About Checkers

The classic board game, English rules, against the computer. Twelve men a side on the dark squares of an eight-by-eight board. Men move one square diagonally forward; jump an enemy piece next to you into the empty square beyond and it is taken. Reach the far row and your man is crowned king, and kings move diagonally both ways. Take all the computer's pieces, or leave it with no move, to win.

Taking is compulsory: if you can jump, you must — though when there is more than one capture open you choose which. A piece that lands where it can jump again carries on jumping in the same move, so a well-set trap can take two or three at once. That rule is the heart of the game: offering a piece to pull the computer's men into a double jump, and never leaving a gap it can do the same with.

The computer looks ahead two, four or six moves depending on the level, and plays the same way for everyone who plays the same moves, so the daily game — against Normal — is a fair race. Win in the fewest moves to top the day's board; draws and losses don't rank. Free play has all three levels and take-backs.

Tips to win

• Keep your back row filled for as long as you can: it stops the computer crowning
• Move in pairs and keep pieces backed up — a lone man is easy to jump
• Count before you capture: forced jumps can walk you into a double jump
• A king is worth nearly two men; get one early and use it to pick off stragglers