Russian Draughts

Russian Draughts

The dominant form of draughts across Russia and the former Soviet states. Distinguished by three features that create a more tactical game than English Draughts: men can capture backwards, promotion happens mid-sequence, and players freely choose between available captures.

Setup

Board: 8×8 checkered board, dark squares only. Same as English Draughts.

Pieces: 12 men per player on dark squares of the three nearest rows.

First move: White moves first.

Rules

• Men movement: Men move diagonally forward only, one square at a time.
• Men capture: Men capture diagonally by jumping over an adjacent opponent piece. Men can capture both forwards AND backwards.
• Mandatory capture: If a capture is available, it must be taken.
• Free choice: When multiple capture sequences are available, the player may freely choose which to take. No majority rule.
• Mid-jump promotion: If a man reaches the opponent’s back row during a multi-jump sequence, it is promoted to a king immediately and continues jumping as a king (with king movement) in the same turn.
• Immediate removal: Captured pieces are removed immediately after each individual jump (not delayed until end of sequence).

King Promotion

• Flying kings: Kings move any number of unoccupied squares diagonally in any direction.
• King capture: Kings capture by jumping over a single opponent piece that is any distance away along a diagonal, landing on any open square beyond.
• King continuation: After capturing, a king can continue capturing in any direction (including the direction it came from, provided it does not jump the same piece twice).

Winning

A player wins when their opponent has no legal move: all pieces captured or all pieces blocked.

Draws

The game is a draw when:

• Both players agree.
• The same position occurs three times.
• A player with three or more kings cannot win against a lone king within 15 moves.

Strategy

Mid-jump promotion is the defining tactical element. Sacrifice sequences that push a man to the back row mid-capture create devastating king attacks. The lack of a majority rule means you can choose captures that set up combinations rather than being forced into the longest chain.

Attribution

Traditional variant. Public domain. Governed by the Russian Draughts Federation. Source: Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA).