Grand masters!!!!!!!!

Did you know that there are checkers GMs!!!!!!! I just found out yesterday.

that is almost hilarious enough to justify seven exclamation points. 

almost

im sure they get lots of respect

 Thanks for taking the time to count, but I wasn't trying to be funny. It's true.

You have got to be kidding...

Nope. I wonder how much studying it takes compared to chess.

Checkers has a much lower game-tree complexity than chess, but that's not to say that there aren't equally fruitful and complex strategies and tactics from a human point of view. Or so I hear, I don't play it much myself.

checkers GMs....lol....don't make me spit out my coffee pls!

I wonder if they have checkers ratings. I know they have tournaments.

Actually draughts(checkers) is part of the World Mind Sports Games
along with chess, go, bridge, and xiangqi(chinese chess).  It was held in 2008 and
the next one will be in 2012 along with the Olympics.

Although I think chess is more complex improving in checkers is very difficult
as well.  Marion Tinsley, the greatest checkers player ever was a 2405 in chess
and a math professor.  He lost only 8 times in checkers in over 30 years!!!

As far as I am aware, computers have played out all the possible moves on the checkers board - it is therefore a dead game.

After all, chess has a much lower game-tree complexity than go, and we're hardly going to admit that chess is less fruitful or complex than go, are we?

I don't agree that checkers is a dead game because it has been solved by a
computer.  First of all, it is one of the 5 events in the World Mind Sports Games.
Second, most GM's feel with best play chess is a draw.  So when a computer
solves chess one day will chess suddenly be a dead game?  Of course not, as
people will still continue to play.  Perhaps some of the romance of checkers
is gone and when chess is solved some of the romance of it will be gone, but
humans don't think like computers and the game will go on.

 Just because a computer has all the possible moves worked out doesn't mean the players do. So it's only dead for the computers not the people.

Yes, you are so much better than checkers players in every possible way, only because the game-tree complexity in chess is superior to that of checkers.

/Golfclap.

 I don't claim to be superior, to checkers players because I suck at both chess, and checkers.

I prefer chess, but checkers, go, stratego, risk, and many other games are fun
to play as well and deserve respect. 

Chess is far more complex than checkers, but far less complex than go. The difference between go and chess is even greater than chess and checkers in terms of the game tree complexity (360 for go, 123 for chess, and I don't know what it is for checkers, but 123 is clearly less than half of 360 in terms of logs of base 10). Does that mean go players can laugh similarly at chess players? Of course not. So please - some respect for checkers players... ;)

Well said. Though I guess for computers, checkers would become pointless first, followed by chess, then go...