Checkers With No Forced Jump

Checkers with optional jumps

In standard checkers you have to jump whenever you can. This page starts with that rule switched off, so when you can take a piece, you decide whether to take it or make another move.

It runs in your browser, with nothing to download and no sign-up. If you came from checkers unblocked, it's the same game, just starting with jumps optional.

How do you play without forced jumps?

• Against the computer: choose beginner, easy, medium or hard. The computer plays without forced jumps too, so it can also skip a capture.
• Two players, one device: take turns on the same screen.
• A friend online: create a private game and share the link or code. The game keeps the setting you chose when you created it.

To play by the official rule, press the Forced jumps button beside Sound in the game panel so it reads On. In an online game the button shows the room's setting and can't be changed. Play Online, which pairs you with a stranger, always uses forced jumps.

What stays the same

Everything else follows normal checkers rules. Each side has 12 men on the dark squares of an 8×8 board, and Black moves first. Men move one square diagonally forward and jump forward only. If you start a jump, you finish it: a piece that can keep jumping carries on in the same turn. A man that reaches the far row becomes a king and can then move one square backwards as well as forwards. You win by taking all your opponent's pieces or leaving them with no legal move.

Huffing, the old penalty for a missed jump

Every variant of draughts on this site makes captures compulsory. Older play enforced that rule with huffing: a piece that failed to make a capture was forfeited. Huffing is now obsolete in codified play, which simply requires the capture.

Other variants

The Forced jumps button is in the game panel of all 14 draughts variants here, such as International Draughts on a 10×10 board and Russian checkers. They're all compared in the checkers variants guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is jumping mandatory in checkers?

Yes. Under the official rules, if you can jump an opposing piece you must. This page lets you switch that rule off for casual games, so a jump becomes your choice.

How does the no forced jump mode work here?

Forced jumps start Off on this page. Play the computer, a friend on the same device, or a private online game, and use the Forced jumps button beside Sound in the game panel to switch the rule on or off. A change takes effect from the next move. On your turn you can jump or make an ordinary move. Once you start a jump you finish the whole sequence, and in variants where you must take the most pieces, that rule still decides which jumps are allowed. The computer plays by the same rules.

Are games without forced jumps rated?

No. Games with forced jumps turned off never count toward a rating. Play Online always uses forced jumps, and your record against the computer in these games is kept separate from your normal one. A game counts as a no forced jump game once forced jumps have been off at any point in it.

Which variants can I play without forced jumps?

All 14 draughts variants on the site have the same Forced jumps button in the game panel, from American checkers to International and Russian draughts. Chinese Checkers has no captures, so it has no button.