Checkers: follow the jump trail

Check the landing first

A jump needs two things: an adjacent opponent and an empty square immediately beyond it on the same diagonal. In English or American checkers, a man jumps forward. Finding an opponent is only half the job. Always inspect the landing before announcing a brilliant plan.

Trace one complete jump

Red has men on nine and twelve. White has men on fourteen and twenty eight. Red nine can jump over white fourteen and land on eighteen. Remove the captured white piece. We name the start and landing squares when we record a move: nine to eighteen.

Jumps come before steps

Red twelve could reach an empty neighbor with a quiet step, but that is not an allowed choice now. A red capture exists somewhere on the board. Required jumps apply to the whole team. The piece on twelve cannot pretend it did not hear the jump announcement.

A new trail has two jumps

Use a new position. Red has one man on nine. White men sit on fourteen, twenty two and thirty two. Start with the jump from nine over fourteen to eighteen. But do not pass the turn yet. Look again from eighteen with the same red piece.

The trail is not finished

From eighteen, white twenty two is next to red on a forward diagonal. Twenty five is empty beyond it. The same red piece must jump again. You cannot stop early or switch to another piece. A jump chain is one complete turn, not a collection of separate turns.

Now the turn is complete

Red finishes on twenty five. White fourteen and twenty two are gone. White thirty two remains, but red has no legal jump over it from here. Now the turn ends. Count two jumps and one red turn. You do not have to capture every opponent in a single turn.

Pause: which trail is required?

Here is another position with two choices. Route A goes from nine to eighteen to twenty five. Route B goes from twelve to nineteen. Both are complete capture routes. Pause and decide: do these rules require the route that captures more pieces, or may red choose either complete route?

Either complete route is legal

Red may choose either route. English or American checkers does not require the largest number of captures. Once you start a route, finish its required jumps with that piece. Choosing the route and finishing the route are different decisions. Other checkers variants may have a different rule.

More jumps than turns

Fun fact: one turn can contain more than one jump. Our trail has three visited squares, two jumps, and one turn. Those are three different things to count. When someone asks how many, first decide whether they mean places, jumps, captured pieces, or turns.

Trace and explain

Continue to the worksheet below, then try Follow a Complete Checkers Jump Trail. Trace the route before checking your answers. In Checkers Club, try the required jump and jump chain puzzles. Explain why each landing is empty, and why the same piece must keep going.