Variants & Related Games

Why there are so many variants

"Draughts" or "checkers" is not a single game. It is a family of related games that evolved independently in different regions over several centuries. Boards range from 8×8 to 12×12. Rules differ on whether men can capture backwards, whether kings fly, whether the majority-capture rule applies, and dozens of other details. The International Draughts variant described in this guide is the main 10×10 international standard, but it sits inside a much larger family.

English / American checkers (8×8)

The game most English-speakers grew up with. Key differences from International Draughts:

• 8×8 board with 12 pieces per side, not 10×10 with 20.
• Men cannot capture backwards. A piece only jumps forwards until promotion.
• Kings move only one square at a time (not flying). A king is stronger than a man but not overwhelmingly so.
• Forced captures, yes, but no majority-capture rule: when multiple captures are available, you may choose any one.

Because of the smaller board, fewer pieces, and restricted king, English checkers is a much more constrained game. Opening theory is essentially exhausted — most positions have been analysed to a forced result by computers. The game is still played competitively, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom, but at a fraction of the scale of International Draughts.

Russian draughts

Played on the same 8×8 board as English checkers, but with very different tactical rules:

• Men capture in any diagonal direction, including backwards.
• Kings are flying kings — they move and capture any number of squares along a diagonal.
• No majority-capture rule: if several capture sequences exist, the player may choose any legal one.
• If a man reaches the last row during a capture, the sequence continues with that piece acting as a king.

Russian draughts is sharper and more tactical than either English checkers or International Draughts: on the smaller board, flying kings and long capture chains appear much faster. The variant has a massive player base in Russia and neighbouring countries, with its own world championship separate from the FMJD International championship.

Brazilian draughts

Brazilian draughts is the 8×8 version of international-style rules. Like International Draughts, men capture backwards, kings fly, and the majority-capture rule does apply. Unlike Russian draughts, a man that reaches the last row during a capture continues the sequence as a man and is crowned only after the move ends. Brazil has one of the largest national draughts communities in the world, and the variant is a major competitive code in its own right.

Italian draughts

8×8 board, with the distinctive convention that a white square is in each player's bottom-left corner — opposite of almost every other draughts variant, which places a dark square in that corner. Distinctive rules:

• Men move and capture forward only, and kings are short kings, not flying kings.
• Men cannot capture kings. A king is effectively invulnerable to enemy men.
• When two capture sequences are available, the one capturing more pieces is mandatory; among equal-length sequences, the one capturing more kings is mandatory; then the one starting with a king; then the one that captures kings earlier in the sequence.

These priority rules make Italian draughts feel unusual even to experienced International players. The game is the national variant in Italy and has a devoted following there.

Turkish draughts

The most different variant of all. Played on an 8×8 board, but:

• Pieces move and capture orthogonally (forward, left, right), not diagonally.
• Kings, called "Dama", move and capture any number of squares along a rank or file.
• All 64 squares are used — not just the dark ones.

Turkish draughts is mechanically closer to chess rooks than to diagonal draughts. Turks, Greeks, and many Middle Eastern communities play this variant, and it has a distinct feel from any diagonal draughts game.

Canadian draughts (12×12)

Plays by International Draughts rules, but on a 12×12 board with 30 pieces per side instead of 10×10 with 20. More pieces and more space mean longer manoeuvring phases and more complex endgames than on the 10×10 board.

Frisian draughts

A Dutch variant played on the International 10×10 board with one radical twist: in addition to the standard diagonal captures, pieces can also capture orthogonally — horizontally and vertically along ranks and files. Quiet (non-capturing) moves remain diagonal only, but the expanded capturing geometry makes Frisian draughts extraordinarily tactical, with combinations that are impossible in International Draughts occurring routinely. The variant is the traditional game of Friesland (a province in the north of the Netherlands) and has its own championship system.

Pool / Spanish / Portuguese checkers

Several national 8×8 variants differ from each other only in small details: whether kings fly, whether men capture backwards, whether promotion requires stopping on the last row, and so on. Each is beloved in its region. None has achieved international adoption the way Russian or International Draughts has.

Which variant should you play?

If you want to play at the highest competitive level with the deepest opening theory and the largest player base, International Draughts (10×10) is the standard. If you want fast, tactical games with short openings and frequent combinations, Russian or Brazilian (8×8 with flying kings) is ideal. If you want novelty, try Turkish or Frisian — both will reshape how you think about what draughts even is. Many strong players play multiple variants; the transferable skills (pattern recognition, calculation, positional judgement) apply to all of them.