About Checkers
Checkers, known as Draughts in Britain, is not one fixed game but a family of diagonal capture games. Different countries settled on different board sizes, king powers and capture rules, yet the shared core stays instantly recognizable: move diagonally, jump to capture, crown a piece when it reaches the far side.
The three versions here cover the forms most people play. If you already know one of them, this page is the fastest way to see exactly what changes when you sit down to another.
Compare the three checkers variants
Each one keeps the familiar checkers feel, but board size, king movement and the capture rules change the tempo, the tactics and the endgames in ways you feel from the first few moves.
An 8×8 game with flying kings and forced longest captures, packing international-style tactics onto a compact board.
- Board
- 8×8
- Kings
- Flying kings
- Men capture
- Forward and backward
- Capture rule
- Longest capture
- After promotion
- Continue capturing
The 10×10 world standard, with flying kings, long forcing lines and rich endgame play.
- Board
- 10×10
- Kings
- Flying kings
- Men capture
- Forward and backward
- Capture rule
- Longest capture
- After promotion
- Continue capturing
The classic 8×8 game most people mean by checkers, with short kings and clean forcing play.
- Board
- 8×8
- Kings
- Short kings
- Men capture
- Forward only
- Capture rule
- Any capture
- After promotion
- Turn ends
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Checkers is the American name and Draughts is the British one for the same family of games. Individual versions carry both names too: American Checkers is also called English Draughts, and International Checkers is also called International Draughts.
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