What is American checkers?
American checkers, called English draughts in Britain, is the 8×8 game of the English-speaking world. Each side has 12 men on the dark squares of the three nearest rows.
Men move and capture one square diagonally forward only. Kings move and capture one step diagonally in any direction; they do not fly. Capturing is compulsory and a capture once started must be completed, but when several captures are possible you may choose any of them.
Picking this variant on an International Draughts table plays checkers rules on the board size you choose, with the ivory and ebony pieces.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Int'l Draughts | American checkers |
|---|---|---|
| Board and pieces | Standard Int'l Draughts10×10 board, 20 men each on the dark squares of the four nearest rows. | American checkers8×8 board, 12 men each on the dark squares of the three nearest rows. |
| Men capturing | Standard Int'l DraughtsMen capture forwards and backwards. | American checkersMen capture forwards only. |
| Kings | Standard Int'l DraughtsFly: move any distance along a diagonal and capture from a distance. | American checkersMove and capture one step diagonally in any direction. |
| Choosing a capture | Standard Int'l DraughtsYou must take the sequence that captures the most pieces. | American checkersCapturing is compulsory, but you may choose any capture, not only the longest. |
| Reaching the far row in a capture | Standard Int'l DraughtsThe man is crowned only if the capture ends there; otherwise it jumps on as a man. | American checkersThe man is crowned and the move ends. |
| Draws | Standard Int'l DraughtsThreefold repetition; 25 moves each with only kings moving and no capture; lone-king endgame limits of 5 and 16 moves. | American checkersThreefold repetition, or 40 moves each with only kings moving and no capture. |
History
Games of capture on a chequered board were played in France by the 12th century, and the rule that capturing is compulsory was added in the 16th. The 8×8 game reached Britain early and became the national game there and in North America; William Payne published one of the first English books on it in 1756.
The game gathered a deep body of opening theory, and tournament play now starts from openings drawn by ballot. Marion Tinsley dominated championship checkers in the second half of the 20th century, and in 2007 the program Chinook, from the University of Alberta, proved that with perfect play the game is a draw.