How do you play Chinese Checkers?
You win by being the first to move all 10 of your marbles into the opposite point of the star. Nothing is ever captured, so it is a pure race. In Korea and Japan the same game is known as the Diamond Game.
The board has 121 holes: a central hexagon of 61 plus six star points of 10 each. Players take turns, one move at a time.
How do the marbles move?
- Step: move one hole in any of the six directions into an empty hole.
- Hop: jump over an adjacent marble, yours or anyone's, into the empty hole right behind it. The marble you hop over stays on the board.
- Chain hops: after landing, keep hopping as long as you can, changing direction as you like.
- One kind per turn: you either step or hop, never both in the same move.
- Winning: fill all 10 holes of the opposite point first. If up to three opponent marbles are still sitting there, you still win once every other hole holds one of yours.
How many people can play?
2, 3, 4 or 6 players. In Play the computer you are red at the bottom and the computer takes every other color. Pass and play lets everyone share one device.
| Players | Points used |
|---|---|
| 2 | Top and bottom, facing each other |
| 3 | Every other point, so each target starts empty |
| 4 | Two facing pairs |
| 6 | All six points |
Tips
- Build hopping ladders. Marbles spaced one hole apart let a back marble chain hop across the board.
- Do not leave a straggler. A lone marble at the back has nothing to hop over and has to crawl.
- Stay in the middle. The edges offer few hops and lead into other points.
- Fill the tip of your target first. Clog the entrance and the deep holes become hard to reach.
Undo is unlimited. Your fewest moves to beat the computer are saved for each player count in this browser.