Checkers rules: how to play checkers and Turkish dama

Rules in short: capture by jumping, capturing is mandatory, chains of jumps continue in one move, and a piece reaching the last row becomes a king. A player with no pieces or no legal move loses.

This page covers American checkers (also called English draughts) and Turkish dama in full, with the setup, a capture example, the words players use, beginner strategy and common questions.

Setup Capture example Glossary Strategy FAQ

Setting up the board

For American checkers, place the board so each player has a dark square in the bottom-left corner. Each player puts twelve pieces on the dark squares of the three rows nearest to them, leaving the two middle rows empty. Only the dark squares are used for the whole game.

For Turkish dama, every square is used. Each player puts sixteen pieces on their second and third rows, leaving the first row and the two middle rows empty.

In tournaments the darker pieces move first. On Snug Table you make the first move of your first game, and after that the players take turns starting.

American checkers

Twelve pieces each on the dark squares of an 8×8 board. A man moves one square diagonally forward and captures by jumping diagonally forward over an enemy piece onto the empty square behind. Capturing is mandatory; with several options you choose. A man reaching the last row is crowned king and the move ends. Kings move and capture diagonally in all directions, one square at a time.

Turkish Dama

Sixteen pieces each on the second and third rows, all squares used. A man moves one square forward or sideways, never backwards, and captures by jumping forward or sideways. Captured pieces are removed immediately. A man reaching the last row becomes a dama: it moves any distance along rows and columns and captures a distant piece by landing on any empty square behind it. When several captures are possible you must play the sequence that takes the most pieces.

Game end

A player with no pieces or no legal move loses. Fifty moves without a capture or a man move is a draw.

How they differ

American checkers: twelve pieces, diagonal play, short kings, free choice between captures. Turkish Dama: sixteen pieces, orthogonal play, long-range kings, the capture that takes the most pieces is compulsory, and a man that is crowned during a capture keeps capturing as a king.

No luck

There are no dice and no deal; the coach uses the same alpha-beta search as the hard computer.

A capture example

Your man stands on a square with an enemy piece diagonally in front of it and an empty square beyond. You must jump: your man lands on the empty square and the enemy piece is removed. If, from the landing square, another enemy piece can be jumped the same way, you keep going in the same move. A double or triple jump like this often decides a game, so before every move check which jumps you are giving your opponent.

Checkers glossary

Man

An ordinary, uncrowned piece.

King (dama)

A crowned piece. In American checkers a king moves one square diagonally in any direction; in Turkish dama it moves any distance along rows and columns.

Jump

A capture: hopping over an enemy piece onto the empty square behind it.

Multiple jump

Several captures in a row by the same piece in one move.

Forced capture

The rule that you must capture when you can.

King row (crownhead)

The far row, where a man is crowned.

Back rank

Your own first row. Keeping pieces there stops the opponent from crowning.

Exchange

Giving up a piece so that you can capture one or more in return.

Checkers strategy for beginners

• Control the centre. Pieces in the middle of the board have more moves and support each other.
• Keep your back rank as long as you can. In American checkers, pieces on the two key back squares stop many enemy men from crowning.
• Move in groups. A piece with a friend behind it cannot be jumped from the front.
• Use forced captures. Because captures are compulsory, you can offer a piece to pull an enemy piece where you can then take two.
• Trade when ahead. With more pieces, even exchanges bring you closer to a won ending.
• Crown early when safe. Kings are much stronger than men, especially the long-range kings of Turkish dama.

History

Games of capturing by jumping go back many centuries; the modern 8×8 game with diagonal moves was established in Europe by the 16th century and became checkers in the United States and draughts in Britain. In 2007 a computer program called Chinook proved that a perfectly played game of checkers ends in a draw. Turkish dama, with orthogonal moves on every square, is played across Turkey, the Balkans and the Middle East.