Chinese Checkers is a classic strategy board game that can be played by 2-6 players. The objective is to be the first to move all of your marbles across the board into the opposite triangle.
The Game Board The Chinese Checkers board consists of a star-shaped playing surface with holes to hold the marbles. At the points of the star are triangles, with each player being assigned a triangle as their “home” and the opposite triangle as their “destination.”
Game Setup Each player receives 10 marbles of the same color. Players place their marbles in the holes of their home triangle at the start of the game.
Gameplay On a turn, a player moves one of their marbles along any open adjacent hole, jumping over their own and opponent’s marbles when possible. Marbles can move in any direction, but always move into an open adjacent hole.
Jumping When a straight line of vacant holes is available, with a marble just beyond it, the player’s marble can jump over that intervening marble. Jumped marbles are not captured, but remain on the board.
Multiple Jumps If after jumping the first marble, the jumping marble has another opportunity to jump a marble along the same line, it can complete multiple jumps in a single turn. This is often key to rapid advancement across the board.
Winning The first player to move all 10 of their marbles into the opposite home triangle wins!
Strategy Tips
- Try to open up paths for your marbles to travel by jumping opponent’s marbles
- Set up opportunities for multiple jumps in a single turn
- Block opponents from setting up long jumps
- Position your marbles to protect your home triangle
Whether playing with family, friends or using this game as a classroom learning game, it’s a thoroughly engaging game of strategy for all ages!
How to play Chinese Checkers:
Setup
- Each player gets 10 marbles of the same color
- Players place their marbles in one of the triangles at a corner of the board. This is their “home” triangle.
- The triangle directly opposite a player’s home triangle is their “destination” triangle where they must move all their marbles to win.
Taking Turns
- Players take turns moving one marble at a time.
- On your turn, you must move one of your marbles.
- You can move a marble to any adjacent hole, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
Moving Rules
- You can only move into an empty hole. You cannot jump over or move on top of your own marbles.
- You can jump over one marble belonging to any player, landing in the vacant hole directly beyond it along the same line.
- After jumping one marble, if the hole after the jumped marble is vacant, you can continue jumping additional marbles in the same line on that turn.
Winning
- The first player to move all 10 of their marbles into their destination triangle wins the game.
- You do not need to have any particular arrangement or formation in the destination triangle.
Strategy
- Try to open up paths for your marbles by jumping other players’ marbles out of the way.
- Set up opportunities to make multiple jumps in one turn to move across the board quickly.
- Block opponents by positioning your marbles to prevent them from setting up long jump sequences.
- Protect access to your home triangle and destination triangle.
The game continues until one player wins or reaches a stalemate where no more moves are possible.
