BEFORE YOUR FIRST GAME
How to play Damas
Players and pieces
Draughts is played by two opponents. The square board has 64 alternating light and dark squares.
There are 24 pieces: 12 light and 12 dark, one set for each player.
Pieces are placed and moved exclusively on the dark squares.
Place the board with a dark square in each player’s bottom-right corner. Portuguese classical draughts rules apply, as set out by the Portuguese Draughts Federation.
Initially, each colour occupies the first twelve dark squares on its side of the board.
Getting started
White plays first and is assigned randomly. Players then alternate moves until the end.
In subsequent games between the same players, white and black alternate the first move, with a free choice of opening.
Playing the game
There are two types of pieces: men, which start the game, and kings, which are men that reach the opposite edge.
A man reaching the opposite edge is promoted to king and gains special abilities.
A newly crowned king can only move after the opponent’s turn.
Both men and kings have non-capturing and capturing moves:
a) A man without a capture moves diagonally forward to an adjacent empty square, taking no opposing piece.
b) If an adjacent opposing piece has an empty square beyond it, the man jumps over it, lands on that empty square and captures it. The man must capture as many pieces as possible in the same turn.
c) A king without a capture moves along any number of empty squares on one diagonal, forwards or backwards, without taking a piece or changing diagonal.
d) A king jumps over an opposing piece on its diagonal, adjacent or not, if empty squares follow it, landing on any of those squares. It must continue capturing whenever possible. After at least one capture, it must turn onto the perpendicular diagonal if captures are available there, continuing until all possible captures are made.
A king cannot jump over a friendly piece, adjacent opposing pieces, or the same piece twice. It may cross the same empty square more than once.
In a multiple capture by a man or king, captured pieces are removed only after the entire move is complete.
Capture
Three capture rules apply equally to men and kings:
a) Compulsory capture — taking a piece is mandatory.
b) Quantity — when several captures are possible, take the greatest number of pieces.
c) Quality — when captures take the same number of pieces, take those of highest value; each king is worth more than a man.
Result
A player loses if:
a) They lose all their pieces;
b) They have no legal move on their turn.
The game is drawn if:
a) The move limit is reached;
b) Both players agree during play.
Move limit
The game is drawn when each player has made 20 moves without either making a capture.
After a capture, the count restarts on the next move.