At the start of a game of Checkers, also called Draughts, there are 12 pieces, or checkers, of the same color on each side of the board. So, in total, there are 24 checkers on the board at the beginning of the game.
The checkers are arranged on the board in a specific pattern, with each player's checkers occupying the twelve dark squares closest to them. The light-colored squares on the checkers board remain empty at the beginning of the game.