When one of your men reaches the last row on your opponent's side, it is promoted to a king. Players mark a king by stacking a second captured piece on top of it.
How do kings work in checkers?
Quick answer: A king is a man that has reached the far row and been crowned; unlike a plain man it can move and capture both forward and backward along the diagonals.
Kings are the most powerful pieces in checkers, and earning one often decides the game. Here is how they are made and how they move.
Getting crowned
How a king moves
A king moves one square diagonally in any direction and captures both forward and backward. That freedom makes a single king far stronger than an ordinary man.
Short range in American rules
In American checkers a king still moves just one square at a time. In some other variants kings fly across many squares, which is a bigger power jump.
Ready to put it into practice?
Read the rules of kinging