Chinese Checkers
Tap a piece, then tap the empty point you want to reach
- Category
- Board
- Players
- 1-2
- Controls
- Click / Tap
- Goal
- Cross to the far corner
About this game
Chinese Checkers, despite the name, comes from Germany and has nothing to do with checkers. Each player has a set of pieces in one corner, and the race is to move them all diagonally across the board into the opposite corner. There is no capturing at all; the entire game is about movement and using the board efficiently.
The trick that makes it fast and clever is hopping. A piece can jump over any single adjacent piece, yours or your opponent's, into the empty space beyond, and it can chain these hops into long leaps across the board in a single move. Building and using these hopping ladders is what separates a quick win from a slow shuffle.
Controls
| Tap a piece, then a destination | Move it one step, or hop it over neighbours. |
| Chained hops | A jump that sets up another jump can continue in one move. |
| New game | Reset the pieces to their corners. |
| Mode | Play the computer or a friend. |
Tips & strategy
Build hopping chains rather than stepping one square at a time. A line of pieces spaced with gaps lets a trailing piece leap the whole length in a single turn. Setting up these ladders, even using your opponent's pieces as stepping stones, is how you cover ground quickly.
Do not leave stragglers. The game is only won when every one of your pieces reaches the far corner, so a single piece left behind can cost you the race even if the rest arrived long ago. Move your whole group forward together rather than rushing a few ahead.
Your opponent's pieces are stepping stones too, and so are yours for them. A move that opens a clean hopping lane may hand your opponent an even longer leap. Look at what your jump leaves behind before you commit to it.
Keep to the central diagonal where possible. The straight line between the two corners is the shortest path, and pieces that wander to the edges take extra moves to come back. Efficiency over the whole group wins the race.
Questions
Do I capture my opponent's pieces?
No. Pieces are never removed. You hop over them, but they stay on the board. The game is a pure race.
How far can a piece move?
One step to an adjacent empty point, or a hop over a neighbouring piece into the empty space beyond, and hops can chain into long leaps.
How do I win?
By getting every one of your pieces into the corner opposite where they started, before your opponent does.
Is it really from China?
No, the name is a marketing invention. The game was created in Germany in the nineteenth century.