The Rules of International Draughts

The board and starting position

International Draughts is played on a 10×10 board with 100 squares, of which only the 50 dark squares are used. Each player begins with 20 men (sometimes called "pawns" or simply "pieces") arranged on the dark squares of the four rows closest to them. In standard notation, Black starts on squares 1–20, White on 31–50, and squares 21–30 begin empty. The board is always oriented so that each player has a dark square in the bottom-left corner.

White moves first. Players then alternate turns. A turn always consists of exactly one move, either a quiet move or a capture sequence.

How men move

A man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square. "Forward" means towards the opponent's back row; men never move diagonally backwards for a quiet move. A man has two possible quiet moves at most — one forward-left, one forward-right — and only those that land on an empty square are legal.

How men capture

A man captures by jumping over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square immediately behind it, diagonally. Unlike quiet moves, captures may be made in any of the four diagonal directions — forwards or backwards. If after a jump the same man can immediately capture another piece, it must continue jumping. A capture sequence ends only when no further jump is available from the piece's final square. Captured pieces are removed from the board only after the entire sequence is complete, not as each jump is made. This matters: a piece already jumped cannot be jumped again in the same turn, but it also still occupies its square until the sequence ends, meaning it can block a later jump.

The forced-capture rule

If a capture is available at the start of your turn, you must play it. Quiet moves are illegal whenever any capture exists. You cannot "decline" a capture, and this rule applies to every piece you own — not just the one you intended to move.

The majority-capture rule

When more than one capture sequence is available, you must play the one that captures the greatest number of pieces. This is the single biggest difference between International Draughts and English checkers, and it is the source of many of the game's most beautiful combinations. If two sequences capture the same number of pieces, you may choose freely — but a sequence that captures six is mandatory over a sequence that captures five, even if the short sequence looks more attractive positionally. Kings count the same as men for the purposes of counting captured pieces.

Promotion and the flying king

When a man reaches the opponent's back row and stops there at the end of its move, it is promoted to a king. A king is visually represented by stacking a second piece on top, or by flipping the piece over.

Kings are enormously powerful. A king can move any number of empty squares along a diagonal, in any of the four diagonal directions — not just one square. To capture, a king slides along a diagonal, jumps over exactly one enemy piece with at least one empty square beyond it, and lands on any empty square past the captured piece. Like a man, a king must continue capturing if further jumps are possible from its landing square, and the majority rule still applies.

One crucial subtlety: if a piece reaches the back row as part of a capture sequence but the sequence continues (i.e. another jump is available), the piece does not promote. It remains a man and continues as a man. Promotion only occurs when the piece ends its turn on the back row.

Winning and drawing

A player wins when the opponent:

• has no legal move on their turn (all pieces blocked), or
• has no pieces left on the board, or
• resigns.

A game is drawn in several cases:

• By agreement between the players at any time.
• By threefold repetition of a position with the same player to move.
• By the 25-move rule: if 25 successive moves by each player consist only of king moves, with no man move and no capture, the game is drawn.
• By the 16-move rule: in endings with only 3 kings, or 2 kings + 1 man, or 1 king + 2 men against a lone king, the position is drawn if no decision is reached within the next 16 moves for each side.
• By the 5-move rule: in endings of 2 kings vs. 1 king, 1 king + 1 man vs. 1 king, or 1 king vs. 1 king, the game is drawn after 5 more moves for each side.

Touch-move

In tournament play, the touch-move rule applies: if you deliberately touch one of your pieces, you must move it if it has any legal move. If you touch an opponent's piece, you must capture it if possible. Adjusting a piece requires saying "j'adoube" ("I adjust") first. Online play relaxes this — a move is only committed when you release the piece on its destination square.