Chinese Checkers

Setup

• Players: two: you and a bot. You are gold, at the bottom point.
• Pieces: ten each in the Full game, or six each in our Quick game.
• Goal: move every piece into the point opposite your own.
• First move: you move first.

How to play

1. 1Step. Move one piece into any empty neighbouring hole, in any of the six directions.
2. 2Hop. Jump over an adjacent piece, yours or theirs, into the empty hole just beyond it.
3. 3Chain the hops. After a hop you may hop again with the same piece, in any direction, all in one turn.
4. 4No captures. Pieces that are hopped over stay exactly where they are.
5. 5Fill the point. Every one of your pieces must be in the far point to win.
6. 6Don’t build them a ladder. A line of your pieces with single gaps is a highway for the other player’s hops too.

Winning

Move every one of your pieces into the far point. The first player to do it wins.

Scoring

Our Classic rules: every piece has to reach the far point. A player who never leaves their own point keeps the other from filling it, so a game that runs out of turns is a draw. Some tables let you win with one piece left in the opponent’s point, or make you leave your point within a set number of turns; those are house rules.

Key terms

Point:

One of the six triangles of the star, where a side’s pieces start.

Step:

A move of one hole into an empty neighbour.

Hop:

A jump over an adjacent piece into the empty hole beyond it.

Chain:

Several hops in a row by the same piece in one turn.

Ladder:

A line of pieces with single gaps, ready for a chain of hops.

Straggler:

The piece furthest behind, which can lose the race.