Checkers has just two kinds of piece, the man and the king, and everything moves diagonally. Chess has six different pieces, each with its own movement pattern across the whole board.
What is the difference between checkers and chess?
Quick answer: Both are two-player games of perfect information, but checkers uses identical pieces that move diagonally with mandatory jumps, while chess uses six different piece types with varied movement and no forced capture.
Checkers and chess are often mentioned together as classic strategy games, yet they play very differently once you look closely.
Pieces and movement
Capturing rules
In checkers capturing is mandatory and done by jumping. In chess capturing is optional and done by moving onto the enemy square.
Complexity
Chess has a far larger game tree and has not been solved, while 8x8 checkers has been proven to be a draw. Both, however, reward deep planning and pattern recognition.
Ready to put it into practice?
Play a game of checkers