Strategy › Tactics
Checkers tactics: shots and combinations
A shot is a combination that uses the compulsory-capture rule to win material: you give up a piece, your opponent is forced to take it, and the capture leaves their pieces lined up for a multiple jump. Learn to see them and you will win far more games, and lose far fewer.
Every position on this page was checked by our engine: the key move is legal, the capture that follows is forced, and Red goes on to win against any defense. Each one has a Play this position link so you can try it against the computer.
Why shots work
In most games, a piece you offer can simply be declined. In checkers it can't: if a capture is available, it must be made. That turns a sacrifice into a way of moving your opponent's pieces. You decide which of their pieces moves, and where it lands. All a shot needs is a landing square that completes a line of enemy pieces with empty squares between and behind them.
The two-for-one
The most common shot: give one piece, take two.
White's pieces on 9 and 10 are next to each other, but Red's king on 17 can't reach them: they are not on one of its diagonals. After 17-13, the king is right behind 9 and the square beyond it, 6, is empty. White must play 31x24, taking the piece on 27, because captures are compulsory, and that leaves Red free to answer 13x6x15, jumping 9 and then 10.
Notice what Red did not do: chase the White pieces directly. The key move set up the double jump, and the forced capture gave Red the time to execute it.
The three-for-one
The same idea scales up. Here White has three pieces that a single king can jump in one move, but only if a third White piece arrives on 10 to complete the chain.
After 26-30, White's king on 3 must capture 3x10, taking Red's piece on 7. That is exactly the piece Red needed: now 25, 17 and 10 all sit on one zigzag path with empty squares between them, and the king sweeps 30x21x14x7.
Crowning into a shot
A move that crowns a piece ends the turn, so the new king can't jump straight away. But it can still create the shot, because the opponent's reply is forced.
28-32 crowns Red's piece. White must now capture 25x18, taking the piece on 22, and that capture lands on 18, further along the new king's diagonal beyond 27, with 23 empty between them. The king answers 32x23x14, taking two.
How to find shots in your own games
- Look for enemy pieces with gaps behind them. A piece can only be jumped into an empty square. Two enemy pieces on one diagonal path, each with an empty square beyond it, are a double jump waiting to happen.
- Ask which enemy piece is missing. Often the line is complete except for one square. Can you force an enemy piece onto it by offering a capture that lands there?
- Check that the capture is really forced. If your opponent has two ways to capture, they will pick the one that ruins your plan. Look at every capture you allow, not just the one you want.
- Check what happens after. Count the material at the end of the sequence, and make sure your opponent doesn't have a shot of their own in reply.
Defending against shots
The defensive version of the same checklist: before each move, look at every capture you will be forced to make next turn if your opponent offers a piece, and where each capture would leave your piece. Keeping pieces backed up so they can't be jumped, and avoiding loose pieces with empty squares on both sides, removes most shots before they exist.
When you do lose a game to a shot, press Undo until you're back at the move that allowed it. Seeing the position that made the shot possible is the best way to recognize it next time.
Practice
The puzzles page has twelve more positions built around shots, from simple two-for-ones to combinations with two sacrifices in a row, each with a hint and a full solution. Then move on to the endgame, where the extra piece you won is turned into a win.