Checkers

Checkers, known as Draughts in most of the English-speaking world, is one of the oldest board games still played today — with a history stretching back nearly five millennia. Archaeologists have discovered checkers-like game boards carved into stone in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in modern-day Iraq, dating to approximately 3000 BC. A form of the game also appears in ancient Egyptian records: a draughts variant called Alquerque was played on a 5x5 grid found inscribed on the walls of the Temple of Luxor and in the tomb of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, around 1600 BC. The ancient Greeks and Romans also played similar games — the Roman version, called "Latrunculi" (soldiers game), was a military strategy game enjoyed by legionnaires and citizens alike. The modern 8x8 board version we know today emerged in southern France around the 12th century, when someone had the brilliant idea of adapting Alquerque to be played on a chessboard. This French game, originally called "Le Jeu de Plaisir de Dames" (The Ladies' Pleasure Game), introduced the forced-capture rule — a mechanic that transformed a simple race into a deep tactical contest. The name "Checkers" derives from the checkered board pattern, while "Draughts" comes from the Old English word "draht," meaning "to draw or move." When a piece reaches the opposite end of the board, it is crowned a king — a rule added in the 13th century that added strategic depth by allowing backward movement. The game was brought to the Americas by European colonists in the 17th century, where American Checkers (also called English Draughts) became the dominant variant. In 2007, after 18 years of computation, Professor Jonathan Schaeffer and his team at the University of Alberta completed the Chinook project, proving that perfect play by both sides always results in a draw. This made checkers the most complex game ever fully solved by a computer — a landmark achievement in computer science. International Draughts, played on a 10x10 board, remains hugely popular in continental Europe, Russia, and across Africa, where it is often considered the national pastime in countries like Senegal. On IPlayArena, you can play American Checkers for free in your browser with no downloads required.