International draughts Rules
The tournament game — a bigger board, flying kings, and take the most.
International draughts is played on a hundred squares with twenty men a side, from the Netherlands and France to West Africa and Brazil. Men capture backwards as well as forwards, kings fly the length of a diagonal, and when captures compete you must take the line that wins the most pieces. It is a long, calculating game.
Ways to play International draughts
Against the computer
Pick your side and a level — Easy, Medium or Hard — and play International draughts offline. The game is kept in your browser, exactly where you left it.
Online, on a clock
Create a board, choose your colour, set a clock from one minute to sixty — or none at all — and share the code. Only the side to move has their clock running.
In 2D or 3D
Lay the board flat or stand it up. Every piece rises onto its square, and you can flip between them mid-game.
Seven boards, seven sets
Classic felt, Renaissance marble, Stone Age sandstone, Ice Age glacier, Jurassic amber, a Crustacean tide pool and a medieval chamber — changed while you play.
🎯 Objective
Take all of your opponent’s pieces, or leave them with no legal move.
🎲 International draughts setup
- The board is ten squares by ten, and only the dark squares are used.
- Each side sets twenty men on the dark squares of the four rows nearest them.
- The two middle rows start empty.
- White moves first.
▶ How to play International draughts
- A man moves one square diagonally forward onto an empty dark square.
- A man captures by jumping over an adjacent enemy piece to the empty square beyond — forwards or backwards, either way.
- Capturing is compulsory, and when several captures are available you must take the one that captures the most pieces.
- A capturing sequence continues while the same piece can keep taking; the captured pieces are only removed once the whole move is over, and none may be jumped twice.
- A man that ends its move on the far row is crowned a king. If a jump carries it through that row and out again, it stays a man.
- A king slides any distance along a diagonal, and captures at any distance: it takes the first enemy piece on the line and may land on any empty square beyond it.
📖 Detailed guide
What the bigger board changes
- Twenty men a side on a hundred squares means longer combinations — sequences of five, six or seven captures are ordinary here.
- Men capture backwards, so no piece is ever safely past.
- The majority rule removes the defender’s choice: when you see a forcing line, your opponent must walk down it.
- Because pieces come off only at the end of a chain, a captured piece still blocks the path while the move is being played out.
Flying kings
- A king takes the first piece it meets on a diagonal and may land on any empty square past it — which is what turns a king into a long-range weapon.
- A king may keep turning corners through a capture sequence, and the majority rule applies to it too.
- A man that jumps through the crowning row and carries on is not crowned; only a man that stops there is.
- Pinning a lone king against an edge is the standard way to win a piece back.
In the app
- International draughts plays in your browser at play.vanikar.games, alongside the English 8×8 game.
- It plays offline against the computer at three levels, and online against another player on the same clocks chess uses.
- Both draughts games are included in the same subscription as the card games and chess.
🏁 How International draughts is won
Taking every enemy piece wins, as does leaving your opponent with no legal move. The game is drawn by threefold repetition, or after forty moves by each side with no capture and no man moved.
❓ International draughts — frequently asked questions
How many players do you need for International draughts?
International draughts is played by 2. Seats you do not fill are taken by the computer, so a game always starts.
When can I play International draughts?
International draughts is in development. It will arrive in Chess & Checkers by Vanikar™ and is included in the same subscription as the card games, with nothing separate to buy.
Is International draughts included in my subscription?
Yes. One Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription covers the card games, Chess & Checkers and the board games, and every game released after them.
Does International draughts have ads?
No. No Vanikar™ game has ever carried advertising, and none ever will.
How is international draughts different from English draughts?
Three things: the board is 10×10 with twenty men a side instead of 8×8 with twelve, men capture backwards as well as forwards, and when several captures are available you must take the one that wins the most pieces. Kings also fly — they slide and capture at any distance along a diagonal.
Do I have to take the most pieces?
Yes. Where English draughts lets you choose between captures, international draughts makes you take the line that captures the most. If two lines capture the same number, you may choose between them.
What happens if a jump passes through the crowning row?
Nothing — the piece stays a man. A man is only crowned when it finishes its move on the far row, so a capture that carries it through and out again leaves it uncrowned.
Can I play international draughts online?
Yes. Create a board, choose a clock from one to sixty minutes or none, and share the code or an invite link. Offline, you pick your side and the engine’s level.