Checkers Game

Materials
 thick white construction paper
 scissors
 scotch tape
 recycled bottle caps
 plastic bag

Instructions

1 Start by printing each grid twice

(pages 5 et 6).
Next cut out the four grids.

Note : - for an 8 x 8 checkerboard,

see the instructions on page 7.
- for a 12 x 12 checkerboard,
see the instructions on page 8.

AB
Place the grids according to the
diagram.

BA
3 Turn the four parts of the grid over.
Glue the four grids together with
scotch tape to form the complete
checkerboard.
The checkerboard consists of 10
squares by 10 squares i.e. 100 equal
squares which are alternately light
and dark.

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 4
Collect caps to have checkers for your
checkerboard.
You need 20 clear caps and 20 dark
caps to use as game pieces which are
called checkers or men.

PS: because I had a lot of white caps and

blue caps I decided that I would use
those two colours.

5
The checkerboard is placed so that
the square at the bottom left of each
player is black.
Place the caps on both sides of the
checkerboard, on the black squares
only.

6 In this way, you should get 4 rows of

men on either side of the
checkerboard. So before the start of a
game, there are always two empty
rows in the middle of the board that
separate the two sides.
You are now ready to start a game!

7
The rules say that the white pieces
make the first move.
The pieces move only one square at a
time. The men move forward,
diagonally onto a free square.
The only exception is when a man
captures a piece of the other player by
jumping over it.

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 8
You can capture more than one piece
at a time when the situation arises.

9 You can capture backward too.

10 When a man reaches the last row of

the checkerboard, it becomes a king.
To clearly mark the difference
between a man and a king, place
another man of the same colour on the
Dame man that arrived at the last row.

11 When you have finished playing, fold

the checkerboard and put it with the
game pieces in a plastic bag.
For a classroom you can create an
activity centre with several checkers
games.

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Rules of the checkers game

The checkers game is played with two players. The checkerboard is placed so that the
square at the bottom left of each player is black.

The game is played on the black squares. The men are usually black and white. The
checkers are aligned on the first four lines of each player. The rules say that the white
pieces make the first move.

A man is taken by jumping over the opponent's pieces. It is possible to take several pieces
in the same turn. The men are not allowed to retreat except to take an opposing piece.

The goal of the game is to take the men of the opponent and to arrive at the last row. When
a man arrives at the last row, he becomes a king. The king can move as many squares as
he wants, forward or backward, but always diagonally like the men.

Have fun with the checkers game!

The international version of the checkers game has 10 by 10 squares and 40 game pieces
(see grids pages 5 et 6).
But in some countries, the checkers game has 8 by 8 squares and 24 pieces (see grid
page 7).
In Canada, the checkers game has 12 by 12 squares and 60 pieces (see grid page 8).

Note: to clearly mark the difference between a man and a king, place another man of the same colour on the
man that arrived on the last row. It's not easy to fit two caps on top of each other, so I replaced the cap
with a slightly higher plastic container. If you want to stick two caps together to form a king, you could
use a repositionable, reusable adhesive like "Patafix".

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 10 by 10 grid (A)

AB
Assembly
Start by printing each grid (A) and (B) twice, and then
cut out the four grids.
Glue the four grids together with scotch tape to form

BA
the complete checkerboard. The checkerboard forms
a square of 10 by 10 squares i.e. 100 equal squares
which are alternately light and dark.

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 10 by 10 grid (B)

Assembly
See page 5.

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 8 by 8 grid (C)

Assembly
Start by printing four times the grid (C) and then
cut out the four grids.
Glue the four grids together with scotch tape to
form the complete checkerboard.
CC
CC
The checkerboard forms a square of 8 by 8
squares, i.e. 64 equal squares which are
alternately light and dark.

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 12 by 12 grid (D)

Assembly
Start by printing nine times the grid (D) and then
cut out the nine grids.
Glue the nine grids together with scotch tape to
DDD
form the complete checkerboard. The
checkerboard forms a square of 12 by 12
squares, i.e. 144 equal squares which are DDD
DDD
alternately light and dark.

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