Net Checkers presents two versions of the checkers: American and Russian. You can play with your friend over the Internet, LAN, modem or direct connection. You can exchange messages with the help of a built-in chat; a warning sound is emitted when players connect; and there is a built-in option to connect players over the Internet using on-line server

• Lets you play American and Russian Checkers against live opponents.
• Lets to exchange messages with the help of a built-in or on-line chat.
• A multiple-part status bar displays all needed information.
• Easy to install and uninstall.
• Easy to link up and play with human opponents in a local network or on the Internet, using direct or modem connection.
• Detailed built-in and on-line help.
• Nice, easy to use user interface. Free upgrade.

American checkers

• American checkers is played on the dark squares only of a standard checkerboard of 64 alternating dark and light squares, (eight rows, eight files) by two opponents having 12 checkers each of contrasting colors, nominally referred to as black andwhite.
• The board is positioned squarely between the players and turned so that a dark square is at each player's near left side. Each player places his checkers on the dark squares of the three rows nearest him. The player with the darker checkers makes the first move of the game, and the players take turns thereafter, making one move at a time.
• The object of the game is to prevent the opponent from being able to move when it is his turn to do so. This is accomplished either by capturing all of the opponent's checkers, or by blocking those that remain so that none of them can be moved. If neither player can accomplish this, the game is a draw.
• Single checkers, known as men, move forward only, one square at a time in a diagonal direction, to an unoccupied square. Men capture by jumping over an opposing man on a diagonally adjacent square to the square immediately beyond, but may do so only if this square is unoccupied. Men may jump forward only, and may continue jumping as long as they encounter opposing checkers with unoccupied squares immediately beyond them. Men may never jump over checkers of the same color.
• A man which reaches the far side of the board, whether by means of a jump or a simple move, becomes a king, and the move terminates. The opponent must then crown the new king by placing a checker of the same color atop it. A player is not permitted to make his own move until he crowns his opponent's king.
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Russian checkers

• Russian checkers is played on the dark squares only of a standard checkerboard of 64 alternating dark and light squares, (eight rows, eight files) by two opponents having 12 checkers each of contrasting colors, nominally referred to as black and white.
• The board is positioned squarely between the players and turned so that a dark square is at each player's near left side. Each player places his checkers on the dark squares of the three rows nearest him. The player with the lighter checkers makes the first move of the game, and the players take turns thereafter, making one move at a time.
• The object of the game is to prevent the opponent from being able to move when it is his turn to do so. This is accomplished either by capturing all of the opponent's checkers, or by blocking those that remain so that none of them can be moved. If neither player can accomplish this, the game is a draw.
• Single checkers, known as men, move forward only, one square at a time in a diagonal direction, to an unoccupied square. Men capture by jumping over an opposing man on a diagonally adjacent square to the square immediately beyond, but may do so only if this square is unoccupied. Men may jump forward or backward, and may continue jumping as long as they encounter opposing checkers with unoccupied squares immediately beyond them. Men may never jump over checkers of the same color.
• A man which reaches the far side of the board becomes a king. If it reaches the far side by means of a jump, it continues jumping as a king on the same move, if possible, and remains a king at the end of the jumping sequence. When a man becomes a king the turn to move passes to the other player, who must crown the new king by placing a checker of the same color atop it. A player is not permitted to make his own move until he crowns his opponent's king.
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Historical

• There is a good evidence of the game's ancient origin, both factual and circumstantial. That checkers was played in the days of the earlier Pharaohs is well authenticated by Egyptian history and the British museum contains specimens of primitive board quite similar to the modern ones. The roots of the checkers are intertwined with those of chess, a sister game, and there is some conjecture over priority. Checkers being simpler in form, it is reasonable to presume it was devised first, and that chess followed as an elaboration. Plato and Homer mention checkers in their works and the Romans are believed to have imported it from Greece. Comparison of these games of antiquity with the modern pastime may be speculative, nevertheless, the earliest publications on record show the 12 men on each side and the conventional board.
• Antonio Torquemada of Valencia, Spain, published the first book on checkers in 1547. Other Spanish issues followed and in 1650 Juan Garsia Canalejas published a notable volume containing games and traps that are still dependable. The Spaniards may have received their knowledge from older sources in Arabia through the Moors.
• William Payne, a mathematician, was the pioneer of English draughts literature and his book, Guide to the Game of Draughts, appeared in 1756. A striking feature of Payne's book is the dedication by Samuel Johnson, who was exceedingly fond of the game. In 1800 Joshua Sturges brought out a treatise that served as a textbook for nearly half a century until the advent of Andrew Anderson's elaborate compilation in 1848. Thereafter the literature grew at a rapid pace and by 1900 the books counted up in the hundreds.
• After 1900 the growth of scientific play was stepped up by the advancement of U.S. players, who made rapid progress, spurred on by their first team match with a representative British group in 1905.