Checkers Jumping Rules

[Knight Fisher]

So I was playing checkers with a friend the other day and he said you didn't have to jump. Do you?

[bookworm]

If you’re able to jump a piece, you must do so.

[American Eagle]

I played an electronic game that forced me to do it, and I hated it. I don't think you should be forced to make a move.

[bookworm]

I don't think you should be forced to make a move.

I don’t ‘think’ so either, but that doesn’t change whether or not it’s the rule.

[American Eagle]

I don't think you should be forced to make a move.

I don’t ‘think’ so either, but that doesn’t change whether or not it’s the rule.

Hmm. I didn't know checkers was a copyrighted game. Who decides the rules for it?

[bookworm]

The American Checker Federation does.

If there is an opponent's checker or king on an adjacent square in the row ahead with an unoccupied square on the same diagonal line in the following row, that piece (checker or king) must be jumped.

[~JCGJ~]

Yes, because it makes the game much more of a strategy game. If you don't have to jump, every jump that happens has to have been because your opponant made a mistake. But if you do have to jump, you can set the game up to where your opponant has to move where you want them to move.

(As a side note, I think the reason the rule was even introduced, was because Chess players were trying to make the game more a game of strategy, than one of luck. )

[American Eagle]

The American Checker Federation does.

If there is an opponent's checker or king on an adjacent square in the row ahead with an unoccupied square on the same diagonal line in the following row, that piece (checker or king) must be jumped.

You're probably right, officially, but having rules for checkers is like having rules for tag. It should be played for fun and with variation, in my opinion.

[bookworm]

It should be played ... with variation, in my opinion.

So people can make up their own rules?

[American Eagle]

It should be played ... with variation, in my opinion.

So people can make up their own rules?

If it doesn't break the template of the game, or make it unfair, why not? I think it's fine to do for fun.

[bookworm]

If I can make up my own rules, then I’ll never loose at checkers again.

[American Eagle]

If that is so, then the rules you implement would be unfair.

[DanP740]

But what's meant by "making your own rules" can't mean coming up with rules in your favor during the game. At camp we play carpet ball a lot, and there are tons of variations, but there's usually a pretty fixed set we play with, but we do changes occasionally, but only to have more fun, not just to help one person win.

[Taps]

Well yeah, I believe that if you both agree on your variations of the rules beforehand it's fine. But it is just cowardly to bend the rules in your favor, that just shows you don't think you aren't good enough to beat the opponent.

[~JCGJ~]

Sometimes it's fun to play where you WANT to be the one to lose all his pieces first. It's a new twist that really involves alot more concentration then you'd think. (And yes, in this version, you must jump if the chance presents itself.)

Or turn the board diagonally, and set up the board like that. That way, you have to travel further to get a king, and there are only two spots in which you can do so!

There are litterally thousands of variations of the game, and all are fun and chalanging in their own ways. I am president of our local board game club, and my motto for the club is, "Change it up! And if it doesn't work, change it again!"

[Catspaw]

Some games can have "house rules." If two people decide ahead of time to play differently than the standard rules, kind of like ~JCGJ~ is talking about, then that's their decision. As long as everybody involved knows how the game is being played and is okay with that, then I think it's fine. When we were kids, my siblings and I always started a game of Monopoly with more money than the rules said we should have, but we still all started with the same amount. It was still fair, we were happy, and whoever wrote the rules didn't know and wasn't playing with us, so who cares?

[DanP740]

Speaking of Monopoly, we made ourselves a set of $5000 bills for when the money gets really high later on.

[Knight Fisher]

Everyone gets mad at me when I play Monopoly. Something about being completely ruthless and locked-in.