Draughts

Draughts

Starting position on a 1010 draughts board

Genre(s)

Board game
Abstract strategy game

Players

Random chance

None

Skill(s) required

Strategy, tactics

Synonym(s)

Chequers
Checkers

Draughts (/drfts/, British English) or checkers (American English) is a group of strategy

board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and
mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque. The
name derives from the verb to draw or to move.
The most popular forms are international draughts, played on a 1010 board, English draughts,
also called American checkers, played on an 88 checkerboard, Russian draughts, also played on
an 88. There are many other variants played on an 88 and Canadian Checkers played on a
1212 board.

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Contents

1 General rules
o 1.1 Men
o 1.2 Kings
2 Naming
3 National and regional variants
o 3.1 Flying kings; men can capture backwards
o 3.2 Flying kings; men cannot capture backwards
o 3.3 No flying kings; men cannot capture backwards
4 Invented variants
5 Games sometimes confused with draughts variants
6 History
o 6.1 Ancient games
o 6.2 Alquerque
o 6.3 Evolution
7 Computer draughts
o 7.1 English draughts
o 7.2 International draughts
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

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General rules
provided this is done by successive jumps
made by a single piece; the jumps do not
need to be in the same line but may "zigzag"
(change diagonal direction). In English
draughts men can capture only forward, but
in international draughts and Russian
draughts they may also capture (diagonally)
backwards.

Kings

A game in international draughts

Draughts (or checkers) is played by two
opponents, on opposite sides of the
gameboard. One player has the dark pieces;
the other has the light pieces. Players
alternate turns. A player may not move an
opponent's piece. The player with the light
pieces moves first unless stated otherwise. A
move consists of moving a piece diagonally
to an adjacent unoccupied square. If the
adjacent square contains an opponent's
piece, and the square immediately beyond it
is vacant, the piece may be captured (and
removed from the game) by jumping over it.
Only the dark squares of the checkered
board are used. A piece may move only
diagonally into an unoccupied square.
Capturing is mandatory in most official
rules, although some rule variations make
capturing optional when presented.[citation needed]
In almost all variants, the player without
pieces remaining, or who cannot move due
to being blocked, loses the game.

Men
Uncrowned pieces (men) move one step
diagonally forward, and capture an
opponent's piece by moving two consecutive
steps in the same line, jumping over the
piece on the first step. Multiple opposing
pieces may be captured in a single turn
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When a man reaches the crownhead or kings

row (the farthest row forward), it becomes a
king, and is marked by placing an additional
piece on top of the first man, and acquires
additional powers including the ability to
move backwards (and capture backwards, in
variants in which they cannot already do so).
As with non-king men, a king may make
successive jumps in a single turn provided
that each jump captures an opponent man or
king.
In international draughts, kings (sometimes
called flying kings) move any distance along
unblocked diagonals, and may capture an
opposing man any distance away by
jumping to any of the unoccupied squares
immediately beyond it. Since captured
pieces remain on the board until the turn is
complete, it is possible to reach a position in
a multi-capture move where the flying king
is blocked from capturing further by a piece
already captured.
Flying kings are not used in English
draughts, in which a king's only advantage
over a man is the ability to move and
capture backwards as well as forwards.

Naming
In most non-English languages (except those
that acquired the game from English
speakers), draughts is called dame, dames,
damas, or a similar term that refers to ladies.
The pieces are usually called men, stones, or
a similar term; men promoted to kings are
called dames or ladies. In these languages,

the queen in chess or in card games is

usually called by the same term as the kings
in draughts. A case in point includes the
Greek terminology, in which draughts is

called "" (dama), which is also one

term for the queen in chess (the men are
known as "pawns").

National and regional variants

Flying kings; men can capture backwards
International draughts / American pool checkers family

National
variant

Doublecorner
or light
Board
Pieces
square First
size (in per
Capture constraints Notes
on
move
squares) side
player's
nearright?

International
draughts (or
1010
Polish
draughts)

20

yes

Pieces only promote

when they land on the
final rank, not when
they pass through it. It
is mainly played in the
A sequence must Netherlands,
capture the maximum Suriname,
France,
White
possible number of Belgium, some eastern
pieces.
European countries,
some parts of Africa,
some parts of the
former USSR, and
other
European
countries

Ghanaian
draughts
(damii)

1010

20

no

Any sequence may be

chosen, as long as all
possible captures are
made. Accidentally
White
passing up a king's
capture opportunity
leads to forfeiture of
the king.

Frisian
draughts

1010

20

yes

A sequence of capture
Played in Friesland
White must
give
the
(Dutch province).
maximum "value" to

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Played in Ghana. You

lose if you are left
with a single piece
(man or king).

the capture, and a

king (called a wolf)
has a value of less
than two men but
more than one man. If
a sequence with a
capturing wolf and a
sequence
with
a
capturing man have
the same value, the
wolf must capture.
The main difference
with the other games
is that the captures
can
be
made
diagonally, but also
straight forward and
sideways.
Canadian
Checkers

1212

Brazilian
draughts or 88
derecha

Pool
checkers

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88

30

12

12

yes

A sequence must
International rules on
capture the maximum
White
a 1212 board. Played
possible number of
mainly in Canada.
pieces.

yes

Played in Brazil. The

rules
come
from
international draughts,
but board size and
number of pieces
come from English
A sequence must
draughts.
capture the maximum
White
In the Philippines, it is
possible number of
known as "derecha"
pieces.
and is played on a
mirrored board, often
replaced by a crossed
lined board (only
diagonals
are
represented).

yes

Also called Spanish

Pool Checkers. It is
Any sequence may be
mainly played in the
chosen, as long as all
Black
southeastern United
possible captures are
States;
traditional
made.
among
African
American players. A

man reaching the

kings row is promoted
only if he does not
have
additional
backwards jumps (as
in
international
draughts).
In many games at the
end one adversary has
three kings while the
other one has just one
king. In such a case
the first adversary
must win in thirteen
moves or the game is
declared a draw.

Russian
draughts

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88

12

yes

Also called shashki or

Russian
shashki
checkers. It is mainly
played in countries the
former USSR and in
Israel. Rules of the
game are similar to
international draught.
Differences:
a
man
If
touches
the
kings
row
Any sequence may be
during a jump,
chosen, as long as all
and it can
White
possible captures are
continue
to
made.
jump
backwards, it
jumps
backwards as a
king, not as a
man.
Not
necessarily to
beat
the
maximum
possible
number
of
pieces.

Also exist the 108

board
variant
(2
additional
columns,
labelled 'i' and 'k') and
the give-away variant
poddavki. There are
official championships
for shashki and its
variants.

Flying kings; men cannot capture backwards

Spanish draughts family
National
variant

Double-corner
Pieces
Who
Board
or light square
Capture
per
moves
size
on
player's
constraints
side
first?
near-right?

Notes

12

Light square is
on right, but
A sequence must
double corner is
capture
the Also called Spanish
on left, as play
maximum
checkers. It is mainly
is on the light
possible number played in Portugal
squares. (Play
White of pieces, and the and in some parts of
on the dark
maximum
South America and
squares
with
possible number some
Northern
dark square on
of kings from all African countries.
right
is
such sequences.
Portuguese
draughts.)

Malaysian
draughts
/
1212 30
Singaporean
draughts

not
fixed

Mainly played in
Malaysia, Singapore
and the region nearby.
Also known locally as
"Black-White Chess".
Sometimes it is also
played on 88 board
when 1212 board is
not available. 1010
board is rare in this
region.

Czech
draughts

If
there
are
This variant is from
sequences
of
White
the family of the
captures with a
Spanish game.
man and other

Spanish
draughts

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88

88

12

Capture is forced.
Failing to do so
results
in
forfeiture of that
piece (huffing).

ones with a king,

it is necessary to
capture with a
king. After that,
any
sequence
may be chosen, as
long
as
all
possible captures
are made in the
chosen sequence.

Hungarian
Highlander
(Slovak)
draughts

88

Argentinian
88
draughts

Thai
draughts

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88

All pieces are

long - range.
Skipping
is
mandatory after
fist move of the
White rook.
Any
sequence may be
chosen, as long as
all
possible
captures
are
made.

Symbol uppermost of
the cube determines
its value, which is
decreased
after
skipping it. Less than
two
pieces loses a games.

12

A sequence must
capture
the
maximum
possible number
White of pieces, and the
maximum
possible number
of kings from all
such sequences.

The rules are similar

to the Spanish game,
but the king, when it
captures, must stop
after the captured
piece, and may begin
a
new
capture
movement from there.
With this rule, there is
no draw with 2 pieces
against 1.

Any
sequence
may be chosen, as
Black long
as
all
possible captures
are made.

During a capturing
move, pieces are
removed immediately
after a capture. Kings
stop on the field
directly behind the
piece captured and
must go on capturing
from
there,
if
possible, even in the
direction where they
have come from.

no

yes

German
draughts
"Dame"

Turkish
draughts

Myanmar
draughts

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88

88

88

Kings stop on the

field directly behind
the piece captured and
must
continue
capturing from there
as long as they can.

12

Any
sequence
may be chosen, as
White long
as
all
possible captures
are made.

16

In this game type

(also
known
as
Dama), all 64 board
cells are used, dark
and light. Men move
straight forward or
sideways, instead of
diagonally. When a
man reaches the last
row, it is promoted to
a flying king (Dama),
which moves like a
rook (or a queen in
Armenian
variant).
The pieces are placed
A sequence must
on the second and
capture
the
third rows. It is
White maximum
played in Turkey,
possible number
Kuwait,
Israel,
of pieces.
Lebanon,
Syria,
Jordan, Greece and
several
other
locations
in
the
Middle-East, as well
as the same locations
as Russian checkers.
There are several
variants
in
these
countries, with the
Armenian
variant
(called tama) also
allowing
forwarddiagonal movement
for men.

12

yes

A sequence must
capture
the
White
maximum
possible number

Players
make
agreement
before
starting the game.
They can choose two

of pieces.

options
"Must
Capture" and "Free
Capture". In "Must
Capture" type of
game, the man that
doesn't capture will be
collected
by
the
opponent as a fine. In
the "Free Capture"
game, it is optional to
capture.

No flying kings; men cannot capture backwards

English draughts / American straight checkers family
Doublecorner or
Pieces light
Who
National Board
per
square on moves Capture constraints
variant size
side
player's
first?
nearright?

English
88
draughts

Italian
88
draughts

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12

12

Notes

Also
called
"straight
checkers" or
Any sequence may be chosen, as
American
long as all possible captures are
checkers, since
made.
it
is
also
played in the
USA.

yes

Black

no

If multiple capture sequences are

available, one must select the
sequence that captures the most
pieces. If more than one
sequence qualifies, one must
capture with a king instead of a
White man. If more than one sequence
qualifies, one must select the
sequence that captures the most
number of kings. If there are still
more sequences, one must select
the sequence that captures a king
first.

Men
cannot
jump kings. It
is
mainly
played in Italy,
and
some
Northern
African
countries.

Starting position in International draughts

Starting position in Russian, Brazilian, Czech draughts and Pool checkers

Starting position in Canadian draughts

Starting position in Turkish draughts

Starting position in Italian draughts

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Portable Draughts Notation

Portable Draughts Notation (.PDN) is the standard computer-processable format for recording
draughts games. This format is derived from Portable Game Notation, which is the standard
chess format.
PDN files are text files which must contain Tag Pairs and Movetext for each game.

Contents

1 Tag Pairs
2 Movetext
3 Comments
4 Variants
5 List of PDN viewers
6 Example
7 External links

Tag Pairs
Tag pairs begin with "[", the name of the tag, the tag value enclosed in double-quotes, and a
closing "]". There must be a newline after each tag. Tag names are case-sensitive.
PDN data for archival storage is required to provide 7 tags.
Event
the name of the tournament or match event
Site
the location of the event. This is in "City, Region COUNTRY" format, where
COUNTRY is the 3-letter International Olympic Committee code for the country. An
example is "New York City, NY USA".
Date
the starting date of the game, in YYYY.MM.DD form. "??" are used for unknown values
Round
the playing round ordinal of the game
White
the player of the White pieces, in "last name, first name" format
Black
the player of the Black pieces, same format as White
Result
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the result of the game. This can only have four possible values: "1-0" (White won), "0-1"
(Black won), "1/2-1/2" (Draw), or "*" (other, e.g., the game is ongoing)
FEN
the initial position of the checkers board. This is used to record partial games (starting at
some initial position). It is also necessary for some draughts variants where the initial
position is not always the same as traditional checkers. If a FEN tag is used, a separate
tag pair "SetUp" must also appear and be have its value set to "1".
A position can be stored by the FEN tag:
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "[Turn]:[Color 1]K[Square number][,]...]:[Color 2]K[Square number]
[,]...]"]

Turn
the side to move, B for Black, W for White
Color 1 and Color 2
the color for the Square numbers that follow B for Black, W, and the sequence is
unimportant.
K
optional before square number, indicates the piece on that square is a king, otherwise it is
a man.
Square number
indicates the square number occupied by a piece. The square number must be at least a
"1". On an 88 board, it has a range from 1-32. These are comma separated, and the
sequence is unimportant.
Examples:
[FEN "B:W18,24,27,28,K10,K15:B12,16,20,K22,K25,K29"]
[FEN "B:W18,19,21,23,24,26,29,30,31,32:B1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10,11,12"]

Movetext
Movetext contains the actual moves for the game. Moves begin with the source square number,
then a "-" or "x", finally destination square number. Jumps must be specified by each square that
would be jumped ("11x18x25"), or two squares only ("11x25").
The end of the game must contain the 4 standard result codes: "1-0", "1/2-1/2" "0-1", and "*".
The codes must be the same as the Result tag pair.
An annotator who wishes to suggest alternative moves to those actually played in the game may
insert variations enclosed in parentheses.

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Comments
Comments may be added by either a ";" (a comment that continues to the end of the line) or a "{"
(which continues until a matching "}"). Comments do not nest.

Variants
PDN can be used in a wide variety of draughts variants synthesized with different board sizes.
For example, PDN can represent 88 and 1010 boards. It can represent unmatched board sizes
by specifying unequivalent values in the Board-width and the Board-height headers. It can
include the optional GameType tag to differentiate between different variants.
[GameType "Type-number [,Start color (W/B),Board width, Board height,
Notation ,Invert-flag"]

Type-number: this is one of the following type-numbers:

0: Chess
1: Chinese chess
2-19: future chess expansion
20: 10x10 draughts (international)
21: English draughts (kings only move 1 step at a time)
22: Italian draughts (as English, Men cannot take kings, must capture max)
23: American pool draughts (as 10x10, not obliged to take max)
24: Spanish pool draughts (as 10x10 rules, but men cannot capture backwards)
25: Russian draughts
26: Brazilian 8x8 draughts (same as 10x10 rules)
27: Canadian 12x12 draughts (same as 10x10 rules)
28: Portuguese draughts
29: Czech draughts
30: Turkish draughts
31: Thai draughts
40: Frisian draughts
41: Spantsiretti (Russian draughts 10x8)
32-39, 42-49: Future draughts expansion
50: Othello
51.. Future expansion.

Start-color
B for Black, W for White
Board-width
board width
Board-height
board height
Notation

A
N

- alpha/numeric like chess

- numeric like draughts

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- SAN - short-form chess notation. Then follows a number 0-4 telling where square A1
or 1 is for the side who starts the game (White or Black), 0 = Bottom left, 1=Bottom
right, 2=Top left, 3=Top right.

Invert-flag

0
1

- pieces on dark squares

- pieces on light squares

List of PDN viewers

CheckerBoard
Dragon Draughts
Nemesis Checkers
EntryDambo
Damaq
Checkersland

Example
[Event "itsyourturn.com USA vs. World 8/04"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2004.08.23"]
[Round "1"]
[Black "Lindus Edwards"]
[White "Anthony Perez"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
1. 11-15 23-18 2. 8-11 26-23 {Crescent Cross} 3. 10-14 30-26 4. 6-10 24-19 5.
15-24 27-20* {28-19 loses PP} 6. 4-8 {the popular book line is 12-16 28-24 48
22-17* 8-12 32-28* = same} 32-27 {Perez' cook; 28-24 apparently goes to the
previous note} 7. 12-16 {seems to be the only move with any strength} 27-24
8.
8-12 22-17 {returning to the book line mentioned earlier} 9. 10-15 17-10 10.
7-14 26-22* 1/2-1/2 {a very popular position} 1/2-1/2
[Event "The Royal Tour"]
[Site ""]
[Date "??"]
[Round "1"]
[Black "a"]
[White "b"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Setup "1"]
[FEN "W:W27,19,18,11,7,6,5:B28,26,25,20,17,10,9,4,3,2."]
{27-24 Beginning a spectacular shot in which White pitches (almost) all his
men

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} 1. 19-15 10x19 2. 5-1 3x10 3. 11-8 4x11 4. 27-24 20x27 5. 18-14 9x18 6. 1-5
2x9 {2-9 and now the coup de grace that inspired the name of this problem...}
7. 5x32 {5-32 (Several different jumping sequences are possible, for example
5
x 14 x 7 x 16 x 23 x 14 x 21 x 30 x 23 x 32) White Wins. As an interesting
side
note, this nine-piece jump is the theoretical maximum number of pieces it is
possible to jump in a single turn in checkers (try setting up a 10-piece jump
the board lacks sufficient space!)} 1-0
[Event "WK 2003"]
[Site "Zwartewaterland, Netherlands"]
[Round "1"]
[Date "2003.05.23"]
[White "Ndjofang, J.M."]
[Black "Heusdens, R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[GameType "20"]
1. 32-28 17-22 2. 28x17 12x21 3. 31-26 7-12 4. 26x17 12x21 5. 36-31 19-23 6.
34-29 23x34 7. 39x30 20-24 8. 30x19 14x23 9. 37-32 21-27 10. 31x22 18x27 11.
32x21 16x27 12. 41-37 10-14 13. 46-41 11-17 14. 33-29 23x34 15. 40x29 6-11
16.
35-30 14-20 17. 45-40 20-24 18. 30x19 13x33 19. 38x29 5-10 20. 42-38 10-14
21.
44-39 8-12 22. 40-34 14-19 23. 50-44 2-7 24. 48-42 19-23 25. 29x18 12x23 26.
39-33 7-12 27. 33-28 23x32 28. 37x28 9-13 29. 44-39 3-9 30. 38-33 9-14 31.
34-30 17-21 32. 33-29 21-26 33. 43-38 1-7 34. 41-37 11-17 35. 39-34 7-11 36.
30-24 11-16 37. 34-30 27-31 38. 28-23 16-21 39. 30-25 12-18 40. 23x12 17x8
1/2-1/2

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