Same board, different games
Six kinds of piece, each with its own move. White moves first and has 20 possible first moves.
All pieces are identical and stay on the dark squares. Black moves first and has 7 possible first moves.
Both starting positions above are drawn from code: the chess position is checked with chess.js, and the checkers position places 12 pieces on the dark squares of each side’s first three rows. The first-move counts (20 in chess, 7 in checkers) were computed, not copied.
Chess vs checkers, side by side
| Chess | Checkers (English draughts) | |
|---|---|---|
| Board | 8×8, all 64 squares | 8×8, only the 32 dark squares |
| Pieces per side | 16: king, queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 8 pawns | 12 identical pieces (“men”) |
| How pieces move | Six different movement patterns | Diagonally forward one square |
| Captures | Move onto the enemy piece’s square | Jump over an enemy piece; several jumps in one turn are possible |
| Must you capture? | No | Yes, in standard English draughts / American checkers |
| Reaching the far side | A pawn promotes to queen, rook, bishop or knight | A man is “crowned” king and can then move backwards too |
| How you win | Checkmate the king | Capture or block all of the opponent’s pieces |
| Who moves first | White | Black (the dark pieces), in American checkers |
| Legal positions (approx.) | 4.8 × 1044 (Tromp) | 5 × 1020 (Schaeffer et al.) |
| Solved? | No | Yes: perfect play is a draw (2007) |
“Checkers” here means the 8×8 game called checkers in North America and draughts in Britain. Other draughts games differ: international draughts, for example, uses a 10×10 board with 20 pieces each.
Is chess harder than checkers?
By the numbers, yes, by a huge margin.
Bar length is the number of digits (log scale). On a normal scale the checkers bar would be invisible: chess has about 1024 times as many positions.
- Size of the game: checkers has about 5 × 1020 positions (Schaeffer et al., Science, 2007); chess about 4.8 × 1044 (Tromp). See how many possible chess games.
- Solved or not: in 2007 Jonathan Schaeffer’s team proved that checkers is a draw with perfect play. Chess is nowhere near solved.
- Learning curve: checkers has one piece type and one move; chess has six piece types plus castling, en passant and promotion.
“Easier to learn” is not the same as “easy”: strong checkers players calculate deeply, and the forced-capture rule creates sharp tactics. But in raw complexity, chess is the bigger game.
Which came first, chess or checkers?
Chess. Its ancestor, chaturanga, was played in India by around the 6th–7th century CE and reached Europe by the 10th century (see who invented chess). Checkers appeared later: historians usually place the modern game around the 12th century, probably in southern France, when the older game alquerque was played on a chessboard (FMJD-64 history). Exact dates are uncertain for both games.
So the checkers board is literally a chessboard: the newer game borrowed it.
What does “chess, not checkers” mean?
The saying “this is chess, not checkers” means a situation calls for strategy and thinking several moves ahead, not simple one-move reactions. It casts checkers as the simpler game, which is fair on complexity, if a little unkind to checkers players. A line in the 2001 film Training Day made it popular, and it is now common in business and sports talk.
FAQ
What is the difference between chess and checkers?
They use the same 8×8 board, but checkers uses only the 32 dark squares, gives each side 12 identical pieces that move diagonally and capture by jumping, and is won by capturing or blocking every enemy piece. Chess uses all 64 squares, six kinds of piece and is won by checkmate.
Is chess harder than checkers?
By most measures, yes. Chess has around 1044 legal positions against about 1020 in checkers, and checkers has been solved by computers while chess has not. Both are still very hard to master at the highest level. See is chess hard to learn?
What came first, chess or checkers?
Chess. Its ancestor chaturanga was played in India by around the 6th–7th century CE. Checkers (draughts) appeared in medieval Europe, most likely around the 12th century, when an older game, alquerque, was adapted to the chessboard.
Are chess and checkers the same?
No. They share the board and nothing else: the pieces, moves and goal are completely different.
Is checkers easier than chess?
It is easier to learn: one kind of piece and one way to move. Playing it well is still difficult, but its game is far smaller than chess.
Can you play checkers on a chess board?
Yes. A standard chess board is the same 8×8 board, and checkers uses only its dark squares.
What does “chess, not checkers” mean?
It means a situation calls for long-term strategy and thinking several moves ahead, not simple one-move-at-a-time reactions. A line in the 2001 film Training Day made the phrase widely known.
Sources and how we checked
- J. Schaeffer et al., “Checkers Is Solved”, Science 317 (2007): about 5 × 1020 positions; perfect play is a draw.
- J. Tromp, ChessPositionRanking: about 4.8 × 1044 legal chess positions.
- FMJD-64: A history of draughts.
- Chess starting position and first-move count from chess.js 1.4.0; the checkers first-move count from a small move generator using standard rules (men move diagonally forward, captures compulsory).