Checkers (Cont.)

Advanced Strategies

Experiment with compulsory capture to see how you can make it work to your advantage.
Another important tactic in Checkers is trading pieces. This is when one compulsory capture leads to another compulsory capture in return. Some reasons to consider trading pieces are:

1. To prevent a piece from being kinged.
2. To simplify the game. This is especially effective if your opponent is more experienced at Checkers. Simpler board setup will be easier for you to read.
3. To strengthen your advantage (if you're ahead). A one piece advantage is more significant if there are only a few pieces left on the board.

A fourth reason to trade pieces may come up after a stall. Sometimes in Checkers both players end up stalling (taking inconsequential moves to avoid losing a piece). If this happens, count the turns that are left before one of you is forced into making a bad move. If you find that the count favors your opponent, try to change up the board position by trading pieces instead.

Take a look at the board in Figure 4. Often near the end of the game, one or several chases will occur. Here, white is chasing black. Because play occurs only on the dark squares of the board, two of the four corner squares cannot be entered. These corners make better refuge than the others, because it's harder for a piece to get pinned down. Black is heading in the safest direction.

** That's all for Checkers. Next will be Backgammon.