Upgrades
When a standard piece reaches the opponent’s closest row (known in checkers as the crownhead or kings row), it becomes a “king.” Pieces may be upgraded beyond this level (tier) by returning to the original players first row. The process of going back and forth further upgrades piece reaches its fifth tier (reaching the original players side for a second time). Each tier provides the upgraded piece with new abilities.
- Kings are the first and most basic improvement upon the standard piece. Kings are signified by stacking two standard pieces of the original player’s color (this process is referred to as “kinging”). Kings may move and jump in any direction, but are otherwise similar to standard pieces. Kinging is only awarded at the end of the pieces movement, including mandatory successive jumps.
- Triple kings (abbreviated as trip kings), the first upgrade to the king, are signified by a tier of three stacked standard pieces of the original color. They are obtained by returning a king to the owning player’s closest row. Triple kings not only can jump over two consecutive enemy pieces, but have the ability to make standard jumps over friendly pieces. The process of jumping over a friendly piece is never mandatory, does not sacrifice the jumped piece, and does not have priority over other jumps. Triple kings cannot jump over both an enemy and a friendly piece in one jump. Movement is identical to kings.
- Quad kings, the upgrade of triple kings, have the most complex jumping rules, and consist of four stacked pieces. They do not possess the ability to jump over their own pieces as triple kings do, but do retain the ability to jump over two consecutive pieces in one jump. Quad kings have the unique ability to skip an empty space before they jump a single piece; this process has the same priority as regular jumps. Quad kings can also make normal jumps and sequences, and have the same movement as normal kings.
- Ultra kings are the final piece upgrade to be attained by reaching the ends of the board, and are signified by placing an opposing player’s piece color between two of your own. Ultrakings can move (teleport) to any unoccupied square. They can also capture in a way completely unique to standard checkers games. Ultrakings “consume” an adjacent enemy piece by moving into the occupied square. This is, similarly, a mandatory procedure. Ultra kings also possess the ability to teleport any friendly piece. This procedure is performed by moving the ultraking adjacent to the piece one turn, placing that piece on top of the Ultra king another turn (whereby the Ultra king may not attack or move), and then moving the friendly piece to any unoccupied square on the board. If a piece is teleported onto the side needed to make an upgrade, the upgrade occurs. If it is teleported, it may make no further actions for that turn.
- If an ultraking is placed upon another ultraking, the resulting double ultraking can take two actions per turn (e.g. move next to an opposing piece and then consume it).
Read more about this topic: Tiers