Use the 3×3 camp layout for this example
The board is still 8×8. Here, 3×3 describes each starting camp, with nine pieces per side. The diagrams label columns a–h from left to right and rows 1–8 from bottom to top. White begins on f1–h3 and aims for a6–c8; Black starts in that opposite camp and travels toward White's starting corner.
This is classic Corners: a piece can step horizontally or vertically into an adjacent empty square, or jump over an adjacent piece into the empty square immediately beyond it. Either colour can support a jump, and jumped pieces stay on the board. All squares can be used; the light and dark colours do not restrict movement.
Several jumps by one piece can form a single turn, including a change from vertical to horizontal movement. A step and a jump are different move types: do not combine an ordinary one-square step with a jump in the same turn.
Prepare a route that turns left
From the normal 3×3 starting position, White steps f3 → e3. This clears f3 as a landing square while putting a white piece on e3. Black then plays c6 → d6. That is the reply chosen for this example, not a forced response or a prediction of an opponent's play.
Now look at White's piece on f1. It can jump over the friendly piece on f2 and land on f3. From f3 it can turn left, jump over the friendly piece on e3 and land on d3. The whole route is f1 → f3 → d3, using two supporting pieces and two empty landing squares.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 |  | | | |||||
| 7 | | | | |||||
| 6 | | | | |||||
| 5 | ||||||||
| 4 | ||||||||
| 3 |  | | | |||||
| 2 | | | | |||||
| 1 | | | |
Choice A: move the rear piece while the route is ready
Playing f1 → f3 → d3 brings a piece off White's back row and out of its starting camp in one turn. The pieces on f2 and e3 do not move and are not removed. They provided the jumps; they did not travel with the moving piece.
This is a reason to inspect your rear pieces before automatically advancing a piece near the front. A supporting piece may be doing useful work without moving. The example proves that this route is legal, not that it is the best move against every possible reply. After Black moves, check which routes remain available.
Choice B: move the support and lose the second jump
Return to Position A. Instead of moving f1, White steps the supporting piece e3 → e4. Black replies b6 → b5. White's piece on f1 can still jump over f2 to f3, but the continuation from f3 to d3 is gone: e3 is empty, so there is nothing to jump over.
The piece on e4 cannot replace that support. It is diagonal from f3, and classic Corners does not allow diagonal jumps. An empty d3 alone is not enough; every jump needs both an adjacent piece and a legal empty landing beyond it.
Moving e3 → e4 is legal and may serve another plan. It simply gives up this particular two-jump route for the rear piece. Do not confuse losing one route with being permanently trapped: shorter moves or a later route may still be possible.
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | | | | |||||
| 7 | | | | |||||
| 6 | | | ||||||
| 5 | | |||||||
| 4 | | |||||||
| 3 | | | ||||||
| 2 | | | | |||||
| 1 | | | |
You may stop a jump route before its longest ending
In Position A, White may finish on f3 after the first jump even though the continuation to d3 exists. White may also choose the complete two-jump route to d3. Corners does not impose the compulsory continuation rule used for captures in Checkers.
That freedom lets you compare destinations rather than simply count jumps. Ask whether the landing leaves room for another piece, preserves useful supports and helps pieces still near the back. The longest available route is an option, not an obligation or a guarantee of the strongest move.
Camp boundaries make some repairs impossible
White's opening f3 → e3 leaves the 3×3 starting camp. On a later turn that piece cannot step e3 → f3 to return, even though f3 is empty. A piece outside its starting camp cannot move back into it. Keeping a support available can therefore be easier than trying to rebuild the same arrangement afterward.
A piece that starts its turn inside its destination camp may move within that camp, but may not leave it. Before bringing a piece into the opposite corner, inspect the empty landing squares that the remaining pieces will need. Occupied squares can help as jump supports or obstruct a planned landing; judge their role in the actual route.
Check supports and landings separately
For f1 → f3 → d3, name the supports first: f2 and e3. Then name the landings: f3 and d3. A support must be occupied, while a landing must be empty and permitted by the camp rules. This simple separation helps explain why clearing a square can improve one route and destroy another.
There is another way to lose the route from Position A: play g3 → f3, then let Black reply b6 → b5. The support on f2 still exists, but f3 is now occupied by your own piece. White's piece on f1 has no legal jump; its only available move in this position is the step f1 → e1. Filling a landing square can block the route even when every support remains in place.
Before moving a supporting piece, trace the routes of pieces behind it. Before occupying an empty square, check whether someone else needs to land there. After the opponent's reply, repeat those checks rather than assuming the old route still works.
The guided demonstration below uses a different layout: 3×4 camps and the route e1 → e3 → e5. It illustrates the same supporting-piece idea, but it is not a replay of these 3×3 positions. To try a full game, open Happy Games in Telegram, choose Corners and select the 3×3 layout for the opening described here.