Pocket Games
Checkers (Italian draughts)
Italian draughts has two rules that set it apart from every other version in the world: capture is compulsory and maximum, and a plain man cannot take a king. Anyone coming from international draughts loses their first games right there.
The rules of Italian draughts
An 8×8 board, played on the dark squares. Twelve men a side, on the first three rows.
Movement. A man advances one square diagonally, forwards only. It can never go back.
Capture. You capture by jumping diagonally over an enemy piece when the square immediately beyond is free. A man’s capture is also forwards only. If another capture is available after the jump, you continue in the same move.
Capture is compulsory. If you can take, you must take: it is not a choice.
And it must be the maximum. When several captures are possible, a precise order of priority applies:
- take the capture that removes the most pieces;
- if equal, the one made with a king rather than a man;
- if equal, the one taking the most kings;
- if equal, the one taking a king earliest.
A man cannot take a king. This is the most Italian rule of all: a king is untouchable by plain men, and only another king can capture it.
Promotion. A man reaching the last rank becomes a king. If it gets there during a multiple capture, the capture stops there: it does not continue as a king.
The king does not fly. It moves and captures in every direction, but always one square at a time, like a man that can also go backwards. In international draughts the king slides the whole diagonal: not here.
You win when your opponent has no pieces left or cannot move. It is a draw after a long stretch with no captures and no man moves.
On Pocket Games
Here Italian draughts is played with all the rules described above, applied by the game. Tap a piece and the squares it can reach light up; when a capture is compulsory, only the pieces that have to make it can be selected. White always moves first. There are two modes:
- Against the bot, at three levels. Your colour switches every game (the first time it is drawn at random), so one game you open and the next you reply; the board is always turned towards you. At the top you see how many pieces you and the bot have left.
- Two players on the same phone. Every turn the board rotates 180° towards whoever has to move. Rotation can be switched off from the options menu, and the choice is remembered.
| Level | How the bot plays |
|---|---|
| Easy | a random legal move |
| Medium | looks 3 moves ahead, counting both its own and yours |
| Hard | looks 6 moves ahead |
Medium and hard judge a position by material, with a king worth 1.8 men, and give credit to men that are close to promotion.
- Statistics. Wins, draws and losses against the bot are counted for each level and stay on the device. Two-player games do not count.
- Resuming. The game is saved after every move, in both modes. There is no undo and no keyboard control: in the browser you play with the mouse.
Strategy
Compulsory capture is a weapon. Since your opponent has to take, you can force them: offer a man where the capture carries them where you want, and set up the multiple recapture. That is the heart of draughts, and it is called a combination — games are almost always won by combination, hardly ever by accumulation.
Count before you offer. Every time you put a man en prise, check the whole chain: how many pieces they lose afterwards, and who comes out ahead. The maximum capture rule makes the chains exactly calculable, with no surprises.
Hold your back rank as long as you can. The men on your last row stop your opponent from making kings. They are the most valuable pieces you own, and every time you move one you open a door.
Advance in formation. Isolated men get lost: two men side by side protect each other, because capturing one leaves the other ready to recapture.
A king is worth a lot, but not as much as you think. Not being able to fly, the Italian king is worth roughly two men, not five. It is overwhelming at exactly one thing: being the only piece that can capture enemy kings.
The centre beats the edges. A man on the edge has half the moves and half the captures: you go there only to escape a combination.
Frequently asked questions
Can I decline a capture?
No. When a capture is on, the game only lets you select the pieces that can make it, and among several chains only those the maximum-capture rule allows.
How do I make a multiple capture?
Tap the piece, then the squares it lands on at each jump, one after the other. The move is played once the chain is complete; tapping the selected piece again cancels the choice so you can start over.
When is the game a draw?
After 60 moves in a row, 30 each, in which nobody captures and nobody moves a man: in practice, when only kings are left going round in circles.
How strong is the hard bot?
It looks six moves ahead, counting both its own and yours: it sees short combinations and punishes a man left en prise. It knows no opening or endgame theory, and a combination longer than that it will not see coming.
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