chess vs. checkers

It seems there isn't much discussion on this topic so I thought it would be interesting to hear some on this matter. I just know there has to be someone out there who secretly plays checkers; even to the point of setting up 12 random chess pieces on either light or dark squares and playing checkers with them.  Is chess a "thinking man's (person's) game and checkers (draughts) a "working man's (person's) game? Is it just for little kids and old guys? Does checkers amke you a better chess player and vice-versa? I know there's got to be somebody out there brave enough to post on this topic

One thing for sure, both games require calculation.

Checkers has openings (with names and everything !) as well as mid-game and end game studies, along with famous games  from the past that are studied just as with chess. It's not just pushing checkers around like kids.

http://www.jimloy.com/checkers/checkers.htm#openings

I know. My grandfather and his brother would sit and play for hours studying moves just like chess.

Alright now! That's quite enough of that. 

good point although you can play on either all light or all dark squares.

If you haven't studied checkers, I'd recommend that you check it out. It is a beautiful game that requires immense calculation. See if you can find a copy of the book "Starting out in Checkers" at your local library or used bookdealer to get a feel for it. Also a documentary of the 2008 World Championship entitled "King Me" is currently making its way around film festivals. Unfortunately, the game is suffering from very low (negative?) growth in interest. I recently heard a world champion say "There is no money in checkers....all the money is in chess!"  Wow! I recently saw that a Missouri State Open tournament was to take place at a McDonald's outside of Kansas City...

Here and there is a direct collision white against black and black against white, I think the only difference in the rules .Checkers and chess for those who like to fight, no matter old or young . Boxing does not make you a good player of chess and chess will not make you a good player of checkers ,very different rules, but these games will be taught to fight.

Both games have strategy and tactics.  On the surface, checkers is a very simple game - easy to learn - relatively easy to play except at the level that jjeffery was talking about.  You can drive yourself crazy studying both very intensely.  It IS sad that there seems to be a lagging interest in checkers at the tournament level.

good idea!!

Checkers is a fine game.  It's simpler than Chess in terms of number of possible moves and positions, but that just makes the calculation and ability to look ahead all that more important.

And what about Chinese Checkers!  Why doesn't that get any respect?

I'm joking, but only sort of. A game called Salta that is quite similar to Chinese Checkers once sported great popularity and big money tournaments.  The most well known afficianado of the game was then reigning Chess champion, Emanuel Lasker.  Lasker actually enjoyed many games.  I have a book by Lasker about Checkers.

Any non-trivial abstract strategy game can be a great intellectual challenge.  What separates Chess from all the rest is the breadth of analysis that has been performed on the game in its five hundred year history (in modern form) and the number of players who can contribute to the knowledge of the game.

http://www.chesskers.com/

(For the record, I did not know the game existed, but I figured it was a safe bet, and I just typed "chesskers" into google.)

There are dozens of different games in the checkers family.  American checkers or British draughts has been solved by computer and been shown to be a draw with perfect play.

International draughts is a significantly more complex game.  In it, pieces can jump both forwards and backwards, and promote to long-leaping kings.

To me one of the more interesting types of draughts is dama or Turkish checkers, where pieces move orthogonally, not diagonally, and promote to leaping rooks.

Amy

Thanks, Amy

I just saw this little discussion.  I always thought that Checkers had a finite number of moves, as noted in the previous discussion point.

So does Chess, but the number is a lot larger.

well i used to play checkers when i was five and it was funny, but fast got bored... chess is more interesting for me:P

I am a checker master player for the American Checkers Federation.  I can tell you from 10 plus years of experience, that checkers is no joke.  As some of the comments have pointed out, its very easy to learn and to play, but extremely difficult to master and play at a high level, very similar to chess.  Of course, the game is not as complex as chess and has much less possibilities, but that doesn't make it an easy game, and I wouldn't even say easier than chess.  Against the very best checker players, if you make a mistake, you pretty much lose.  If you make a mistake against a high class program, its time to quit.  It is less complex, but the margin of error is arguably a lot less.  I have not played enough chess to know if checkers can make you a better chess player, but I assume it would considering the amount of memory, visualization, and foresight that goes into each game.  Checkers is also indeed a dying mindsport.  This is ashame because as the game is very underappreicated, especially at the competitive level.  We certainly have a lot of cathing up to do.

Regards,

Joe

Ive been playing chess for years and apps are still tough. Ive been playing checkers for a few days and beat some apps at max difficulty, not even sure how it counted as a win at times, but the app said I won.

I tried my hand at checkers and failed miserably ... went back to chess gladly .  I still do have some interest in checkers though but serious checker players are even harder to find than serious chess players .