Checkers Strategy: How to Think Ahead, Control the Board and Win

This page is for players who already know how to move and jump. If you need the rules first, start with how to play checkers, which also has seven basic techniques. Here we go one step further: the ideas that decide even games between players who both avoid simple blunders. Positions below use the same letters and numbers as the rules guide (columns a to h, rows 1 to 8 from the bottom, from the point of view of the player at the bottom).

Strategy comes from one rule

Captures are mandatory. That single rule turns checkers from a simple race into a game of forcing moves. If you can make your opponent jump, you decide where their piece lands and what it leaves behind. Every strategic idea below is a way of getting more control over forced captures than your opponent has.

1. Tempo: who runs out of safe moves first

A tempo is one move. In checkers, as the board fills, the question is not "who has more pieces" but "who has to make a move that loses something".

• Count the safe waiting moves each side has. If you have more, your opponent will eventually be forced to move into a capture.
• Pieces that have advanced far have fewer moves left. Pieces still on their home rows are a reserve of tempo.
• This is why advancing one piece too early can lose a game that looked fine: you used up a waiting move you needed later.
• When you are unsure, make the move that keeps the most future moves for you.

2. Control the centre, but do not overextend

The centre squares (c3, e3, d4, f4, c5, e5, d6, f6) give a piece two directions to move and support for pieces on both sides. A man on the edge has only one direction and cannot support as many pieces.

Still, a single man sent too far forward becomes a target. The better plan is a chain: pieces on a diagonal line, each protecting the one in front. A chain is hard to attack because there are no empty landing squares behind its pieces.

3. Keep your formations tight

• Triangle. Three pieces in a triangle (for example c3, d4 and e3) are strong because each one covers the landing squares behind the others.
• Bridge. Two back-row men on c1 and g1 stop opposing pieces from reaching the king row without being jumped, as long as the landing squares are empty.
• Avoid holes. An empty square behind a piece is where the opponent lands. Before you move, ask which holes the move creates.
• Do not leave a lone piece. It will be traded off or trapped. Move pieces in pairs.

4. Use exchanges on purpose

An exchange is a one-for-one swap. It is not just something that happens, it is a tool.

• Exchange when ahead. Fewer pieces make your lead bigger in proportion.
• Exchange to break a strong formation. A swap can remove the piece that was the anchor of your opponent's chain.
• Exchange to gain tempo. A swap can leave you with an extra waiting move.
• Avoid exchanges when behind, unless you are heading for a draw you can hold.

5. Plan the forced sequence

Strong players look at forced lines first, then quiet moves.

1. List all the captures your opponent could be forced into if you move there.
2. For each one, look at where their piece ends up and whether it opens a jump for you.
3. Check what they could force you to do in return.
4. Only if no forcing line is good, choose a quiet move.

A common pattern is the sacrifice for two: you give one man, the opponent must take, and your recapture takes two. See the example in the basic guide. A deeper version gives up two men to make a double jump that takes three. The test is always the same: after the forced capture, where does the capturing piece land, and what does that square let you do?

6. Do not rush to king

A king is powerful, but crowning at the cost of a broken formation often loses the game. Before running for the last row, ask:

• Will the man arrive, or will it be jumped on the way?
• What do I leave behind when I send it?
• Does the opponent get a king on the other side?

Sometimes the right plan is to keep the back row home and win by tempo, never crowning until the position is already won.

7. Endgame basics

Once the board opens, a few ideas apply.

• The long diagonal from a1 to h8 is the most important line. A king on it can move far in both directions. A single king holding it often draws against two kings.
• The double corner (g1 and h2, or a7 and b8) is a safe shelter for a lone king.
• Three kings against one can win if the lone king is forced off the long diagonal. This takes careful play. Practise it with a friend.
• Count who must move. With few pieces left, being the side that has to move can be a disadvantage, because every move may give ground. Counting the moves each side has left is the key skill.

8. Learn from every game

• Replay your losses. Find the move before you were forced to lose a piece.
• Switch sides. Playing as both colours teaches you what each side is trying to do.
• Play stronger opponents. Playing against a friend who is slightly better than you will teach you more than easy wins.
• Study openings later. The standard openings are worth learning, but they matter much less than understanding tempo and forcing moves.

Practise

You can play a free game in your browser against a friend on the same screen. Checkers Strategy Board Game, Master Checkers Multiplayer, Classic Checkers: Forest and Master Checkers are in our catalog. Rule sets differ between games (American, Italian, Russian and others), so read the page of the game you choose before you play.

More strategy: how to win at Connect 4, chess openings for beginners and the best board games for 2 players.