♟
Jogador 1
12 pieces
0
Your turn
0
Máquina
12 pieces
♟
Pick a piece to move
You are about to play the computer.
You can change the difficulty under settings at any point.
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Draughts, known as checkers in North America, is one of the oldest and most widely played board games in the world, with roots going back more than five thousand years. The earliest traces of a similar game were found in ancient Egypt, where boards of gliding pieces on squared grids were common among pharaohs and nobles. Over the centuries the game travelled through the Middle East, reached medieval Europe and branched into dozens of distinct regional variants, each with its own nuances and rules.
In Portugal, Brazil and across the Portuguese-speaking world, draughts is learned in childhood and handed down from one generation to the next as part of popular culture. It is a game of pure strategy: no luck, no dice, nothing but each player's wits. Two opponents contest a board of 64 squares, moving round pieces along the diagonals until one side has captured every enemy piece or left the opponent with no legal move.
For all the apparent simplicity of the rules, draughts hides a surprising depth. The number of possible positions on a standard board runs past five quintillion, a figure so large that it took decades of computing research to settle. In 2007, Canadian scientists proved mathematically that with perfect play on both sides the result is always a draw, which tells you a good deal about the complexity underneath.
The game brings both mental and social benefits. Played regularly, it sharpens strategic thinking, the ability to anticipate, and plain concentration. It is fine mental exercise at any age, from children learning to think before acting, to adults and older players keeping the mind busy by planning several moves ahead.
Socially, draughts encourages conversation, fair play and respect for your opponent. Digitally, as in this system, it also lets you probe the limits of machine reasoning against a human mind.
What the English-speaking world calls checkers is known as damas across Portugal, Brazil and Lusophone Africa, and as draughts in Britain. This system uses the Brazilian rules, which differ from English checkers in two important ways: ordinary pieces may capture backwards, and the king flies along the whole diagonal. Both differences are explained in the tabs that follow.
This system implements the Brazilian rules of draughts, the variant most played across Portuguese-speaking countries and one of the most popular in the world. Understanding each rule matters, both for playing well and for avoiding the usual beginner's mistakes.
The board is square, 8×8 for 64 squares in all, alternating light and dark. Play happens only on the dark squares. By convention the board is placed so that each player has a light square in the bottom right corner.
Each player starts with 12 pieces set out on the dark squares of the three rows nearest them. Player 1 (light pieces) holds the lower rows; Player 2, or the computer (dark or red pieces), holds the upper rows.
An ordinary piece, one not yet promoted, moves always along a diagonal, advancing one square at a time towards the opponent's side. Ordinary pieces cannot move backwards; they only go forward.
This is one of the rules that matters most: when a capture is available, the player must take it. It is not optional. The system marks the available captures automatically and will not let you make any other kind of move while a capture is on the board.
To capture an enemy piece, jump over it along the diagonal and land on the empty square immediately beyond. The captured piece is taken off the board. Under Brazilian rules an ordinary piece may capture both forwards and backwards.
After a capture, if the same piece can immediately capture again, it must carry on capturing within that same turn. The sequence ends only when no further capture is possible. All the captured pieces are removed together at the end of the complete sequence.
When an ordinary piece reaches the far row on the opponent's side, it is promoted to king, marked with the ♛ symbol. Promotion happens at the moment of arrival and ends the turn, even if the newly crowned king could capture from there.
A player wins by capturing every enemy piece, or by leaving the opponent with no legal move, which happens when all their remaining pieces are blocked. Both endings are detected automatically by this system.
A game is drawn when both players agree to it; or when the same position repeats three times in a row without a capture; or when an excessive number of moves passes with no capture and no promotion, the so-called forty-move rule. In this system a draw by agreement is always available by simply restarting the game.
The king, marked with the ♛ symbol above the piece, is without question the strongest piece on the board. Where an ordinary piece plods one square forward at a time, the king enjoys complete freedom of movement and is often decisive on its own.
Under the Brazilian rules used here, the king is a flying king: it may move any number of squares along any of the four diagonals, forwards or backwards, stopping only when it meets another piece or the edge of the board. This is a real difference from English checkers, where the king moves a single square like everyone else.
The king also captures in its own way: it may sit at any distance from the enemy piece, provided nothing stands between them. After capturing, it may land on any free square further along the same diagonal, beyond the captured piece. This opens up chained captures of remarkable reach.
To promote a piece you must work it forward across the board until it reaches the opponent's far row. The usual approaches are:
A single king can often hold off three or four ordinary pieces, depending on the position. Its full mobility lets it command several diagonals at once, shut the opponent in, and run long, devastating capture sequences. In the evaluation used by this system's engine, a king is worth roughly five to six ordinary pieces.
Getting good at draughts goes well beyond knowing the rules. Strong players think several moves ahead and lean on a handful of sound principles. Here are the ideas that carry you from beginner to a genuinely dangerous opponent.
The four central squares are the most valuable on the board. Pieces in the middle have more moves available and command more diagonals than pieces stuck in a corner or along an edge. In the opening moves, try to occupy or at least influence the centre. A piece on the edge has, on average, half the options of a piece in the middle.
An isolated piece is an easy target. Keep your pieces where they support one another. A compact formation is harder to break into and lets you protect whatever has pushed forward. The commonest beginner's mistake is running one piece far up the board with nothing behind it.
The pieces on your own back row stop the opponent promoting easily. Give up that row as late as you can, and never abandon it entirely without a tactical reason. Many players move their back-row pieces far too early and open the road to a king.
Before every move, look for a capture sequence, yours or your opponent's. Capturing is compulsory, so if your opponent can take one of your pieces, they will. Work out the consequences of each move before you make it.
Sometimes handing over a piece on purpose is the strongest move on the board. If sacrificing one piece lets you take two in return, you come out ahead on material. Sacrifices also open diagonals, force promotions, and set up blocking positions in your favour.
When you hold more pieces or a king, simplify: trade ordinary pieces off to cut the complexity and let your material advantage speak. With a king against ordinary pieces, the standard technique is to drive the enemy pieces into the corners using the long diagonals.
Watch how the other player behaves. Do they always work along the edges? Do they shy away from captures? Do they rush forward? Spotting habits lets you work on the weaknesses behind them.
The artificial intelligence in this system uses minimax with alpha-beta pruning, looking up to eight moves ahead on the advanced level. To beat it:
Draughts exists in dozens of variants worldwide. Over the centuries each country or region developed its own rules, boards and traditions. Here are the main international variants, set against the rules used in this system.
The variant this system plays. An 8×8 board, 12 pieces a side, capturing compulsory, ordinary pieces capturing both forwards and backwards, a flying king that moves any number of squares, and compulsory chained captures. It dominates in Brazil and is widely played across Portuguese-speaking countries.
Very similar to the Brazilian rules, also with a flying king and compulsory capture. Some regional sub-variants in Portugal differ slightly on draw conditions and on whether the largest available capture must be taken.
Played on a larger 10×10 board with 20 pieces a side. This is the official variant of world competition under the World Draughts Federation. The king flies here too. It is more complex, with a far wider body of opening theory.
An 8×8 board, 12 pieces a side. The crucial difference: ordinary pieces cannot capture backwards, and the king moves one square at a time, with no flying. Simpler rules, but less strategic depth.
An 8×8 board with a flying king, but ordinary pieces cannot capture backwards. Capturing is not compulsory in every sub-variant. Enormously popular in Russia and eastern Europe, with a rich literature of openings and endgames.
Played on an 8×8 board, but the pieces move orthogonally, forwards and sideways, rather than along the diagonals. One of the most distinctive variants, and a completely different feel to play.
Canadian draughts: a 12×12 board with 30 pieces a side; Gothic checkers: medieval Gothic rules; Suicide checkers: the first player to lose all their pieces wins, turning the whole logic on its head; Spanish draughts: close to the Portuguese game, differing on the maximum-capture rule.
Everything here was built to be plain and usable on any device: phone, tablet, computer or smart television. Here is a walk through every feature.
The system runs on any modern device: phones (iOS and Android), tablets, computers (Windows, Mac, Linux) and smart televisions with a browser. The board resizes itself to the screen. For the best of it, use an up-to-date browser: Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge.
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