Draughts Rules

1. About the game

Draughts (known as checkers in North America) is one of the oldest and most widely played board games in the world. It probably emerged in Europe in the 12th century (perhaps from the marriage of the Arab game of alquerque and the chessboard) and today it is played by tens of millions of people. The international variant (10×10) even has a world federation and an official World Championship.

Unlike backgammon, draughts involves no element of chance — it is a game of pure strategy, comparable to chess in its depth. The former world champion Ton Sijbrands (Netherlands, champion in 1972 and 1973) is regarded as one of the finest strategic minds in board gaming.

2. The board and the pieces

There are two main formats:

• French/international draughts: a 10×10 board (100 squares), 20 pieces per player
• English draughts/American checkers: an 8×8 board (64 squares), 12 pieces per player

In both cases, play takes place only on the dark squares. The board must be positioned so that each player has a dark square in the bottom left-hand corner.

3. Setting up

For international draughts (10×10): each player places 20 pieces on the dark squares of the first four rows on their side.

For English draughts (8×8): each player places 12 pieces on the dark squares of the first three rows on their side. The two central rows start empty.

4. Moving the pieces

An ordinary piece (a man) moves diagonally one square forwards only. It cannot move backwards for an ordinary move (unless it has been crowned a king); in international draughts, however, it may capture backwards.

• A man can move diagonally to the left or to the right
• It can only move onto an empty square
• A man cannot stop on a square that is already occupied
• Players take turns to move

5. Capturing (jumping)

Capturing is the most important move in draughts. A piece must capture an opposing piece if it is able to (capturing is compulsory under the standard French rules).

How to capture

To capture an opposing piece, your piece must:

1. Be diagonally adjacent to the opposing piece
2. Have the square beyond the opposing piece (in the same direction) empty
3. Jump over the opposing piece and land on the square beyond it
4. The captured piece is then removed from the board

Multiple captures

If, after a capture, your piece can immediately make another one (without stopping), you must carry on — this is a multiple jump. Multiple captures are compulsory.

6. Crowning a king

When a man reaches the far row on the opponent's side (the back rank), it is crowned and becomes a king. A second piece is usually placed on top of it to show this.

The king's powers

• A king can move diagonally as many squares as it likes (forwards OR backwards); in English draughts, a king moves only one square at a time, but in both directions
• A king can capture opposing pieces from a distance (it jumps over them and lands on any square beyond along the diagonal)
• A king is far more powerful than an ordinary man

7. End of the game

The game ends when:

• A player has no pieces left — they lose
• A player cannot move (all their pieces are blocked) — they lose
• Both players agree to a draw
• An automatic draw: after 25 moves of king against king with no capture and no man moved

8. Main variants

9. Basic strategy

A few fundamental principles to get you started:

• Control the centre: the central squares are the most valuable — they give access to the whole board
• Do not leave pieces isolated: a lone piece in the centre is easily captured
• Advance in formation: a group of mutually supporting pieces is far stronger than scattered ones
• Aim to crown a king: a king completely changes the balance of the game
• Think about sacrifices: giving up one piece to capture two is excellent if it gives you a strategic edge