Checkers vs Draughts: rules and variants explained

01Is checkers the same as draughts?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Checkers is the American word and draughts is the British one. When a British player says draughts they usually mean the 8x8 game that Americans call checkers: 12 pieces each, men that move and capture forwards, kings that move one step, and captures that are compulsory. In that sense the answer to checkers vs draughts is simply a difference of vocabulary.

But draughts is also the name of a whole family. In France and the Netherlands the game people call dames is played on a 10x10 board. In Russia, Brazil, Italy and Turkey, the local game has its own board, its own piece count and its own capture rule. All of them share the same core idea: pieces on a chequered board, captures by jumping, and promotion to a stronger king. You can try every one in our free Checkers & Draughts game by choosing a rule set on the setup screen.

02What do all the variants have in common?

Almost every draughts variant uses a board with alternating dark and light squares and plays on the dark ones. Pieces start in the rows nearest each player, leaving two empty rows in the middle. A normal piece is called a man. Reaching the far edge crowns a man as a king, and capturing is done by jumping over an adjacent enemy piece and landing on the empty square behind it.

Another shared idea is that capturing is compulsory. If you can jump, you must. That one rule is why draughts is a game of traps and combinations rather than quiet manoeuvring: you can force your opponent to take a piece and end up somewhere you choose. Almost every winning shot in draughts uses a forced capture.

03American and English checkers rules

The board is 8x8 and each side has 12 pieces. Men move one square diagonally forward and capture only forwards. Kings move and capture one square at a time in any diagonal direction. Captures are compulsory, and a multi-jump with the same piece must be completed. You may choose between different captures, even if one takes more pieces than another.

A special case matters in practice: if a man reaches the back row in the middle of a capture, it is crowned and its turn ends at once. Many players are surprised by this the first time, because a king could have continued. It is also the main difference from Russian draughts.

04International draughts on 10x10

International draughts, also known as Polish draughts or simply 10x10 draughts, is the competitive world standard. The board is 10x10 and each player has 20 pieces. Men move forward but can capture backwards. Kings are flying: they move along a diagonal for any number of empty squares and can capture from a distance.

The defining rule is the majority capture. When you have several ways to capture, you must choose the sequence that takes the most pieces. A man is crowned only if it finishes its turn on the last row, not when it passes through. The bigger board gives more room for long games, slow plans and endgames, which is why it suits players who like deep strategy. This is the game many people mean when they say dames, jeu de dames or damas in a competitive setting.

05Russian draughts

Russian draughts is played on the 8x8 board with 12 pieces each. Men can capture backwards, kings fly, and capturing is compulsory, but there is no majority rule: you may pick any capture sequence available, as long as you finish it. The distinctive feature is promotion in the middle of a capture. When a man reaches the back row during a jump it becomes a king at once and, if more captures are available, it continues the same turn as a king.

This single rule makes Russian draughts extremely tactical. A shot that sacrifices a few men can win a flying king and clear half the board. If you enjoy calculating combinations, it is the sharpest 8x8 game in the family.

06Brazilian draughts

Brazilian draughts takes the International rules and plays them on 8x8. That means 12 pieces each, men capturing backwards, flying kings and the compulsory majority capture. It sits between the Russian and International games: the board and the set-up are the same as in Russian draughts, but the majority rule changes many tactics.

It is popular in Brazil and widely played online. If you know International draughts and want shorter games, Brazilian is the natural choice. If you come from Russian draughts, expect to be forced into captures you would normally be free to avoid.

07Italian dama

Italian dama, or dama italiana, uses 8x8 and 12 pieces, but it limits men more than any other variant here. Men move and capture only forwards, and a man cannot capture a king. Kings move one square at a time in any diagonal direction, and capture backwards and forwards.

Capture is compulsory with the most pieces taken. If two sequences capture the same number, you must prefer the one made with a king, and if there is still a tie, the one that captures more kings. These precedence rules reward careful play: a man cannot threaten a king, so you must use your own kings to win material. Italian dama rewards patience and a good grasp of tempo.

08Turkish dama

Turkish dama is the odd one out. It is played on 8x8 but the pieces move along rows and columns instead of diagonals, and each side has 16 pieces placed on the second and third rows. Men step forward or sideways but never backwards, and they capture by jumping forward or sideways over an adjacent enemy.

A man that reaches the last row becomes a king, which moves like a rook: any number of empty squares in a straight line in all four directions, with capture from a distance. The maximum number of pieces must be captured. Since every square is in play, the game opens fast and tactics appear on the first few moves. It feels closer to a different game than to checkers, and it is worth trying just for that reason.

09Variant comparison at a glance

Here is a summary of the six rule sets you can play. Compare them on board size, pieces, how men capture, how kings move and what you must capture.

• American / English: 8x8, 12 pieces, men capture forwards only, kings move one step, any capture you like, a man crowned mid-capture stops.
• International: 10x10, 20 pieces, men capture backwards, flying kings, majority capture required.
• Russian: 8x8, 12 pieces, men capture backwards, flying kings, any capture, a man crowned mid-capture continues as a king.
• Brazilian: 8x8, 12 pieces, International rules including majority capture.
• Italian: 8x8, 12 pieces, men capture forwards only and cannot take kings, one-step kings, majority capture with king precedence.
• Turkish: 8x8, 16 pieces, orthogonal moves, men go forward or sideways, flying kings, majority capture.

10Which variant should you learn first?

Learn American / English checkers first, because the board is small and the rules are the easiest to hold in your head. Once you win regularly against Medium, move on to Russian or Brazilian draughts to meet flying kings. After that, International draughts on 10x10 is a natural step, and Italian and Turkish dama are good for variety once you are comfortable with the family.

Moving between variants is easier than it looks. The skills carry over: keep your back row, trade when ahead, control the centre and count forced captures before you move. What changes is which tricks work, so always check the rule set before you start.

11How do draws work?

In the game here, a draw happens in two ways. If the same position occurs three times, the game is drawn by threefold repetition. If a set number of moves pass without a capture or a man move, the game is drawn too. This stops endgames where each side shuffles a king for ever.

Draws are common at a high level. In the American game, perfect play from the start is a draw, a result proved by computer search in 2007. In flying-king games, an endgame of a few kings is often drawn unless one side has a clear material edge, so winning a piece early is valuable.

12Play against the computer, a friend or online

Our Checkers & Draughts game uses a single engine that applies the real rules of each variant. Against the computer you can choose Easy, Medium or Hard. Hard uses alpha-beta search with iterative deepening, a transposition table and move ordering, running in a Web Worker for about a second per move. You can also share one screen with a friend, or play online by sending a room link, and use the best-move hint or undo while you learn.

If you like short strategy games, our guide to Tic Tac Toe strategy shows how a small game can be solved, and our article on how to win Connect Four covers another game built on threats and forced replies. When you want something deeper, chess opening principles is the next step.