How to Play Russian Draughts

Russian draughts, shashki, is the version played across Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet republics: fast, tactical and full of long king combinations.

The board and pieces

• An 8×8 board; play is on the dark squares. Twelve men each on the first three rows. White moves first.

Moving

1. A man moves one square diagonally forward.
2. A king moves any distance along a diagonal.

Capturing

1. A man captures by jumping an adjacent enemy piece to the empty square beyond, in any diagonal direction, including backwards.
2. A king captures by jumping an enemy piece any distance away along a diagonal, landing on any empty square beyond it.
3. Capturing is compulsory, and a sequence must be continued while another capture is available. You may choose any sequence; it need not be the longest.
4. Jumped pieces stay on the board until the sequence ends, so a piece cannot be jumped twice.
5. A man reaching the far row during a capture becomes a king immediately and continues the sequence as a king.

Ending

A side with no pieces or no legal move loses. Thirty consecutive king moves without a capture or a man moving is a draw.

Playing on kawu

Tap a piece, then the landing square; for a multi-capture tap each landing square in turn. Hint shows the hard computer's move. Play either colour against three levels, or two players on one device.

Next: Russian draughts strategy.

Last updated 2026-10-21