TL;DR: A double jump is two (or more) captures in one turn by the same piece, each landing empty, each jumped enemy adjacent at that moment. The board updates between hops: the first victim is gone before the second hop. That is why a square that looked blocked can open mid-chain. If the site keeps the piece selected, you are still in the same turn. Do not select a friend. Finish the chain.
One piece, one turn, many landings
You cannot split a double between two men. The engine will not let you. If you want a different first hop, you needed that choice at hop one, when two first-jumps were legal. After hop one, the tree is pruned. Pruned trees still have branches. Look at the new beyond-squares. New emptiness is the combination. Combinations are not magic. They are emptiness that did not exist at the start of the turn.
American men jump forward only, so a man’s double is a forward zigzag. Kings can zigzag back. If a “double” you saw in a video went backward with a man, the video was kings or a variant. Variant videos do not excuse an illegal click. Illegal clicks toast. Toasts are the combination failing the type-check.
Seeing the second hop before the first
Before you jump, ask where you land, then from that landing what else is adjacent with an empty beyond. If nothing, it is a single. Singles are fine. Forcing a double that lands on a plate is how combinative people donate. Donation doubles look pretty in replay. Replays are where you blush. Blush later. Ask now: is the landing a plate for them next turn? If yes, maybe the other first-jump is a single that is safer. Safer is a combination of zero extra hops and one living king. Living kings score. Pretty hops do not if you are gone.
On the live interface, mid-chain highlights are the second hop offered. If two second hops exist, you may have a choice even inside the force. Choice inside the force is the same beginner lesson with a hat. Scan. Then hop. Scanning is slower than the clock likes. The clock still prefers a correct second hop to a flag… actually the clock prefers a move. Move, but peek. Peek is one second. One second is the double-jump tax. Pay it.
Forced chain versus optional stop
If a second hop is legal, you must take it in must-capture rules. You cannot “stop to crown” unless the rules crown-and-stop. Crown-and-stop is a variant note. If you stop because you got bored, the site will ding. Ding is the rest of the combination. Complete it. Completing a combination into their recapture is sad and still mandatory. Mandatory sadness is draughts. Optional sadness is chess hanging a queen. Different sports, same feeling. Feel, then hop.
If the chain can go three, go three if legal. Stopping at two because you like the landing is illegal if three exists. Like is not a rule. Existence is. Existence is the highlight. No highlight, no third. Guessing a third without a highlight is a light-square click. Light squares are still a museum.
Building doubles, not praying
You build a double by leaving two of their men on a diagonal with the right emptiness, then arriving with tempo. Tempo is whose turn. If it is your turn and the shape exists, you are in a tactic, not a “combination lesson.” Lessons are the shape: two victims, one path. Over-the-board, the shape appears after they move a man that was blocking. Their blocking man was a gift. Gifts should be taken in the right order. Wrong order is the first hop that does not open the second. Order is calculation. Calculation is two ply. Two ply is enough for most doubles you will actually get this year. This year is not a problem set of 12-move shots. Those are studies. Studies are a weekend. Weekend studies do not replace the peek on hop two.
If you are defending, do not park two men on the same diagonal with a hole behind the first. Holes are invitations. Invitations are how doubles happen to you. You. The article is not only offense. Defense is refusing the shape. Refusal is a quiet move that fills a beyond-square. Filling is unglamorous. Unglamorous is how you do not get posted as a 3-for-1.
Phone chains
Each hop is a tap on a small square. Miss-tapping hop two onto a neighbor can illegal-move you while the chain is open. Confirm-move helps. Zoom helps. Landscape helps. If the chain is long, breathe. Breath is not on the clock’s side, but a missed hop two is a longer loss than a breath. After the chain, check the icon: did you crown mid-way? If yes, your remaining hops may have changed type (man to king). Type changes are the animation you must not skip. Skipping is a phone crime. Crime is a toast. Toast is the combination’s editor. Listen to the editor. Then look at their recapture. Recapture is the next turn. Next turn is not part of the double. Doubles are one turn. One turn can still lose the game. Games are longer than combinations. Combinations are how games get shorter. Shorter can be you. Peek.
