Chinese Checkers · Complete guide
Chinese Checkers: how to play, where it came from, and how to win
Hop your marbles across a six-pointed star. Neither Chinese nor checkers — a German star board for an American game, renamed in New York in 1928.
Chinese Checkers is a race across a 121-hole star. Each player starts with ten marbles filling one point and must move all of them into the point directly opposite. Nothing is ever captured — this is a pure race with blocking.
A turn is either one step to an adjacent hole, or a chain of jumps: hop over a single adjacent marble into the empty hole beyond, and keep going as long as jumps are available. A good chain carries one marble from one end of the board to the other in a single turn, which is why the whole game is about building — and denying — ladders.
The name is marketing. The original game is Halma, invented in Boston around 1883–84; the six-pointed star came from Germany in 1892 as Stern-Halma; and "Chinese Checkers" was coined by the Pressman brothers in New York in 1928 to catch a fashion for Chinese-styled products. The name later travelled back to East Asia, where the game is genuinely popular today.
Two, three or six players get a symmetrical position, and the game changes character with each: more players means more marbles to jump, longer chains and a much faster race.
How to play
The star board, the two kinds of move, and the chain jumps that decide every game — plus the two house rules that stop a game stalling, and how two, three, four and six players differ.
Where it comes from
Invented in Boston as Halma in 1883, reshaped into a star in Germany in 1892, and given a Chinese-sounding name by a New York toy company in 1928 because it sold better.
- The original game is Halma, invented around 1883–84 by George Howard Monks in Boston.
- Halma is played on a square board; the six-pointed star came from Germany in 1892 as Stern-Halma.
- The star allows symmetrical play for two, three or six players, which a square cannot.
- The name "Chinese Checkers" was invented by the Pressman brothers in New York in 1928 as marketing.
How to win
Why chains of jumps decide every game, how to build a ladder that carries all ten marbles, when blocking is worth the tempo, and how to pack your home point without blocking yourself.
- Chains of jumps are the currency: one good chain is worth several ordinary moves.
- Always move your rearmost marble — the game ends when your last one arrives.
- Keep your marbles connected so each can act as a stepping stone for the next.
- Route through the central hexagon; the outside route is simply longer.
Chinese Checkers strategy: build ladders, move the straggler →
Common questions
Is Chinese Checkers actually Chinese?
No. It is a German star-board version of an American game called Halma, renamed in New York in 1928. There is no Chinese ancestry at all.
How many marbles does each player get?
Ten in the standard modern game. Some older sets use fifteen with a larger starting triangle.
Can you capture marbles?
No. Jumped marbles stay exactly where they are — the game is a race, and blocking is the only aggression available.
Can you step and then jump in the same turn?
No. A turn is either one step or a sequence of jumps. Mixing them is the most common rules mistake among new players.
How many people can play?
Two, three, four or six. Two, three and six are symmetrical; four uses two opposite pairs of points and leaves the other two empty.
Guides
Play Chinese Checkers free, right now
No sign-up, no download — it runs in your browser against the computer, a friend on the same device, or a friend online.