Medium Chinese checkers
Medium Chinese checkers is the default opponent for Sternhalma on Checkerso. Same star board and rules as Chinese checkers: no captures, optional chain jumps, marbles locked in once they reach the goal point.
Easy has no lookahead. Hard searches one ply deeper. The rules never change.
Chinese checkers at Medium strength
Move all ten of your marbles from the south point of the star into the opposite point at the north. There is no capturing — a jumped marble stays on the board.
- Step one hole in any of six directions onto an empty neighbor, or hop over one adjacent marble to the empty hole directly beyond it.
- A single turn may chain several hops, even changing direction between hops — you choose how far the chain runs.
- Once a marble reaches your goal point, it may only move within that point, not back out.
What the Medium opponent calculates
The Medium opponent searches with alpha-beta depth about 3, sorting moves so it checks its most promising hops and chain jumps first.
The evaluation rewards marbles closer to the goal point, marbles already home, and clusters of marbles that can hop each other — there is no material count to weigh, since nothing is ever captured.
It finds short chain-jump advantages a few moves out, but a long hopping ladder planned four or five turns ahead can still get past it.
Steady racing at Medium
Plan the whole ladder, not one hop
Medium looks a few moves ahead, so a ladder that only pays off on your fourth or fifth turn is still likely to work — it is the two-move setups it catches most often.
Keep landing holes clear
A chain jump stops the instant the next landing hole is occupied. Before you build a ladder, check that nothing — yours or the computer's — is sitting where the chain needs to land.
Advance every marble, not just the leaders
You win when all ten marbles are home, not when a few arrive early. Medium spreads its own advances — match it instead of stranding pieces at the start.
Chinese checkers difficulty levels compared
| Level | Best for | Search | Typical gap | Practice focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | Learning hops and chain jumps | greedy evaluation + randomness (no search tree) | Picks its best single move with no lookahead; ignores your reply entirely | Practice chaining two or three hops in one turn before you race |
| Medium (this page) | The default Chinese checkers opponent | alpha-beta depth ≈ 3 | Plans a few moves ahead but still misses long hopping ladders | Build a ladder of your own marbles to cross the board in fewer turns |
| Hard | A faster-racing computer opponent | alpha-beta depth ≈ 4 | Searches one ply deeper than Medium — still a fixed-depth browser engine | Keep the hole beyond your next hop clear before you commit to a chain |
Need a refresher on the basics? Read the complete Chinese Checkers guide and rules on Checkerso for star-board navigation, chain-jump mechanics, and goal-point rules.
Frequently asked questions
How is Medium different from Easy on Checkerso?
Medium runs alpha-beta search at depth about 3 with move ordering. Easy scores each move once with no search tree.
Can I stop a chain jump partway through?
Yes. Every hole a chain can reach — including the first landing — is offered as its own legal destination. Tap the one you want; you are never forced to keep hopping.
Is there a captures stat like the draughts games?
No. Chinese checkers has no capturing, so Checkerso tracks Moves and Time for this game instead of Pieces left or Captures.