Dama · Variants

Dama flying kings

Dama kings fly along rows and columns. They do not use diagonal king movement.

4 min · 3 steps

This is the written edition of an interactive Boardgammon lesson — in the app, the coach narrates while you play every move on a live board.

Step 1 · Kings fly straight

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On the board: Straight king lane

Dama kings fly along rows and columns. They do not use diagonal king movement.

Coach narration

Step 2 · How does a Dama king fly?

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The light king has a capture along a straight column. What movement pattern should you expect?

Choose the Dama king rule.

Quick check

  • It flies along rows and columns
  • It flies along diagonals
  • It moves only one square
Show the correct answer

Correct answer: It flies along rows and columns — Correct. Dama kings are straight-line kings.

  • It flies along diagonals — That is Russian or International draughts, not Dama.
  • It moves only one square — Dama kings have long straight range.

Coach narration

Step 3 · Fly straight to capture

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On the board: Straight fly

A flying king may land on any empty square beyond the piece it captures. Capture the dark piece and fly all the way to the far highlighted square.

Tap the king, then tap the far highlighted landing square in the same column.

The move: 44x12

Straight flying king capture.

Common mistake: In a real game any square beyond the dark piece is a legal landing, but for this lesson tap the far highlighted square near the top of the column.

Coach narration

What you learned

You can now play Dama: men move straight forward or sideways, captures take the longest line, and kings fly along rows and columns.

Coach narration