Russian draughts · Variants

Russian capture choice

Russian draughts makes captures mandatory, but it does not force the longest capture line the way International draughts does.

5 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 · Mandatory, not maximum

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On the board: Two legal lines

Russian draughts makes captures mandatory, but it does not force the longest capture line the way International draughts does.

Coach narration

Step 2 · Which capture may you choose?

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One line captures one piece, and another captures two. What does Russian draughts allow here?

Choose the Russian capture-choice rule.

Quick check

  • Either complete capture line may be chosen
  • Only the longest line is legal
  • A quiet move may ignore both captures
Show the correct answer

Correct answer: Either complete capture line may be chosen — Correct. Russian draughts has mandatory captures, but no maximum-capture obligation.

  • Only the longest line is legal — That is International draughts thinking. Russian draughts gives you the choice.
  • A quiet move may ignore both captures — Captures are still mandatory. The choice is between capture lines.

Coach narration

Step 3 · Choose the short line

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On the board: Short legal line

Play the short capture. This move is legal in Russian draughts because maximum capture is not forced.

Tap the light piece, then tap the highlighted short landing square.

The move: 10x17

Captured. The shorter line is perfectly legal in Russian draughts.

Common mistake: Use the highlighted one-capture line for this lesson.

Coach narration

What you learned

You can now distinguish Russian draughts from International draughts: captures are mandatory, but the longest line is not forced.

Coach narration