Czech draughts

The board game of Czech draughts is played, as its name suggests, in the territory formerly occupied by the Czechoslovak Republic (present day Czech and Slovak Republics). It is governed by the Czech Draughts Federation.

Rules

The draughtsboard has eight ranks and eight files. Players each have twelve draughtsmen on opposite sides of the board, arranged on black squares only, in three rows. Men move one square diagonally forward, and can not capture their own pieces. Once a man has reached the rank of the board furthest from the player to which it belongs, it becomes a king. Kings move diagonally forward and back, any number of positions.

Captures are mandatory in Czech draughts. Should a man be found neighbouring an opposing piece behind which is an empty position, the player is compelled to attain this empty position and remove the opposing man from the board. Should a player be able to capture either with a man or a king, he must do so with the king.

Should a player be able to perform multiple captures, he has the choice of capturing one piece or the entire line; he can not capture a partial line. If multiple captures are performed, the pieces are removed from the board en masse when the capture is concluded.

A player who can not move, either because he has lost all of his pieces, or because no legal move remains, has lost. The game is a draw when it is theoretically impossible (i.e. with perfect play) to capture any of the opponent's pieces.

A misere game, as with other competitions, is known, where the object is to lose all one's pieces.

Regional Differences

Although Czech draughts is itself a regional variant of the draughts game, the version played in the Slovak Republic is slightly different in that each player begins with only two ranks of men, and that the huffing rule is enforced: if a piece that must capture does not do so, the opponent may, at his option, take it before his own move. Furthermore, if a player has no legal moves, but does have men on the board, the game is a draw.

See also

• International draughts
• English draughts
• Pool checkers
• Russian checkers
• Italian draughts
• Turkish draughts
• Draughts