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Copyright 2003, Jim Loy
You may print this and show it to others. But, this article will eventually be part of a book that I am writing. So, please do not distribute it widely.
People sometimes send me links to new improved forms of checkers, with new rules to make the game more interesting. Sorry, I'm not interested. I firmly believe that the 8x8 checkers played in the US and most of the rest of the English-speaking world (and sometimes elsewhere) is very interesting, and far from dead. And the main reason for my opinion is that I can sit down at my computer for an hour, and find half a dozen flaws in published play. These are improvements that will win games (not always, people often avoid these "cooks"). And it leads me to guess that published play is riddled with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of these flaws. And, there are probably thousands of good new moves waiting to be discovered, which do not qualify as improvements, but are alternative attacks and defenses. Certainly there are plenty of draws, some very exciting, some previously published. But repeating a previously published game is often the attacker's fault. If he is going to play a published attack, then he is probably going to face the easiest published defense. If the player on the stronger side of the board wants a draw, then he will probably get a boring draw, and rightly so. Games are still won and lost, and the game can be a thrill to play.
This is one of my missions in life, spreading my belief that checkers is interesting and often exciting. So don't bother me with new games and rules, because I'm not interested.