Checkers

We stock the classic Dal Rossi Italy Wooden Checker Set for a traditional approach to the game, or we have the Chess & Checkers Deluxe Pack with two games rolled into one box. You can sit down with a friend and use logical thinking to skip, hop and jump your way to the edge of the board — and to victory.

Shop checkers online with Frontline Hobbies! We offer fast and affordable shipping throughout Australia as well as free delivery on orders over $150. 

The history of checkers

Games like checkers have been played around the world for thousands of years. In fact, a board resembling a checkerboard was found in Ur (an ancient and important city in what is now south Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate) dating back as far as 3000BC! Plus, ancient checkerboards have been found in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers and the game was famously played by Pharoah Hatshepsut. 

Greek philosophers Plato and Homer also mentioned checkers in their works, suggesting the game was commonly played in Ancient Greece. 

An Arabic game called Quirkat or al-qirq is also similar to checkers but it was played on a 5x5 board. The game was taken to Spain by the Moors where it became known as Alquerque. Then in 1100, Alquerque was taken to France where it was adapted to include backgammon pieces on a chessboard.

There are countless variants of checkers in modern times including English draughts, Russian draughts, Turkish draughts and international draughts, all played on various sized boards ranging from 5x5 to 8x8 and 10x10!

How to play checkers

Checkers is a fun, challenging but simple game to play and the rules are very straightforward! The aim of the game is to capture or block your opponent’s pieces (i.e. checkers) so that they can no longer make a move. You can move faster across the board by jumping over your opponent’s checkers and removing them from the board.

To set up the game and determine who goes first, we recommend tossing a coin. Alternatively, if you've already had a game, the last winner will go first and take the black checkers. Keep in mind that the player with the black checkers always goes first.

Next, sit across from your opponent and place your checkers on the board. There are 64 alternating black and white squares that appear in rows of eight, so match the colour of your checkers to the coloured squares on the board. The checkers go on the first three rows closest to the player.

Then it’s time to decide whether you’re going to time the game! This makes the game much more competitive if you’re timing it and minimising the number of moves you need to make to win. For some perspective, the world’s fastest checkers game on record involved only 30 moves — won by David Fabian in 1979 in a game of Chinese Checkers!

The rules of checkers

• The player with black checkers starts the game.
   
• You can only move one checker at a time and you can only move diagonally.
   
• Your checkers must stay on the same coloured squares throughout the game.
   
• If your checker is in the diagonal space adjacent to one of your opponent’s pieces, you can jump and capture that piece. To capture a checker, move two diagonal spaces in the direction of the checker you’re attacking like you are hopping over your opponent's checker.
   
• When you reach the end of the board on your opponent's side, you can “king” your checker. To crown a checker and make it a king checker, place one of your own captured pieces on top of it.
   
• King checkers can move forward and backwards across the board.
   
• King checkers can still only move one diagonal space at a time.
   
• There is no limit to how many king checkers you can have.
   
• Keep jumping your opponent’s checkers and capturing them to win the game. Once you have all of your opponent’s checkers, you win the game. 

Tips on how to increase your chances of winning checkers

To increase your chances of winning, we recommend playing an offensive game, not a defensive game. Try keeping some of your checkers together like a blockade and group your checkers together towards the centre of the board so they can protect each other as they move forward — but don’t group all of your checkers together in the centre of the board because it will be hard to move. 

We also recommend keeping a full back row for as long as possible — if your opponent gets a checker to the back of the board, it will be crowned, kinged and more difficult to capture! With a full back row, you can make it harder for your opponent to crown their checkers.

It’s also important to know when to sacrifice your checkers. Whether you’re ahead in the game or even with your opponent, don’t be afraid to sacrifice a checker if it means you can capture your opponent’s piece in the next turn.

Finally, focus on your king checkers. Do whatever you can to ensure your kings don’t get captured — they’re much more valuable than regular checkers — and make sure to king as many checkers as possible to give yourself a strategic advantage. With these pieces, you can move forwards and backwards diagonally, allowing you to take more checkers from your opponent.

We stock quality checkers online — shop the range!

Checkers is a fun and simple game the whole family can play. Switch off the TV, gather around and challenge each other to a game of checkers — you might even add a little incentive, like whoever wins the most games doesn’t have to wash the dishes for a week! That’s a surefire way to add some friendly competition to the game!

Shop checkers online with Frontline Hobbies! We offer free shipping on orders over $150 as well as flexible payment options like Zippay, Google Pay and Afterpay. Alternatively, come and visit us in-store to see our collection of traditional games like checkers, chess, backgammon and mahjong. Our team will make sure you have plenty of games for your next games night!