Checkers
- Is Checkers free?
- Yes — 100% free, no payment.
- Download needed?
- No — it plays in your browser.
- Works on mobile?
- Yes — phones & tablets, full touch.
- Session length?
- About 5–15 minutes.
- Players?
- 1–2 players (local).
Classic 8x8 checkers with mandatory captures, multi-jump chains, and kings, against a minimax CPU or a friend on the same screen.
About Checkers
Checkers is a timeless diagonal-strategy game played on the dark squares of an 8x8 board, twelve pieces a side. Slide forward to maneuver, jump your opponent to capture, and chain multiple jumps in a single turn when the board lines up. Push a man to the far row and it is crowned a King that can glide and capture in every direction. Play against a CPU that ranges from a casual Easy opponent to a Hard alpha-beta minimax that weighs material, kings, and board position, or pass the device for a relaxed two-player match.
Where Checkers comes from
Checkers, or English draughts, descends from Alquerque, a Moorish game recorded in Spain's Libro de los Juegos of 1283, which was moved onto the chessboard in France, where it was already being played around 1100, and gained its crowned 'dame' by the 13th century. France also introduced compulsory capture, and William Payne's 1756 book, with a foreword by Samuel Johnson, was the first in English. In 2007 Jonathan Schaeffer's team at the University of Alberta weakly solved the 8x8 game with their program Chinook, proving that perfect play by both sides ends in a draw; this version is 360 PlayZone's own take on the classic. Source.
Unblocked Chromebook No Download Mobile Multiplayer
How to play Checkers
Pieces move one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. To capture, jump over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond it; if a capture is available anywhere you must take it, and you keep jumping when the same piece can continue. Reach the opposite back row to earn a King that moves and captures both forward and backward. Win by capturing all enemy pieces or leaving your opponent with no legal move.
Controls
Mouse/Touch: tap one of your pieces to select it (its legal squares glow green, captures glow red), then tap a highlighted square to move. Keyboard: Arrow keys or WASD move the cursor, Enter/Space selects a piece then commits a move, U undoes, N starts a new game, M toggles mute, Esc deselects.
Tips & tricks
- Captures are mandatory, so always scan for jumps before planning a quiet move; the rules will force you to take one anyway.
- Hold your back row as long as you can to deny the opponent easy promotions while you race a man toward a King.
- Look for chains: a single well-placed jump can sometimes capture two or three pieces in one turn if the landing squares stay open.
- Trade pieces when you are ahead in material and avoid trades when you are behind to keep your comeback chances alive.
- Control the center and keep your pieces connected so an enemy jump leaves them open to an immediate recapture.
Game features
- 100% free to play — no payment, ever
- Plays instantly in your browser — no download or install
- Works on desktop, phone and tablet
- No sign-up and no email required
- Built with HTML5 — runs on any modern browser
- Local two-player on one keyboard
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Checkers?
Pieces move one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. To capture, jump over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond it; if a capture is available anywhere you must take it, and you keep jumping when the same piece can continue. Reach the opposite back row to earn a King that moves and captures both forward and backward. Win by capturing all enemy pieces or leaving your opponent with no legal move.
What are the controls for Checkers?
Mouse/Touch: tap one of your pieces to select it (its legal squares glow green, captures glow red), then tap a highlighted square to move. Keyboard: Arrow keys or WASD move the cursor, Enter/Space selects a piece then commits a move, U undoes, N starts a new game, M toggles mute, Esc deselects.
How do you get better at Checkers?
Captures are mandatory, so always scan for jumps before planning a quiet move; the rules will force you to take one anyway. Hold your back row as long as you can to deny the opponent easy promotions while you race a man toward a King. The full tips list on this page covers the rest.
Is Checkers unblocked at school or work?
Checkers is a plain web page — no plugin, no installer, no app store — so it loads on a Chromebook or a locked-down school or office laptop the same way any other page does. Whether it opens comes down to your network's filter rather than the game itself, and there is nothing to install either way.
What kind of game is Checkers?
Checkers is a free 2 player game that runs in the browser. Classic 8x8 checkers with mandatory captures, multi-jump chains, and kings, against a minimax CPU or a friend on the same screen. A typical session runs about 5–15 minutes.
Embed Checkers
Want Checkers on your own site, blog or classroom page? It's free to embed — copy this code, or browse every game you can embed:
From our blog
Checkers features in Checkers Online: Rules, Why Forced Jumps Decide Everything and How to Beat the Hard CPU and Mancala Online: Kalah Rules, the Extra-Turn Opening and How to Set Up Captures — worth a read if you want the deeper story behind the game.
More free 2 player games
Checkers is one of 22 free 2 player games on 360 PlayZone. Browse the whole 2 Player collection, try Artillery Duel next, or head back to the home page to explore every category. You might also like our games like Checkers roundup.