Checkers openings and early traps
The first few moves of a checkers game have been studied for well over a century, and the common ones have names. You don’t need to memorise them to enjoy the game, but knowing a few — and the traps around them — will save you a lot of lost pieces.
Reading the moves. The dark squares are numbered 1 to 32. Red starts on 1 to 12 and moves first; White starts on 21 to 32. 11-15 means the man on 11 moves to 15, and 15x22 is a jump. Checkers books call the first player “Black”; on this site it is Red, and the moves read exactly the same.
What is an opening?
An opening is simply the first few moves of the game: the first player’s first move, the reply, and usually a move or two after that. Red has only seven possible first moves: 9-13, 9-14, 10-14, 10-15, 11-15, 11-16 and 12-16. Openings that grew popular were given names, often after a place or a player, and those names are still used today.
Why tournament players don’t choose their openings
Because the game has so few first moves, strong players found that the safest lines were very hard to beat, and many top games ended in draws. So in top-level play of American checkers and English draughts, the opening is not chosen. Under the three-move restriction, the first three moves — Red’s first move, White’s reply and Red’s second move — are drawn at random from a list of approved openings. The two players then play that opening twice, swapping sides, so neither is stuck with the worse half.
Ordinary games, including every game on this site, are played without a restriction. Players call that “go as you please”.
A few well-known openings
Single Corner — 11-15 22-18
Red goes for the centre with the most popular first move, and White meets it head on. Because jumps are compulsory, Red must now take 15x22, and White takes back, usually with 25x18. One-for-one, and both sides have a man in the middle. A good, solid start to learn first.
Double Corner — 9-14 22-18
Red starts from the side of the board nearest its double corner and White places a man right in front of it. Square 9 is now empty, so White threatens to jump 18x9. Red has to deal with that at once, for example with 5-9, filling the landing square behind its man.
Switcher — 11-15 21-17
White answers the centre move from its edge square 21 rather than from the centre.
Bristol — 11-16 24-20
Red’s 11 goes the other way, to 16, and White faces it at once from 24.
Old Fourteenth — 11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 4-8
One of the oldest and most studied openings. Both sides build up calmly in the centre, and Red brings up its back men behind the front ones rather than leaving gaps.
Named by Red’s first move
Some openings are known by Red’s first move alone: Kelso (10-15), Denny (10-14) and Edinburgh (9-13).
What to aim for in any opening
- Head for the centre. Squares 14, 15, 18 and 19 matter most. Most strong openings fight over them.
- Bring men up in support. A front man needs a friend behind it, so that it cannot be jumped.
- Leave the back row alone. Keep your bridge (1 and 3 for Red, 30 and 32 for White) for as long as you can. See beginner strategy for why.
- Don’t go to the edge for no reason. An early edge move such as 9-13 is playable, but an edge man has only one way forward.
Early traps to look out for
The two-for-one shot
This is the trap behind most early losses. Your opponent offers you a man. Jumps are compulsory, so you must take it — and your piece lands on a square where it, and the piece it left unguarded, can both be jumped in one go. You took one; you lose two.
The defence is a habit: when you are offered a piece, look at where your man will land and what your opponent can jump next. When you see a piece offered for nothing, there is almost always a reason.
The hole behind a man
A man can be jumped only if the square behind it is empty. Moving a supporting man away from behind your front man opens that square, and a well-placed enemy piece can then take it for free. Before moving any man, look at what it was protecting.
Walking into a forced exchange you didn’t want
Some moves force a swap, as 22-18 does in the Single Corner. An even trade is fine — but count to the end. If the exchange leaves you with a man stranded, or opens your back row, it was not even after all.
Breaking up the back row too soon
Moving back-row men early gives you more men in the fight, and for a few moves it can feel strong. But once a gap opens, an enemy man that slips through is crowned, and a king behind your lines is very hard to deal with.
How to practise
Pick one opening, say the Single Corner, and play it as Red against the computer several times. Notice the positions you like and the ones that go wrong. Then try answering 11-15 with different replies as White. After a few games the first moves will feel familiar, and you can spend your thinking on the middle game.