Russian draughts

Overview

Russian draughts (also known as Shashki) is a variant of draughts (checkers) played predominantly in Russia and the former USSR, as well as parts of Eastern Europe and Israel. It is played on a standard 8x8 checkerboard using 12 pieces per player. The key distinguishing features from international or English draughts are that regular pieces can capture both forward and backward, and kings (called “damas”) can move any number of squares diagonally. The game rewards tactical vision and the ability to calculate long capture sequences.

Components

• 1 Standard 8x8 checkerboard with alternating light and dark squares
• 12 White pieces (or light-colored)
• 12 Black pieces (or dark-colored)

Setup

Place the board so that the bottom-left corner square is dark. Each player places their 12 pieces on the dark squares of the three rows closest to them. White occupies ranks 1-3, Black occupies ranks 6-8. The board uses only the 32 dark squares for play.

Turn Structure

White moves first. Players alternate turns. On each turn, a player must make exactly one move. If a capture is available, it is mandatory – the player must capture rather than make a non-capturing move.

Actions

Regular Piece Movement

• A regular piece moves diagonally forward one square to an adjacent empty dark square.
• Regular pieces cannot move backward (except when capturing).

Capturing

• If an adjacent diagonal square (forward or backward) contains an opponent’s piece and the square immediately beyond it is empty, the player must jump over and capture that piece.
• Captured pieces are removed from the board after the entire capture sequence is complete.
• Multiple captures: If after a jump the capturing piece can continue to jump over additional opponent pieces, all captures in the sequence must be completed in a single turn.
• Free choice of sequence: When multiple capture paths exist, the player may choose which sequence to follow (no requirement to capture the maximum number of pieces).
• A piece may not jump the same opponent’s piece twice in one turn.
• Captured pieces remain on the board until the entire sequence is finished, but cannot be jumped again.

King Promotion

• When a regular piece reaches the opponent’s back row (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black), it is promoted to a king.
• Critical rule: If a piece reaches the king row during a multi-jump capture sequence and can continue capturing, it is immediately promoted and continues the capture as a king (moving backward and any distance diagonally).
• If a piece reaches the king row during a capture but has no further captures available, it is promoted and the turn ends.

King Movement

• A king moves any number of squares diagonally in any direction (forward or backward) along a clear path.
• A king captures by jumping over an opponent’s piece to any empty square beyond it along the same diagonal.
• A king may land on any empty square beyond the captured piece (not just the immediately adjacent one).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

A player wins by:

• Capturing all of the opponent’s pieces, OR
• Blocking all of the opponent’s pieces so they have no legal moves (stalemate for the blocked player counts as a loss for that player).

A game is drawn when:

• The same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
• Both players agree to a draw.
• Under tournament rules, certain endgame positions with limited material are declared drawn after a set number of moves (e.g., a king vs. a king is a draw).

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Mandatory capture: Failing to capture when a capture is available is an illegal move. In casual play, the opponent may demand the move be taken back. In tournament play, specific penalties apply.
• Huff rule (historical): In older versions, a player who failed to capture could have their piece “huffed” (removed). This rule is no longer used in modern tournament play.
• Flying kings: The long-range diagonal movement of kings is the defining feature of Russian draughts compared to English/American checkers.
• Promotion during capture: The ability to promote mid-capture and continue as a king is unique to Russian draughts (in many other draughts variants, the piece must stop at the king row).
• Turkish rule exception: Unlike Turkish draughts, pieces in Russian draughts always move diagonally.

Player Reference

Piece	Move	Capture
Regular	1 square diagonally forward	Jump forward or backward over adjacent enemy to empty square
King	Any distance diagonally, any direction	Jump over enemy piece to any empty square beyond on same diagonal

Key Rules: Capture is mandatory. Multiple captures must be completed. Free choice of capture path. Kings fly (move any distance). Promotion during capture allows continued capture as king.