How to play Draughts (8×8)

Draughts looks simple, and that is the trap. Twelve flat pieces a side, one kind of move, and within ten moves the board is a web of forced captures where one careless step loses three pieces. This is Brazilian draughts, the eight by eight version of the international game: fast, sharp, and completely unforgiving.

The board and the pieces

The board is the same eight by eight board chess uses, but only the dark squares are in play. Each player starts with twelve identical pieces, called men, on the dark squares of their first three rows.

Men move one square diagonally forward. Capturing is different, and capturing is where draughts lives: a man jumps over an enemy piece onto the empty square just beyond it, and a man may capture diagonally forward or backward. Jumps chain together, so one piece can sweep up several enemies in a single turn.

Reach the far row and your man is crowned a king. Kings fly: they slide any number of squares along a diagonal, and they capture from any distance too. One detail worth knowing: a capture chain only crowns your man if it ends on the back row. Passing through on the way to another jump does not count.

How you win

You win when your opponent cannot move: either every piece they had has been captured, or the pieces they have left are all blocked. Your opponent can also resign, and if their clock runs out, you win on time.

The rules that matter

Capturing is compulsory. If any of your pieces can capture, you must play a capture. There is no declining.

You must take the most. When more than one capture is available, you have to play a sequence that captures the most pieces. Three beats two, even if taking two was safer for you. Most of the skill in draughts is built on this rule: good players feed you a piece on purpose, because your reply is forced.

How this differs from checkers. The two games share a board and starting position, so it matters to know which one you are sitting down to. In draughts, men capture backward as well as forward, kings fly the whole length of a diagonal, and you must take the longest capture on offer. In checkers, men capture forward only, kings move a single square, and any capture will do. Same board, very different game.

Draws. A game is drawn when the same position appears for the third time, or when twenty-five moves each pass with only kings moving and nothing captured. You can also offer your opponent a draw, up to three offers each per game. On Dream Games a drawn game means nobody loses their stake.

How a match works on Dream Games

Both players put up the same stake, and both stakes are set aside before the first move. The winner takes 90% of the pot and we keep 10% as our fee. If the game is a draw, both players get their stake back in full and we take nothing.

Each player has ten minutes on the clock for the whole game. Your clock only runs while it is your turn. Run out of time and you lose, even if you are ahead on the board.

Try it

The best way in is simply to play. Practice is free: pick a bot on easy, medium or hard, or send a friend a link. Nothing is staked and nothing is recorded, so you can experiment as much as you like.

When you are ready to play for something, find an opponent in the lobby. You see the stake and the payout before you accept, and nothing leaves your balance until you say yes.