Portuguese Draughts — Rules

Portuguese draughts (Damas Portuguesas, also called Damas Clássicas) is the classic draughts of Portugal and Spain, where it is known as Spanish draughts (damas españolas). It is played on an 8×8 board with flying kings, and men capture only forwards.

1. At a glance

• 2 players, 12 pieces each: White and Black.
• 8×8 board; only the dark squares are used. The long dark diagonal (the "river", Rio) starts at each player's right-hand corner.
• White moves first.
• Win by capturing all of your opponent's pieces or leaving them with no legal move.

2. How to play

1. Moving a man. A man moves one square diagonally forwards onto an empty square.
2. Capturing with a man. A man jumps over an enemy piece directly in front of it, diagonally, onto the empty square beyond. Men never capture backwards.
3. Kings. A man that reaches the far row becomes a king (dama). Its move ends there; it plays as a king from your next turn. A king is a flying king: it moves any number of empty squares along a diagonal, forwards or backwards, and captures a piece at any distance on the same diagonal, landing on any empty square beyond it.
4. Capturing is compulsory. If you can capture, you must. If, after a jump, the same piece can capture again, it must keep going in the same turn.
5. Which capture to make.
   • Quantity first: you must take the sequence that captures the most pieces.
   • Then quality: if several sequences capture the same number, you must take the one that captures the most kings.
   • If both are equal, you choose freely, and it does not matter whether you capture with a man or a king.
6. Captured pieces are removed only after the whole move is finished (the "Turkish strike"), and no piece can be jumped twice.

Example. Your man can capture two men, and your king can capture one man and one king. Both take two pieces, so quality decides: you must play the king's capture, because it takes a king.

3. Winning and drawn games

• You win when your opponent has no pieces left, has no legal move on their turn, resigns, or runs out of time.
• The game is drawn when:
  • the same position appears three times;
  • 3 kings against 1 king: once the stronger side holds the long diagonal, it has 12 moves to capture the lone king, or the game is a draw;
  • 20-move rule: when each side has 4 pieces or fewer and both have a king, the game is drawn after 20 moves by each side without a man move or a capture;
  • only one king is left on each side;
  • the players agree. A draw can only be offered when there are 8 pieces or fewer on the board and each side has a king.

Play Portuguese Draughts