Who moves first in Chinese checkers?

Published rules differ, and most leave it to the players. On this board you always move first, and play then passes clockwise round the star to each computer player in turn.

Is Chinese checkers the same game as Halma?

It is Halma moved onto a star. Halma is played on a 16 × 16 square board with 19 pieces a side for two, but the steps, the chains of jumps and the race to the far corner are the same.

How many marbles does each player use?

Ten, at every table size on this board. Some sets give each of two players fifteen, filling an extra row beyond the point, but ten is the standard number and the one used here.

How to Play Chinese Checkers

To play Chinese checkers, start with ten marbles in your point of the star and race them into the point opposite. On your turn move one marble: either one step into a neighbouring empty hole, or a chain of jumps, each over a single adjacent marble of any colour into the empty hole straight beyond it. Jumped marbles stay put, and the first player to fill the opposite point wins.

The rules, step by step

1Fill your starting pointEach player's ten marbles fill one point of the star. Two players sit opposite, three in alternate points, four in two opposite pairs and six in every point.
2Take turns clockwiseEach turn you move exactly one of your own marbles. Moving is compulsory, and a player with no legal move at all is skipped.
3Step to a neighbouring holeA step moves a marble into any empty hole that touches it, in any of the six directions, forwards, sideways or back.
4Or jump, as far as the chain goesA jump goes over one adjacent marble of any colour into the empty hole straight beyond it. Jump again from there as often as you like, but never land on the same hole twice, and never mix steps with jumps.
5Capture nothingJumped marbles stay exactly where they are. Every marble stays in play, and any of them can be a rung in anyone's chain.
6Fill the opposite point to winThe first player whose ten marbles fill the point opposite their own wins. Holes there held by an opponent's marbles that never left home count as filled for you.

Try it — the rules above, running

You0/10 home
Blue0/10 home

TurnYouHome0/10Moves0Time0:00Game#0

New game sets up the star with you playing Red from the bottom point; the number of players and the computer’s strength are in the ⋯ menu and are remembered. Tap one of your marbles to pick it up and every hole it can reach glows — tap one and the marble goes there, taking the shortest chain of jumps if there is more than one route. With the keyboard, move between holes with the arrow keys, press Enter to pick up and again to place, and Escape to put the marble back.

Your statistics · 2 players · Normal

Played: 0
Won: 0
Win rate: 0%
Streak: 0
Best streak: 0
Best time: —

Plays its best move, weighing distance, marbles left behind and the length of each chain.

Keyboard

Arrows: Move between holes
Enter / Space: Pick up or place
Escape: Put the marble back
N: New game
F: Full screen

How is a Chinese checkers board set up?

1Choose the table sizeChinese checkers is played by 2, 3, 4 or 6 players. On this board you play Red and the computer takes every other seat.
2Fill the starting pointsEach player's ten marbles fill one point: opposite points for two, alternate points for three, two opposite pairs for four, all six for six.
3Find your targetYour target is always the point directly across the star from your own. Red starts at the bottom and races for the top.
4Start the turnsYou move first and play passes clockwise round the star, one move per player per turn.

What counts as a legal move?

A step: one marble moves into an empty hole that touches it. There are six directions, and backwards and sideways count.
A jump: one marble goes over a single adjacent marble — any colour — into the empty hole straight beyond it.
A chain: after a jump the same marble may jump again, in any direction, as many times as it can, stopping wherever you choose.
Never both: a step and a jump can never share a move, and a chain may not land on any hole twice, the starting hole included.
No captures: jumped marbles stay on the board. Nothing is ever removed.

How do you win at Chinese checkers?

Be the first to fill the point opposite your own with your marbles. The game ends the moment it is filled. Because your target usually starts full of another player's marbles, one rule keeps the race honest: holes still held by marbles that have never left their starting point count as filled for you, so you win once every other hole there is yours.

Races are won by chains. Move marbles in a group so they keep making rungs for each other, never strand one at home, and fill your target from the tip backwards so the entrance stays open for the last arrivals.

How do you win more often?

Build ladders, then climb themA long chain needs marbles spaced one hole apart along the way. Spend a quiet move putting a marble where it makes a rung, and the next turn a back marble can cross half the board in one move — which is why the computer gives every jump in a chain a bonus.
Bring your back marbles with youThe marble left alone at home is the one that loses races: with nothing to jump over it crawls one hole a turn. The Normal and Hard computers charge themselves for any marble more than three rows behind the average of its group, and so should you.
Use everybody's marblesA jump works over any colour, so an opponent's marbles in the middle are rungs too. Look for chains through their line before you build your own, and think twice before parking a marble where it hands them one.
Fill the far end of your target firstSend your early arrivals right up to the tip of the target point and leave the holes nearest the middle open. Fill the entrance first and the marbles already in have to be shuffled up one step at a time before the last ones can get in.
Empty your own point earlyYour starting point is somebody's target. Marbles you never move out count as filled holes for that player under the anti-blocking rule, so a marble left at home is working for your opponent.

Common questions about chinese checkers

Who moves first in Chinese checkers?: Published rules differ, and most leave it to the players. On this board you always move first, and play then passes clockwise round the star to each computer player in turn.
Is Chinese checkers the same game as Halma?: It is Halma moved onto a star. Halma is played on a 16 × 16 square board with 19 pieces a side for two, but the steps, the chains of jumps and the race to the far corner are the same.
How many marbles does each player use?: Ten, at every table size on this board. Some sets give each of two players fifteen, filling an extra row beyond the point, but ten is the standard number and the one used here.

Ready to stop reading? Play chinese checkers on the full board, with controls and statistics tailored to that game.