/Capture rules
Capture rules

English Draughts 8×8

When capturing is compulsory, which capture you must play, and how it is counted, in English Draughts 8×8.

CapturesRules

Capturing is the most tightly regulated part of the game. Knowing how to capture is not enough: you need to know which capture you are obliged to play. Every rule is here, in the exact order the game applies it.

Source: F.I.D. Technical Regulations, January 2025.

Capturing is compulsory

  • Capturing is mandatory, but you may freely choose which capture to make.

If a capture exists on your turn, every quiet move disappears: they are not bad moves, they simply do not exist. The obligation applies to the whole position, not to a single piece.

There is no penalty for getting it wrong: a capture that breaks the rules is rejected and the position stays as it was.

How a capture works

  • Captures are made diagonally, jumping over an adjacent enemy piece.
  • Men may capture forward only.
  • Kings move one square at a time (no flying kings).

A king also jumps a single square: the enemy piece must be immediately next to it on the diagonal.

The square behind the captured piece must be empty. If it is occupied, by any piece at all, or off the board, that capture does not exist.

White jumps the adjacent piece and lands immediately behind it.Compulsory move23x16

Men and kings

  • Men are allowed to capture kings.

There is no restriction by rank: any piece may capture any piece.

Here the man captures the king just as it would any other piece.Compulsory move23x16

The multi-capture

If after a jump the piece faces another capturable piece, it must carry on. Stopping halfway is not a choice: an incomplete sequence is not a legal move.

You may change direction at every jump. A man, however, only alternates between its two forward diagonals: it never gains a backward capture during the sequence.

The same enemy piece cannot be jumped twice in one sequence. The same empty square, on the other hand, may be crossed as often as needed.

One legal move only: the sequence must be played to the end.Compulsory move30x14

Capture precedence

Capturing is compulsory, but which capture to play is entirely up to you. There is no precedence at all: a single capture counts as much as a multi-capture, and nothing forces you to take more.

  1. Level 1If the captures remain equivalent, the choice is free.Beyond this point no rule binds the player: two captures identical on every criterion may be played interchangeably.
    One capture takes a single piece, the other takes two: here both are legal.Legal moves21x1423x7

When the pieces come off

Captured pieces stay on the board until the move ends and are taken off together once the sequence is complete. That is why you still see them in place during a multi-capture.

Promotion ends the capture

  • A man reaching the last row is promoted and the move ends, even mid-capture.

If a man reaches the last row during a sequence, the move ends there: the man becomes a king and the turn passes, even if further jumps would be available from that square. The new king moves from the following turn.

White reaches the last row, so the move ends there — even with a piece still to take.Compulsory move10x3

No huffing

The "huffing" rule does not apply: a player who misses a compulsory capture does not lose the piece, they simply cannot play that move.