Checkers Black Pieces – The Unofficial Colors of Checkers

When the subject of checkers pieces is brought up, what comes to mind for most people are the familiar red and black checkers pieces most often made out of plastic or a similar synthetic material like the checker game sets of our youth. This is after all what most of use grew up with, and if you have been playing the game for a number of years, you have probably put in hours and hours of play using red and black checkers pieces.

Familiar or not, it may come as a bit of a surprise for you to know that red and black checkers pieces are actually NOT the officially approved color for regulation checkers pieces. Furthermore, the black and red colored checkers boards that we are all equally familiar with are not the officially approved regulation playing surface either.

Who says what’s Official?

So what are the officially approved colors for both the checker board and the checkers pieces? According to the American Checker Federation, the checker board has to have green and white squares, with the checker pieces being placed on the green squares. The individual squares on this board have to measure 2" on each side–making the entire playing surface measure 16" on each side.

The checkers pieces on the other hand are supposed to be colored red and white, and made of out of a solid material. These pieces are required to have a diameter of 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 ".

What Material?

While the exact material–or any other detail for that matter–of the checkers pieces are not specified by the American Checker Federation, these are generally expected to be made out of a smooth material, with no grooves, designs, markings or embellishments of any kind. Likewise, the thickness of the individual pieces is not specified either, although they are commonly expected to be a lot wider than they are thick.

With the red and white pieces–as opposed to the familiar red and black checkers pieces–players are assured of checkers pieces that stand out in clear contrast against the green and white squares of the regulation playing surface.

Of course, there is nothing stopping you from playing with red and black checkers pieces on the typical red and black checker boards that are commonly available in toy stores everywhere, particularly if you are only playing the game in a casual situation.