At a glance
| Board | 8×8 mirrored — the 32 dark squares, numbered 1–32 row by row from the top-left |
|---|---|
| Pieces | 12 men per side |
| First move | White |
| Men | Move and capture diagonally forward only — and may NEVER capture a king |
| Kings (damone) | Step one square diagonally in any direction — kings do not fly |
| Captures | Mandatory, with strict priority: most pieces → with a king → most kings captured → kings met earliest |
| Crowning | A man crowning during a capture stops immediately — the turn ends |
| Draws | Threefold repetition; or, once both sides have a king, 40 non-capturing king moves by each player |
The starting position
How Italian draughts plays
Italian draughts — dama italiana, played in Italy and parts of North Africa under the rules codified by the Federazione Italiana Dama (FID) — looks like English checkers at first glance: 8×8 board, twelve men each, forward-only men, short kings. Then you notice the board itself is mirrored: play runs on the other diagonal, so the single dark corner sits at each player's right, and the 32 playable squares are numbered 1–32 row by row from the top-left. Black's men start on squares 1–12, White's on 21–32, and White always moves first.
Men move and capture one square diagonally forward only, and thedamone — the king — steps a single square diagonally in any direction. There are no flying kings here. The rule that defines the game's character is a hierarchy of piece value: a man may never capture a king. Only a king captures a king, which makes every promotion a genuinely protected asset rather than just a mobility upgrade.
The strict capture priority
Capturing is mandatory, as everywhere in the family — but where English draughts lets you pick freely among available jumps, the FID rulebook ranks them. When more than one capture line exists, you must play the line that wins on the first of these tests, in order:
- Most pieces captured — the longest line is forced.
- On a tie, you must capture with a king rather than with a man.
- On a tie, the line capturing the most kings is forced.
- On a tie, the line where a king appears earliest in the capture sequence is forced.
Only when two lines are equal on all four tests may you choose between them. The engine enforces the full ladder, so the move list you see in a game is exactly the set the FID rules allow.
Crowning and the draw rules
A man reaching the far row is crowned — and if that happens in the middle of a capture chain, the chain stops immediately and the turn ends. The new king starts capturing only from its next turn. Two draw rules apply: the same position occurring for the third time with the same player to move is a draw, and once both sides have at least one king, forty consecutive king moves by each player without any capture — a count annulled and restarted by any man move or any capture — ends the game drawn.
Where it sits in the family
Against English draughts: same piece count and the same short kings, but the board is mirrored, White (not the darker color) moves first, men can never touch a king, and free capture choice is replaced by the strict priority ladder. Against International draughts: no backward captures for men, no flying kings, and a smaller board — Italian keeps the conservative movement rules and puts all its sharpness into capture selection. AgainstTurkish dama: dama abandons the diagonal entirely, while Italian is the most orthodox diagonal game of the set — just reflected, ranked, and stricter about who may capture whom.
In Boardgammon, Italian draughts is a practice lane: play it against the AI or pass-and-play at one device. Rated online play stays on the English lane.
How Italian draughts differs from English draughts
| Aspect | English draughts | Italian draughts |
|---|---|---|
| Board orientation | Single dark corner at each player’s left | MIRRORED — single dark corner at each player’s right |
| First move | Darker color | White |
| Men capturing | Forward only; may capture kings | Forward only — and may NEVER capture a king |
| Kings | One diagonal step | One diagonal step (same — no flying kings) |
| Capture choice | Free choice among jumps | Strict priority: most pieces, then king over man, then most kings, then kings earliest |
| Crowning mid-jump | Ends the move | Ends the move (same) |
| Draws | 40 moves per side with no capture and no man advance | Once both sides have a king: 40 quiet king moves by each player, reset by any man move or capture |
New to the family? Start with the English draughts rules, compare the eight variants, or jump into the interactive lessons.