How to start
- Open bigboard.games on every device and tap Start a table on one of them.
- The others join by themselves on the same Wi-Fi; elsewhere, scan the QR code or type the four-letter code.
- Lay the devices edge to edge, screens up, as the drawing shows, and pick the game.
Two halves of one board
In the default view, Home areas, each phone shows only its own player's half: four ranks by eight files, with your 12 men nearest you, flush with the phone's top edge. Above it a strip in your opponent's colour names who lies beyond. Push the phones together top edge to top edge and the two halves make the whole 8 × 8.
When the match starts, a short intro names your opponent and asks for the phones to be laid that way; the clocks wait until it is over. Two tablets work the same, and so does a phone facing a tablet. One phone between you? 2 player checkers puts the whole board on one screen.
Jumps that cross the table
The pieces that can move glow, and the squares they can reach light up on both phones. Either phone may pick for the player to move, so when a capture runs onto the far half you tap the landing over there. During a multi-jump the path stays drawn, the men you've taken are crossed out, and the badge says Keep jumping until the sequence is done.
Then the piece hops square by square, a quarter of a second a hop, leaving one screen as it reaches the other. Both phones play the hop from the same moment, and if two fingers pick at once the newest pick wins on both, so the halves never disagree. Chess on two phones splits its board the same way.
Draws, clocks and a friend far away
Russian rules are the default, English an option in the lobby. A game is drawn when the same position comes up a third time, or after 15 moves each under Russian rules, 40 under English, with no capture and no man moved; the badges count it down once it starts.
A move timer of 15, 30 or 60 seconds plays a random legal move when it runs out; a clock of 5, 10 or 15 minutes each makes whoever runs out lose. If your friend isn't in the room, they can join with the table's link or code, and then both devices show the whole board, each turned to its own player. More friends? Checkers also plays three and four.
2 players: questions and answers
Is capturing mandatory?
Yes, under both rule sets, and a capture that has begun must be finished.
Can each phone show the whole board?
Yes, pick Whole board in the lobby and both phones show all 64 squares, each turned to its own player.
Can a friend play checkers on their phone from another place?
Yes, they join with the table's link or code, and every device then shows the whole board.
Is there a clock?
Yes, if you turn it on: 15, 30 or 60 seconds a move, 5, 10 or 15 minutes each, or both.