This table uses Turkish draughts (Dama): all 64 squares are playable, White moves first, men step and capture orthogonally, the longest capture is mandatory, and kings fly along clear ranks and files. It is not English draughts, not 10×10 international draughts, and not Chinese checkers. The sections below follow the order a real game actually happens. Read them once, then try a local computer game and force yourself to take every maximum capture.
How you move a piece here
Select one of your men that can actually move, then select the empty square it is allowed to reach. If nothing happens, that piece has no legal step, or a longer capture somewhere on the board is still waiting to be taken.
Uncrowned men advance toward the far side or step sideways. They do not move or capture backward until they have crowned.
Full board and the first move
Sixty-four squares, and every square can hold a piece. Each side begins with sixteen men on the two ranks nearest them; the back rank stays empty at the start. White moves, then Black, and so on.
Walking forward or sideways, hopping over
An uncrowned man steps one square orthogonally forward or sideways. To capture, it hops an adjacent enemy piece in those same directions and lands on the empty square immediately beyond. Captured pieces come off at once. If that same man can hop again from the new square, the turn continues.
Before you look two captures ahead, ask the shorter question: can any of your men hop something right now? If yes, the next section applies. If not, pick a man that either advances or still guards the last rank.
When a quiet step is illegal
If any legal hop exists, you must play a hopping move. When several captures are available, you must choose a line that takes the most pieces. Once a multi-jump has started, that piece keeps hopping while another hop is available from the square it just reached.
What crowning grants
A man that reaches the farthest rank becomes a king. A king slides any number of empty squares orthogonally, and captures by jumping an enemy piece any distance away along a clear line, landing on any empty square beyond it.
Against the computer you hold White by default; on a shared device or in a room, the two players simply alternate. The rules do not change between those modes.
When the game is over
You win when the other side has no men left, or when it is their turn and they have no legal move. You may also agree a draw. This board records a draw after a long stretch with neither a capture nor a crowning.
For a first sitting, ignore the score. Stay on the orthogonal grid, take every maximum capture you are required to take, and notice when a man reaches the last rank. That is already a complete game of Turkish draughts.
Questions people ask before the first game
Is this the same game as Chinese checkers?
No. Chinese checkers is played on a star, and pieces hop along lines of empty holes to race home. This board is 8×8 Turkish draughts. You are trying to take the other side’s men or leave them with nowhere to go.
Can I ignore a jump and move a different man?
No. If a legal hop exists, you have to hop. When more than one hopping line is available you must pick one that captures the most pieces; you cannot answer with a quiet step instead.
Does a king fly along a clear line?
Yes. A Turkish king slides and captures orthogonally like a rook on open ranks and files. That is different from English draughts, where kings still step one square.
Who starts, and can a piece sit on any square?
White starts. Pieces may rest on any empty square. Men move and capture only orthogonally, never diagonally.