Checkers strategy: the principles that win games

Checkers has only one kind of move, yet strong players beat beginners almost every time. The difference is a handful of ideas about where pieces belong and when to trade. Here they are, with diagrams you can play out on the board.

1. Captures are compulsory, so use them

Every other principle on this page comes second to this one. Because your opponent must capture whenever possible, you can decide where their pieces go: offer one piece, and their capturing piece has to land on a square you chose. If that square lines up a double jump for you, you win material. These combinations are called shots, and they decide more games between club players than anything else.

The same rule works against you. Before every move, ask what you are giving your opponent the chance to capture, and where their piece will end up. The tactics guide shows the common patterns, and the puzzles let you practice spotting them.

2. Hold the center

The four central squares, 14, 15, 18 and 19, are the most valuable on the board. A piece in the center has two forward moves, supports its neighbors and blocks the opponent's natural routes forward. It's no accident that the most popular first move in checkers, 11-15, goes straight to the center.

Holding the center doesn't mean rushing pieces into it. A piece sitting alone in the middle of the board can become a target. Advance into the center with support behind you.

3. Keep pieces together

A piece can only be jumped if the square behind it is empty. A piece with a friend directly behind it, on the same diagonal, cannot be captured from the front along that diagonal. Pieces that move up the board in connected groups are hard to attack; pieces that wander off alone are picked off. When you are unsure what to play, a move that fills a gap behind one of your pieces is rarely bad.

4. Guard your back row

Your back row is where the opponent crowns. As long as your pieces sit there, enemy pieces can't land on those squares, so many players keep two of their back-row pieces at home well into the game. For Red the classic pair is 1 and 3, a formation called the bridge; for White it is 30 and 32.

With the bridge in place, a White piece aiming to crown on 2 or 4 has to pass through 6, 7 or 8 first, and the pieces on 1 and 3 can jump those squares whenever the square behind is free. Eventually the back-row pieces are needed elsewhere, but the longer they stay, the harder it is for your opponent to get a king.

5. Stay off the edges

A piece on the side of the board has only one forward move instead of two, and it controls half as much. Side pieces can't be jumped, which makes them feel safe, but they are easily blocked and often end up stuck when you need a move.

6. Trade when you are ahead

One extra piece is a small advantage with twelve pieces each and a winning one with three against two. So when you are ahead in material, offer even exchanges: each trade makes your extra piece count for more. When you are behind, do the opposite and keep pieces on the board, where there are more chances for a shot to turn the game around. A king is worth a good deal more than an ordinary piece; trading a piece for a king is usually a bargain.

7. Count tempo: who will run out of moves first?

You can't pass in checkers. In a blocked position, or late in the game, the player who has to move may be forced to walk into a capture. Strong players count moves ahead of time to make sure it is their opponent who runs out. This idea, called the move or the opposition, decides many endgames, and the endgame guide shows it with one piece each.

8. Get a king, then use it

The first player to crown usually gains the initiative: a king can attack pieces from behind, where they have no defense. But a king isn't a reason to stop thinking. Bring it back toward your opponent's pieces, combine it with your other pieces, and use it to force trades when you are ahead.

Putting it into practice

The fastest way to improve is to play the computer one level above where you win comfortably, and to use Undo after a loss to find the move where things went wrong. Most often it will be a capture you allowed without looking at where the capturing piece would land. Then try the puzzles, which are all built around that idea.