Strategies and Tips for Winning at Solitaire Checkers: A Guide for Gamers

Checkers is a two-player game, but what if you want to enjoy the thrill of checkers while playing alone? Solitaire checkers is an excellent alternative, offering a fresh twist on this classic board game, but without the need for an opponent. You’ll compete against yourself - and the rules and strategies are a little bit different.

Does this sound like your type of game? Read on to explore how to play this game, as well as how to master it.

Solitaire Checkers: A New Twist

Let’s start with a quick explanation of solitaire checkers and what it entails. It’s a variation of the classic checkers game, only you’re solving a puzzle, rather than competing against another player.

The sole aim is to remove as many pieces from the board as possible, using the same mechanics as a normal game of checkers. To recap, this means you can only take pieces by jumping over them diagonally into a space. One key difference in solitaire checkers is that you can move in any diagonal direction from the beginning - imagine all of your pieces are Kings!

You “complete” the game by having one counter left. It’s technically possible to solve every solitaire checker's puzzle with one piece remaining, but your rank depends on how many are left:

• 5 - Novice
• 4 - Mediocre
• 3 - Good
• 2 - Expert
• 1- Master

This gives the game an incredible sense of replayability as you try to beat your previous rank and get rid of more pieces each time.

How To Play Solitaire Checkers

The hardest part of playing solitaire checkers is setting everything up. You’ll need the normal 8x8 checkerboard, as well as a selection of pieces. Some games only require 24 pieces, while others need 31. It depends on how you set the board up - a 31-piece game is harder as it only leaves one open space to start.

There aren’t any strict rules on how you set your board up, but here are two popular examples:

The option on the left is how you set up a 24-piece game, and the option on the right is a 31-piece game. You can play around with either setup; just make sure you follow these rules:

• Your pieces should only be on dark spaces
• Always leave at least one dark space free for a 31-piece game
• Always leave at least eight dark spaces free for a 24-piece game
• Ensure you can make a move on the first go (e.g. don’t leave the one dark space as a side space)

Once the board is set up, you can start playing by moving pieces diagonally in any direction. Keep going until you can’t make any moves, and then see how many pieces are left. If there’s only one, then you’ve completed this solitaire checkers puzzle!

Strategies For Winning At Solitaire Checkers

You’ll find dozens of basic checkers' strategy guides for the normal version of this board game. When it comes to solitaire checkers, strategies are more finite. There aren’t many ways to advise this game other than these three tips:

• Think Multiple Moves In Advance - Granted, this tip also works for normal checkers, but the idea is to plan your moves and jumps in advance. Don’t move a piece until you’ve figured out what piece you’ll move after and how that may affect the next move. The further ahead you can think, the more you’re able to plan, which often results in clearing the board completely.
• Try To Move Pieces From The Outside In - Another hot tactic is to quickly move the outside pieces towards the center of the board. The faster you can get the outer sides free, the easier this game becomes. Not only does this mean you’re already capturing multiple pieces, but it also means you have space on the outside to make some backward jumps.
• Don’t Forget To Jump Backwards - Unlike normal checkers, every piece on this board can move forward or backward. Don’t forget to capture pieces behind you when spaces open up. It’s sometimes better to move back rather than move forward to take a piece because of what the backward movement does for the rest of the board.

The Benefits Of Playing Solitaire Checkers

Why might you play this game instead of normal checkers? It has a few wonderful benefits, such as:

• Provides A Serious Challenge - Some people find normal checkers too easy, but solitaire checkers provides a unique challenge. You’re solving a puzzle instead of trying to outwit an opponent, which brings a whole new dimension to the game. You compete against your previous self to try and remove more pieces from the board - and then you can attempt to solve the solitaire checkers puzzles in a faster time than before. The challenge gives it incredible replayability.
• Can Play It Alone - You don’t need a friend to play solitaire checkers, which is why many people love playing it. It’s one of those games you can pass the time playing alone.
• Trains Your Brain - Research shows that puzzle games enhance the function of the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for improving cognitive abilities. In other words, playing a puzzle game like solitaire checkers will train your brain and help it develop.

Master The Art Of Solitaire Checkers Today

Find a checkerboard and start playing solitaire checkers today. It’s a game that takes a while to get used to, but you quickly start improving and removing more and more pieces from the board each time. It’s a great option when you have nobody else to play with and are looking to enjoy some checkers.

Alternatively, if you’re on your own and want to play normal checkers against someone, then check out 247Checkers - we have a variety of themed checkers games you can play against the computer or an online opponent!

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.