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This article was reviewed by Ashton Wu and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
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Chinese Checkers is a game in which players race each other to see who can fill their destination triangle with colored pegs first. While the game is neither Chinese nor Checkers, it's a fun tactical game invented in Germany but based on an American game called Halma. We’ll walk you through the original rules along with some gameplay variations, so you can play this classic game however you’d like.
Things You Should Know
- Win Chinese Checkers by getting your 10 pegs into the triangle on the opposite side of the board.
- Play the game by moving your pegs into an adjacent spot, or by hopping over nearby pegs.
- You can hop over pegs in a straight line, but can’t jump over “blocks” of 2 or more pegs.
Steps
Setup
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Split up the board depending on the number of players. A Chinese Checkers board resembles a 6-pointed star, with each point of the star featuring 10 “peg” (or marble) holes inside of it. The inner hexagon of the board is also filled with peg holes, and each side of the hexagon has 5 peg holes along it. The way you divide up the board ultimately depends on the number of people playing:
- 2 players: Use 1 pair of opposing triangles.
- 3 players: Use every other triangle on the board.
- 4 players: Use 2 pairs of opposing triangles.
- 6 players: Use all 6 triangles.
- Note: Chinese Checkers typically requires an even number of players, so there isn’t a way to fairly play with 5 players. Three players are only admissible since each player is working toward an empty triangle on the opposite side of the game board.
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Place your pegs in the peg holes. Stick the colored pegs in the matching triangle that you’ll be playing with.[1] Not all Chinese Checkers boards have color-coded triangles, however—in this case, you can choose any colored set of pegs you wish.Advertisement
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Aim to get all 10 of your pegs in the opposite triangle. Unlike traditional checkers, Chinese Checkers doesn’t involve “capturing” your opponent’s pieces. Instead, it’s a race against your fellow players—the object of the game is to get all of your pieces across the board into the opposing triangle before any other player can do the same.[2]
Gameplay
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Rotate gameplay clockwise, starting with the youngest player. Alternatively, choose any player to go first or use a method like drawing straws or rock-paper-scissors. Just make sure to take turns moving in a clockwise direction.[3]
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Take your turn by moving 1 peg to an adjacent space. In Chinese Checkers, your pegs can move in any direction along the board, as long as you’re going to an adjacent space. Only one peg can be moved per turn.
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Hop over a nearby peg if it’s blocking your path. Feel free to jump over an opponent’s peg (or your own) if it’s in your way. Just make sure that you’re jumping in a straight line (rather than hopping at an angle), and that you’re only jumping over a single peg. Multiple hops are allowed in a single turn, as long as both of these requirements are met.
- It’s against the rules to jump over a “block” of 2 pegs.[4]
- You can hop into an opponent’s triangle (besides the triangle you’re angling to get your pieces into) if you hop out on the same turn.
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Win the game by moving all of your pieces to the opposite triangle. Let’s say that you’re playing as the red pegs, which are on one side of the board, and your opponent is playing as the black pegs, which are on the opposite side of the board. Win the game by moving all of your red pegs into the black peg holes before they get their black pegs into the red peg holes.[5]
- You can't move your pegs back into play once they’ve entered the final triangle. Don’t remove your pegs from the board, either—unlike traditional checkers, all pieces stay on the board for the entirety of the game in Chinese Checkers.
- Special Exception: Does your opponent refuse to move one of their starting pegs while you have 9 out of your 10 pegs in their final spots? No worries. According to modern Chinese Checker rules, simply swap your final piece with the adjacent obstructing piece to win the game. This is an optional rule, though, and needs to be decided on before the game starts.[6]
Game Variations
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Super Chinese Checkers
Not in the mood for a long game? In Super Chinese Checkers, there are no jumping restrictions for your pegs, so your pegs can jump in whatever direction you’d like. You’re also allowed to make “super” jumps—in other words, if there are 2 spaces both in front and behind a neighboring peg, you could jump 6 total spaces over that peg.[7]- With super jumps, the only requirement is that there are the same number of spaces in front and behind a peg.
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Multiple Triangle Play
Want to spice up your 2- or 3-player game? Give each player multiple triangles and sets of pegs to control—just make sure that you’re playing on the opposite side of your opponent. The game continues until a player gets all of their peg sets into their destination triangles on the board.[8] -
Online or mobile Chinese Checkers Plenty of gaming websites and apps offer a digital means of playing Chinese Checkers. Most online and mobile games should operate under the same rules as traditional Chinese Checkers.
- Chinese Checkers (for Android)
- Chinese Checkers (for iOS)
Community Q&A
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QuestionI was playing a couple versions online that confused me. I seem to be able to jump when another single peg is two spots away, and jump to two spots past that peg. Is this an official rule?
Community AnswerThe version of Chinese checkers to which you are referring is probably fast-paced Chinese checkers. This version allows a player to make symmetrical jumps over other pegs, provided the same amount of spaces exist in the line between the pegs (marbles). This creates more hop opportunities for otherwise "stranded" pieces that would have had to made short step moves before they could hop in the traditional manner. -
QuestionWhen I jump an opponent's peg, does he leave it there, or go back to home base?
Community AnswerUnlike the more common version of checkers, jumping a piece allows the jumped piece to remain in its current position until that player's turn. -
QuestionIf I am using more than 10 marbles/pegs, do I use more of the adjacent holes lined up with my starting triangle?
Community AnswerTypically the game is played with 6 marbles/pegs for 3+ players, and 10 pegs for 2 players. However, if you are making your own variation that involves using more than 10, I suggest using 15 and filling the next row of the triangle.
Video
Tips
References
- ↑ https://www.officialgamerules.org/chinese-checkers
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Chinese_Checkers_%282003,_wooden%29.pdf
- ↑ https://www.officialgamerules.org/chinese-checkers
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Chinese_Checkers_%282003,_wooden%29.pdf
- ↑ https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Chinese_Checkers_%282003,_wooden%29.pdf
- ↑ https://bargames101.com/how-to-play-chinese-checkers-rules-instructions/
- ↑ https://learnplaywin.net/chinese-checkers-rules/
- ↑ https://learnplaywin.net/chinese-checkers-rules/
About This Article
Chinese checkers is a fun board game played with 2, 3, 4, or 6 players where players try to move their 10 pieces, called pegs, across the board to occupy all 10 of the destination holes on the opposite side of the board. To play, each player starts by choosing a colored peg and setting their pieces up in the designated triangle that matches their color. Then, everyone flips a coin to see who goes first. Each turn consists of a player moving one peg. A peg may be moved to any adjacent space as long as it’s open. Players may also hop a peg and land in an open space on the opposite side, regardless of the color of the peg, as long as they’re moving their piece in a straight line. If a player does hop a piece, they may continue to hop pieces as long as there is an empty space on the other side to land on, and they may change directions while hopping if they'd like. Unlike traditional checkers, hopped pieces are not removed from the board in Chinese checkers. Each player is trying to move their pegs to the triangle directly across from them on the board. Once a peg reaches an open space in a player's destination triangle, it cannot be moved out of that triangle for the remainder of the game, but it can be moved within the triangle. Players cannot end their turn with one of their pegs in another player's starting or destination triangle. Play continues clockwise around the table until a player has successfully moved all of their pegs to their destination triangle. Keep reading to learn how to hop multiple pegs in one move!
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