Italian draughts

Brief rules of Italian draughts

care of Riccardo Agosti

1. The game is played on a board 8x8 with 12 white and 12 black pieces positionned on dark fields. It looks like chess board but the game is played with an "inverted" board (the bottom right square is black instead of white). The board is numbered from 1 in black's right-hand single corner to 32 at white's single corner. So there are no letters to indicate fields.
   
   
2. The objective of the game is to capture all of the opponent's pieces. The game can also be won by putting the opponent in a situation in which he can make no legal moves.
   
   
3. Draw can be reached by an agreement of players or when one and the same position is repeated three consecutive times.
   
   
4. White takes the first move in the game. Pieces move diagonally by one field ahead. If an opponent’s piece is positionned on next field on a diagonal in front of a players piece followed by a vacant field the player on move has to jump. In this case pieces are captured by jumping over the opponent's piece.
   
   
5. A checker can change into a king by reaching the row at the edge on the opponent's side. When a piece become king the move pass to the opponent in the case the new king has to jump too.
   
   
6. The king move diagonally like pieces but it can do it forwards and backwards. The king can capture pieces and other kings while pieces only can jump other pieces. The king jump on a diagonal forwards and backwards and finish the jump on the first field behind the captured figures.
   
   
7. Both, pieces and kings, can move only one square at a time (unless making a capture move) diagonally on the board.
   
   
8. Pieces have the additional restriction that they cannot move backwards. No piece can move into a square already occupied.
   
   
9. Jump is obligatory. Omitted jump, when players forgets to jump, can be corrected by the opponent or not, it depends by his choice. If the opponent decides to correct the move, then jump is required and the move is returned. Otherwise the game continue normally.

Captures rules:

1. If you have a choice of multiple jumps, you must take the option that captures the most.
   
   
2. If you have a choice of jumping the same number of figures with a king or a piece, you must capture with the king.
   
   
3. If a king has an option of taking an equal number with different figures, he must capture kings in preference to pieces. In other words, you must jump the most with the most.
   
   
4. If a king has an option of taking an equal number with the same figures but the figures have a different order, he must capture the sequence where the king or the kings are jumped sooner.