Russian checkers rules

What Russian checkers is

Russian checkers is a board game with no dice and no hidden cards. Only your moves decide the result. It is played on the dark squares of an 8x8 board, and it is a different game from the international 10x10 version.

A rule that surprises many beginners: you can choose any capture you like. There is no "capture the most" rule. You can play it free in Telegram: open our bot, tap Play and pick Checkers.

Players and board

Two players use an 8x8 board and 12 checkers each. Only the dark squares are used, and the bottom-left square is dark. White sits at the bottom, starts on the three nearest rows, and moves first. Then you take turns.

In this guide the columns are the letters a-h from left to right, and the rows are the numbers 1-8 from White's side. The square a1 is the dark corner at the bottom left. There is no timer on each move, but if you make no move for 5 minutes, you lose.

The goal

Capture all of your opponent's checkers, or leave them without a legal move. If your opponent has no move on their turn, because all their checkers are captured or blocked, they lose. You also win if your opponent resigns.

How a game works, step by step

1. 1Set upEach player puts 12 checkers on the dark squares of the three nearest rows. White moves first.
2. 2Move a manA man is an ordinary checker. It moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square, and never backward.
3. 3Capture by jumpingYou capture by jumping over an enemy checker and landing on the empty square right behind it. A man captures in all four diagonal directions, backward too.
4. 4Capture is mandatoryIf you can capture, you must capture. This is called forced capture. If several captures are possible, you may choose any checker and any line. There is no rule that forces you to take the most checkers.
5. 5Finish what you startedIf you can keep capturing after a jump, you must keep going. The whole chain is one move. Captured checkers leave the board only after the move ends, so you cannot jump over the same checker twice. This is the Turkish strike.
6. 6Crown a kingA man that reaches the last row is crowned and becomes a king. This is crowning. White is crowned on the top row, the opponent on the bottom row.
7. 7Crown during a captureIf a man reaches the last row in the middle of a capture, it becomes a king at once and keeps capturing as a king in the same move.
8. 8The flying kingThe king is a flying king. It moves along a diagonal any number of empty squares, forward and backward. To capture, it jumps over one enemy checker and may land on any empty square behind it. If from some of these squares it can capture again, it must land on one of them.
9. 9End of the gameYou win when your opponent has no legal move or resigns. A draw happens when each player has made 15 moves in a row with kings only, with no captures and no man moves, or when the same position occurs for the third time.

The detailed rules of captures, with more positions, are in How captures work in checkers.

A worked example

Strategy tips for beginners

1. Before every move, ask what you will be forced to capture, and where your checker lands. Forced capture is the main tactical tool in the game.
2. Count before you trade. If you are ahead in checkers, trades usually help you. If you are behind, they usually hurt.
3. Keep a few checkers on your back row as long as you can. An empty back row gives your opponent an easy path to a king.
4. Offer a checker only when the forced capture leads your opponent into a worse position, such as a chain you can answer.
5. Be careful with a new king. Capture is mandatory for kings too, so check where it lands before you send it into a fight.
6. Keep your checkers close together. A checker cannot be jumped when its own checker stands on the square right behind it.
7. Remember the draw rules. The same position for the third time, or 15 king-only moves by each side without a capture, ends the game in a draw.

Common mistakes

• Moving a man backward. A man only moves forward, but it can capture backward.
• Missing a forced capture, or stopping in the middle of a chain.
• Trading checkers without counting what is left on each side.
• Moving all the back-row checkers early and letting the opponent crown a king.
• Leaving a king where a forced capture pulls it into a trap.