have only one forward move, so they get stuck.
- Move in pairs. A man with a friendly man behind it, on the diagonal, can't be jumped along that diagonal, because the landing square is taken. Advance in short chains rather than sending one man out alone.
Shots: using the forced capture
A shot is a planned sacrifice. You give up one man on purpose. If that is the only jump on offer, the computer must take it, and its capturing piece lands on a square where you can jump two or more of its pieces in return.
Here is the basic idea in prose. Say two of the computer's men stand on one diagonal with an empty square between them, and one of your men waits behind your front line. You step a man forward so that the first of them has to jump it. That jump carries it to the empty square. Now it stands in line with its partner, with an empty square beyond each. Your waiting man jumps both in one turn. You gave one man and took two.
Shots are also how the computer will beat you. Before every move, ask what the computer is forced to do next. Then ask what it would like to force on you. If a step of yours leaves a man that can be jumped, check where the jumping piece lands. Then check what it can reach from there.
Common mistakes
- Missing your own forced capture. The game won't let you make a quiet move when a jump exists. Plan with that in mind, or the computer will lure you into a jump that sets up its own shot.
- Trading when behind. When you have fewer pieces, avoid even trades. Each one makes the computer's lead count for more. When you are ahead, trade freely to simplify.
- Crowning and stopping. A new king should go to work at once. A king sitting in the far corner does nothing.
- Shuffling in an endgame you're winning. If sixty single moves pass with no capture and no man moved, the game is a draw. Have a plan to corner the last pieces instead of just moving around.
In the endgame
With kings on the board, the side with more pieces should win, but only with a plan. Use your kings together to push enemy pieces toward the edges. Then trade down, since fewer pieces leave a lone defender less room. A lone king often runs for the double corner, the pair of squares in a corner of the board. Bring a second king to drive it out.
Learning with the three levels
Easy looks only two moves ahead and varies its choices. It's the right place to try simple shots and to practise holding the back row. Medium plans five moves deep and will spot most simple shots, so it teaches you to check every forced capture before you move. Hard searches deeper still within a short time limit, and it is sharpest in the endgame. Against Hard, play solid shapes, trade only when it helps you, and save your attacking ideas for clear chances. Your win, loss and draw record is kept for each level separately.
