STEKIUS
Draughts online for free at STEKIUS
Play nowDraughts is one of the oldest board games in the world, and it is often played on the back of a backgammon board. Two players, twelve pieces each, diagonal moves and captures that are compulsory. The rules are learned in a few minutes, but the strategy lasts a lifetime.
At STEKIUS you play draughts online for free, against a friend or an AI player on three levels, from your computer or your phone. Below you will find all the rules: how the pieces move, how you capture, when a piece becomes a king and how you win.
The board and the pieces
Draughts is played on the dark squares of an 8×8 board, which is the back of a backgammon board. Each player has twelve pieces, and yours are always at the bottom of the screen.
In the first game the light pieces start. After that, in every new game the other player starts, so that nobody has a permanent advantage.
How the pieces move
A plain piece moves one square diagonally forward. On your turn the pieces that can move light up. You tap one and then the square where you want it to go; the squares it can reach turn darker so you can see them.
Capturing
You capture by jumping over an opponent’s piece onto the empty square right behind it. If the same piece can capture again from there, it carries on in the same move: you tap the squares one after the other.
A plain piece captures only forwards, unless the table chose to let it capture backwards too. Captured pieces leave the board when the move ends, and no piece can be jumped twice.
Compulsory captures
Here capturing is compulsory: when you can capture, you must. But you choose which capture to make, unless the table chose to make the capture that takes the most pieces compulsory. This rule makes draughts a game of traps: you often sacrifice a piece to force the opponent into a move that suits you.
The flying king
A piece that reaches the last row, with a capture or without, becomes a king: a second piece is placed on top of it. The king moves as many empty squares as it likes diagonally, forwards or backwards.
The king also captures from a distance: it jumps over an opponent’s piece and stops on any empty square it likes behind it. That is why one king is worth as much as several plain pieces.
Winning, draws and the match
You win a game when the opponent cannot move: either they have no pieces left, or they are all blocked. It is a draw when the same position appears three times, or when many moves are made with kings only and without a capture.
The match is won by whoever first reaches the number of wins chosen at the start: one, three or five. A draw counts for nobody.
Chips and leaving
The winner of the match wins virtual chips and the loser loses the same. After the first moves, whoever leaves pays a leave penalty. When the match has a winner, you leave freely.
Tips
- Keep your back row full for as long as you can, so that the opponent cannot easily make a king.
- Before you move, think whether you are forcing the opponent to capture, and what will follow.
- Pieces in the centre control more squares than pieces on the edges.
- A king early in the game often decides the winner.
Questions
Is capturing compulsory?
Yes. When you can capture, you must, but you choose which capture to make, unless the table makes the one that takes the most pieces compulsory.
Do pieces capture backwards?
A plain piece captures only forwards, unless the table also allows backwards. The king moves and captures in both directions.
How does a piece become a king?
When it reaches the last row of the board, with a capture or without.
How many games does a match last?
Until someone reaches the number of wins chosen: one, three or five.
