The Cardboard Shelf
← Print & Play

Checkers (Draughts) — Printable Board

Print a clean 8×8 board and play Checkers tonight. The same board works for Chess, too — grab 24 tokens and you're set.

What you need
  • The printed 8×8 board below
  • 24 playing pieces — 12 each of two colors (coins, tokens, or bottle caps all work)
  • Two players
Luck Lab Board Game Token Trays, 6-Pack Folding Silicone Swirl Color Bowls
Bits Trays / Resource Token Cups (set)
Small stackable cups that keep meeples, cubes, and coins reachable and off the board.
View on Amazon →
Affiliate link — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Tip: print at 100% scale for full-size squares.

Setup

Place the board so each player has a light square in their near-right corner. Each player sets their 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three rows closest to them. The two center rows start empty.

The goal

Capture all of your opponent’s pieces, or block them so they have no legal move. Either one wins the game.

How pieces move

Ordinary pieces move one square diagonally forward to an empty dark square. You cannot move straight, sideways, or backward (until a piece becomes a king).

Capturing

If an opponent’s piece sits diagonally in front of yours and the square just beyond it is empty, you jump over it to that empty square and remove the captured piece. If another capture is available from the landing square, you must keep jumping in the same turn — multi-jumps are how games swing.

  • In most rules, capturing is mandatory: if you can jump, you must.
  • A multi-jump can turn corners as long as each jump is a legal diagonal capture.

Kings

When a piece reaches the far row (the opponent’s back row), it becomes a king — stack a second piece on it to mark it. Kings move and capture diagonally both forward and backward, which makes them far stronger.

Winning

You win when your opponent has no pieces left or cannot make a legal move on their turn. If neither side can force a win, players may agree to a draw.

Also a chess board

This same 8×8 grid is a standard chess board. If you have a chess set or printable chess pieces, set them up on this board and play chess instead — the squares are sized to match.

Frequently asked questions

How many pieces do you need for checkers?

Each player needs 12 pieces, so 24 total in two distinguishable colors. Anything works — coins, glass beads, two colors of tokens, or bottle caps — as long as you can tell the two sides apart.

Can you move backwards in checkers?

Ordinary pieces only move diagonally forward. Once a piece reaches the opponent’s back row it becomes a king and can then move and capture diagonally both forward and backward.

Is capturing mandatory in checkers?

In the most common rules, yes — if you have a legal jump available you must take it, and you must continue a multi-jump if more captures are possible from the landing square. Some casual groups play it as optional; agree before you start.

Rules written by The Cardboard Shelf for this classic public-domain game. Print and share freely.