References to games similar to Checkers have been found as far back as 1400-1600 BC. Versions of Checkers are played worldwide. Checkers has endured for so long in part because it provides so many opportunities for the development of strategies. Players can think several moves ahead and set up traps for the other player’s checkers.
Although the game is enjoyed by many adults, it can also be played successfully by young children. The game provides children with many opportunities to engage in spatial reasoning. Children also have opportunities to plan moves in advance and play both offensively (trying to capture the other player’s checkers) and defensively (trying to protect their own checkers from capture).
The rules that are included are mostly the standard rules of the game, with one exception. The official rules of Checkers state that if a player can make a jump, the jump must be made, and that if a player can make a multiple jump, the player cannot stop partway through the multiple jump (regardless of the consequences). This rule was dropped here because it is too advanced for young children who frequently miss jumps because they do not notice them.
Creating new Checkers rules is common among both children and adults, and is to be encouraged.
Recommended # of players: 2
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