Connect 4
2 players · ~5 min
Checkers
Your opponentAppears when the match starts
YouCapture is mandatory — chain jumps whenever you can
Play Checkers online for free, without signing up
Play Checkers right here in your browser: against friends on a private invite link, against a random opponent, or against the computer. There is nothing to download and no sign-up: we create a free guest account for you when you start. Pick a mode above, on a phone, a tablet or a desktop.
The rules in brief
- Move a piece one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square.
- Capturing is mandatory: men jump forward only over an adjacent opponent piece into the empty square beyond, while kings capture in any direction. Chain multiple jumps in a single turn whenever another capture is available; captured pieces stay on the board as blockers and only come off once your move ends.
- Reach the far row to become a king: a king glides any distance along a clear diagonal and jumps an opponent piece from any distance, always landing on the square directly behind it.
- Win by leaving your opponent with no legal move — no pieces, or no piece able to move or capture.
- A long stretch of moves with no capture ends the game in a draw.
Three ways to play Checkers online
- Checkers with a friend
- Open a private game and send the invite link by message. Whoever opens it lands on your board, with no registration on either side. You set the move time beforehand: 30, 60 or 120 seconds.
- Checkers against a random opponent
- Join the public queue and you are matched with someone else looking for a game right now. Moves here have a fixed 60 second clock. How fast it starts depends on who is online.
- Checkers against the computer
- Three levels: Easy judges only its own move and does not look at your reply, Medium looks up to four half-moves ahead and sometimes settles for a slightly weaker move, Hard looks up to eight half-moves ahead and always picks one of its best moves, yet its search has a limit and it can be beaten. You choose the move time, or play with no limit at all. Games against the computer do not count towards your rating or achievements.
Your advantages on Boardgames.io
- Play without signing up
- Start with a free guest account and play at once. Your rating, achievements and match history stay in the same browser. A registered account keeps them across devices and puts you on the leaderboard.
- Every mode is free
- Friends, random opponents, every bot level and the leaderboard: there is no paid tier and no locked feature.
- No ads in the game
- No banner beside the board, no video before the match, no overlay between two moves. The board keeps the screen to itself.
- Built for the browser
- The board scales to a phone screen, moves arrive live on both sides, and in every game with a time limit a move clock keeps it from stalling.
Frequently asked questions about Checkers
- What happens when the move time runs out?
- The game is lost and your opponent wins. Against a random opponent you have 60 seconds per move, in private games the time you agreed. Against the computer you can play without a clock.
- What is saved when I play as a guest?
- Your guest account stays in the browser for 90 days. Rating, achievements and match history are attached to it and remain as long as you use the same browser and do not clear its data. Guests do not appear on the public leaderboard; that takes a registered account, which carries your progress over.
- Can two people play on one device?
- No. Every game runs between two devices. Send the invite link to the other player, even if you are in the same room.
- What happens if someone leaves the game?
- Leaving the game inside the app asks for confirmation and then resigns, so the opponent wins. Closing the tab or losing the connection keeps the move clock running; return within the time and the game continues, otherwise the game is lost on time.
- Do my games count for the leaderboard?
- Games against people count towards your rating, games against the computer never do. Only registered accounts appear on the public leaderboard.
- Are Checkers, Draughts and Dame the same game?
- At heart, yes. Checkers is the American name, Draughts the British one and Dame the German one for the game on the dark squares of an 8x8 board. The rules differ from country to country; here you play the German variant, in which kings move any distance along a diagonal.