Twelve men a side on the dark half of an 8×8 board, and a rule that changes everything: if you can capture, you must. That turns every exchange into arithmetic, and a man that fights its way to the far row is crowned. Choose the English rules or the Italian ones, where the biggest capture is compulsory.
Rules
A man steps one square diagonally forward to an empty dark square. To capture, it jumps a neighbouring enemy piece and lands on the vacant square just beyond, and the jumped piece leaves the board. Should a further jump be possible from where it lands, it keeps going: the whole chain belongs to one turn.
Capturing is compulsory. In the English game you may choose any capture when there are several, and men may capture kings. Dark moves first. A man that reaches the last row becomes a king, and promotion ends the move. Kings move and capture one square in any diagonal direction, forwards and backwards.
Italian draughts turns the board so the double corner sits on the right, gives Light the first move and forbids men to capture kings. Among several captures you must choose the one taking the most pieces; if that ties, capture with a king where possible, then take the most kings, then meet a king as early as possible. Running out of pieces or legal moves loses. Eighty moves with no capture and no man moved, or a position repeated three times, ends in a draw.
Strategy
Guard the home row. While men stay on your first row, the opponent has nowhere to crown. Strong players often leave two of them at home until the middlegame has passed.
Use the compulsory capture. Because the opponent must take, a sacrifice of one man can drag their piece onto a square from which you jump two or three. Before every move, check what you would be forced to take next turn.
Control the centre and stay connected. Men in the middle squares support each other and have more forward moves. Isolated men on the edge are safe from capture on one side, but they are slow and easy to block.
In the ending, count tempo. With few pieces left, the side that has to move into the opponent's reach loses. A king is worth about one and a half men: trade pieces when you are ahead, and use your king to chase men that are still walking.
Questions
Are draughts and checkers the same game?
English draughts and American checkers use the same rules: 8×8 board, men that capture only forwards, kings that move one square in any direction.
Do kings fly across the board here?
No. In both the English and the Italian rules played here a king moves and jumps one square at a time. Long-range kings belong to other national variants.
Must I take the biggest capture?
Only in the Italian rules. In the English game any capture is allowed, but you must capture something if you can, and you must finish the chain you start.
What does promotion ending the move mean?
A man that lands on the last row during a jump is crowned and stops there, even if as a king it could keep jumping.
How do I make a multi-jump?
Tap your piece and then the first landing square: if only one chain starts that way, the whole chain is played. Otherwise tap each landing in turn, or tap the final square directly.