Jakoz › Checkers guide

How to play Checkers online

Checkers (also called draughts, or Dama) is the classic 2-player board game: jump over your opponent’s pieces to capture them and reach the far side to crown a king. Play it free on Jakoz with friends, with voice chat, or against the computer.

Updated 2 November 2026 · by Jakoz Gaming

The board and pieces

An 8 × 8 board, played on the dark squares only. Each player has 12 pieces: white starts at the bottom, red at the top, and white moves first.

The rules

1. Moving: a piece moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty square.
2. Capturing: if an enemy piece is next to yours with an empty square behind it, jump over it; the captured piece leaves the board.
3. Multi-jumps: if the same piece can capture again after a jump, it must keep jumping in the same turn.
4. Captures are compulsory: if you can take, you must. (The host of a private room can switch this off.)
5. Kings 👑: a piece that reaches the far row is crowned and can move and capture backwards as well as forwards.

Winning

You win when your opponent has no pieces left, or none of their pieces can move. If both players only move kings for 40 moves each with no capture, the game is a draw.

Ways to play on Jakoz

• Random quick match: play someone online right now; if nobody is around, the computer plays you.
• Play with friends: make a board and share the code or link, then talk with voice chat while you play.
• Practice: play the computer at easy, medium or hard, or two people on one phone.

Tips to win

• Keep your back row filled as long as you can so your opponent can’t crown kings easily.
• Control the centre: pieces there have more moves.
• Use forced captures: offer one piece so your opponent must take it, then capture two back.

Fair play

Every move is checked on the Jakoz game server, so nobody can make an illegal move.