How long has checkers been around?

Checkers has been around since ancient times.

Specifically, one of its ancestors was the game called alquerque. This game is known to have been played as far back as 600 B.C. But its board boasted 25 squares, with each square being crossed by diagonals. In contrast, the modern game of checkers uses a 65-square board in the United States of America, and a 100-square board in Europe.