Russian checkers — also called Russian draughts or shashki — is the variant widely played in Kazakhstan, Russia and neighbouring countries. It uses the familiar 8×8 board and 12 men each, but men capture backwards and kings fly across the board. Below are the rules exactly as they work on 9qum: setup, moves, captures, kings, the Turkish strike, winning and draws. Ten minutes to read, one game against the computer to make them stick.
▶ Play Russian checkers 🎓 Play with a coach
Two players use an 8×8 board and play on the dark squares only. The board is placed so that each player has a dark square in the bottom-left corner. Columns are labelled a–h and rows 1–8; the long diagonal a1–h8 is called the main road.
Each side has 12 men. White sets up on the dark squares of rows 1–3, Black on rows 6–8, and the two middle rows start empty. White moves first.
A man moves one square diagonally forward to a free dark square. It never moves backwards. From the starting position White has seven possible moves, for example c3-d4 or e3-f4.
If an enemy piece stands diagonally next to yours with a free square right behind it, you capture it: jump over it and remove it from the board. Capturing is compulsory — while a capture exists, no other move is allowed. On 9qum the board simply won't let you play anything else.
A man that reaches the opponent's back row is crowned a king: row 8 for White, row 1 for Black.
A king is a flying king: it moves diagonally over any number of free squares, forwards or backwards. It also captures from a distance — it flies up to an enemy piece, jumps over it and lands on any free square beyond. But if from one of those squares it can capture again, it must land there and continue. Example from the 9qum course: a1:f6:d8 — the king takes c3, lands on f6 and from there takes e7.
This is a hallmark of Russian checkers. If a man reaches the back row in the middle of a capture, it is crowned at once and, if it can, keeps capturing in the same move as a king. For example, b6:d8: the man is crowned on d8 and in the same move takes f6 from a distance. Stopping on d8 is not allowed.
Captured pieces are removed only after the move is complete. Until then they stay on the board, so you can't jump the same piece twice, and you can't fly through a captured piece that is still standing — it blocks the way. Because of this, a king is sometimes forced to stop exactly where it can be taken. Traps built on this rule are called the Turkish strike.
You win by capturing all of your opponent's pieces or by blocking them so they have no legal move. No moves means the game is lost.
On 9qum a draw is declared automatically when both sides make 15 moves in a row with kings only, without any capture or man move. At an online table you can also offer a draw; if your opponent accepts, the game ends drawn. Official rules list further draw cases, such as threefold repetition, but on 9qum the 15-move rule is the one applied automatically — so don't drag out an endgame you can win.
Moves are written by squares: a hyphen for a quiet move (c3-d4), a colon for a capture (c3:e5).
| Rule | Russian 8×8 | International 10×10 | American / English 8×8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Board and pieces | 64 squares, 12 each | 100 squares, 20 each | 64 squares, 12 each |
| Men capture backwards | yes | yes | no |
| Kings | flying | flying | one square |
| Choice of capture | any | must take the maximum | any |
| Man reaches back row mid-capture | crowned, keeps capturing as a king | stays a man | crowned, move ends |
| First move | White | White | Black (dark) |
9qum offers Russian checkers and international draughts; American checkers and giveaway variants are not available.
The Learn section has a 17-step Russian checkers course: rules (moves, compulsory and backward captures, multi-jumps, kings, crowning mid-capture, choosing a capture), first tricks (the exchange, give one to take two, the king's double strike, breaking through to crown) and how to win (guarding the back row, shutting in the opponent, three kings against one, a game plan). Then try 50 puzzles: shots, winning a piece and breaking through to crown.
In Play with a coach mode every move you make is rated and the game pauses on a blunder. The computer has 4 levels — Novice, Amateur, Strong and Master — and any position can be opened in Game analysis. Read more in Learn checkers with an AI coach. Playing is free; signing up takes a minute.
▶ Play vs computer 📚 Learn 🧩 Puzzles
Yes. In Russian checkers a man only moves forward, but it captures in all four directions, forwards and backwards. So enemy men behind your pieces are dangerous too. In American checkers men cannot capture backwards — one of the key differences.
No. When several captures are possible you may choose any of them, even if another one takes more. What is compulsory is to capture at all and to finish the sequence you started. The majority rule belongs to international 10×10 draughts.
White moves first, starting from rows 1–3 at the bottom of the board. When you play the computer on 9qum you can pick your colour before the game.
Yes. If a man reaches the back row during a capture it becomes a king immediately and, if possible, continues capturing in the same move as a flying king. In international draughts it would stay a man.
On 9qum, when both sides make 15 moves in a row with kings only and no captures, or when players agree to a draw at an online table.