A plain man may only move diagonally toward the opponent. It can never step backward, so an unpromoted piece stuck near the wrong edge has limited options.
Can you move backwards in checkers?
Quick answer: Ordinary men can only move forward diagonally, but once a man is crowned into a king it can move and capture backward as well as forward.
Backward movement is a privilege reserved for kings, which is exactly why players work so hard to promote a piece.
Men go forward only
Kings go both ways
After promotion a king can move backward as well as forward. That is what makes reaching the last row so valuable and why the endgame often revolves around kings.
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Practice against the computer