You can learn the rules of checkers in an evening, but spotting shots and not giving pieces away takes much longer. It goes faster when someone tells you after every move whether it was good and stops you before a serious mistake. On 9qum that is the job of the AI coach in Play with a coach mode, for Russian checkers (Russian draughts). Here is how it works and how to get from your first rules to rated games against people.
🎓 Play with a coach ▶ Play Russian checkers
You play a game, and the coach rates every move you make with one of six marks: best move, excellent, good, inaccuracy, mistake or blunder. You see at once where you played precisely and where you gave a piece away.
On a blunder the game pauses. The coach shows the threat — the shot your opponent now has — and offers a take-back. You see the mistake before it costs you the game and can try a better move straight away.
There are ten coaches, each with a different way of talking. Daniyar, Aigerim and Aruzhan are free; the other seven come with a membership. Games with the coach do not affect your rating, so there is no pressure to get everything right.
Start with the course in the Learn section. It has 17 steps, and each one is a live board position where you find the move yourself; the board highlights legal moves and gives a hint after a wrong one.
New to the game? Read the Russian checkers rules first — it takes ten minutes. After the course, open Puzzles: 50 Russian checkers positions of three kinds — shots, winning a piece and breaking through to crown. Then play the computer without hints at four levels — Novice, Amateur, Strong and Master. Games against the AI are saved to your history, and any game or position can be opened in Game analysis to play moves for both sides, set up your own position and get the AI's advice.
Checkers is a natural first strategy game: simple rules, shorter games than chess. Many children start at 5–7 years old. Keep sessions short — one course step or a couple of puzzles, then one game with the coach. The coach never gets tired of explaining the same thing, and the pause on a blunder teaches a child to look at what threatens their pieces before moving. Parents can sit alongside and talk through why a move was marked a mistake.
When you are ready, move on to online tables: games against people count towards a separate Glicko-2 rating for Russian checkers, and there are tournaments for testing yourself. You can invite a friend with a link. Playing is free; signing up takes a minute.
🎓 Play with a coach 📚 Learn 🧩 Puzzles
Yes. Three coaches — Daniyar, Aigerim and Aruzhan — are free, with move ratings, the blunder pause, 3 hints per game and 3 questions a day. A membership adds seven more coaches and more questions.
The 9qum interface and the coach's advice are available in English, Russian and Kazakh. The voice depends on your device: many phones have no Kazakh voice, in which case the advice is shown as text.
No. The coach, course and puzzles use Russian checkers rules: men capture backwards and kings fly. 9qum also has international draughts with a coach, but not American or English checkers.
No. Coach mode is for learning. The Glicko-2 rating is based on games against people at online tables.