---
title: Spanish Draughts
slug: spanish
board: "8×8"
players: "2"
parent: draughts
order: 12
win: Capture or block all opponent pieces
special: Flying kings. Men cannot capture backwards. Majority rule with king preference.
engine:
  topology:
    type: grid
    rows: 8
    cols: 8
  players: [white, black]
  setup: "1b1b1b1b/b1b1b1b1/1b1b1b1b/8/8/w1w1w1w1/1w1w1w1w/w1w1w1w1"
---

## Spanish Draughts

Spain's national variant combining flying kings with the majority capture rule and a preference for capturing kings over men when chains are equal. Notable for its board orientation: the white square is at each player's bottom-right (opposite to English Draughts).

{{svg:english-board.svg "Spanish Draughts — starting position"}}

### Setup

**Board:** 8×8 checkered board, dark squares only. Oriented with a white (light) square at each player's bottom-right corner.

**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 forward only by jumping. Men CANNOT capture backwards.
- **Mandatory capture:** Captures are compulsory.
- **Majority rule with king preference:** When multiple capture sequences are available:
  1. Must choose the sequence capturing the most pieces.
  2. If tied on quantity, must choose the sequence capturing the most kings.
- **Immediate removal:** Captured pieces are removed immediately.

### 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 at any distance along a diagonal, landing on any open square beyond.
- **Promotion rule:** A man reaching the back row is promoted to a king. If a man reaches the back row during a multi-jump, the sequence ends and it is promoted.

### 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.
- 20 consecutive king moves pass with no capture.

### Strategy

The king preference in the majority rule creates forced-capture traps: arrange a position where your opponent must capture your king (because it makes the chain "higher value") while this opens a devastating counter-attack. Flying kings combined with no backward capture for men means promoting first gives a decisive strategic advantage.

### Attribution

Traditional variant. Public domain. Governed by the Federación Española de Damas. Source: Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA).