Playing English draughts against the computer

Draughts in Games by Zaweba is English draughts on a wooden board, played against the computer. You play red and move first. Jump the computer's pieces, crown your own as kings and try to leave the computer with nothing left to do. The game sits on the Board games shelf.

Many people learned draughts as children and have not played in years. It is a good game to come back to, since the rules are short and the board still holds plenty of surprises.

Moves, captures and kings

Your pieces move diagonally forwards on the dark squares, one square at a time. To capture, jump over an enemy piece diagonally onto the empty square beyond it, and the jumped piece is taken.

Captures are compulsory. If you can capture, you must, and you must keep jumping while you can. A single move can therefore take several pieces in a row.

When one of your pieces reaches the far row, it is crowned a king. A king can move both forwards and backwards, which makes it far more powerful than an ordinary piece.

You win by taking every enemy piece, or by leaving the computer with no legal moves.

Moving your pieces

Click a piece, then click where it should go. For a multi-jump, you can click the final square, or click each landing in turn. If you pick up the wrong piece, right-click to cancel.

Playing a stronger game

The compulsory capture rule is the key to draughts. Because the computer must take a piece if it can, you can sometimes offer a piece deliberately to pull an enemy piece into a place where you can take two back. Equally, the computer can do the same to you. Before every move, look at what captures it will force on either side.

Keep your back row protected for as long as you sensibly can. While your pieces sit on the row nearest you, the computer cannot crown its own pieces there. Once the back row is open, enemy kings follow.

Try to move your pieces in groups rather than sending one off alone. A lone piece is easy to trap, while pieces that support each other are hard to capture without losing something in return.

Aim for kings. A king's ability to move backwards changes the end of the game completely. A player with a king against ordinary pieces usually has the upper hand.

Why it suits a quiet evening

Draughts in Games by Zaweba is a calm, thoughtful game with no time pressure. Take as long as you like over a move. Esc pauses if you need to stop, F1 brings back the rules, and your wins against the computer are counted on the game's tile in the library.

If you have a favourite, it is easy to reach. Star it in the library, or make a desktop shortcut that opens straight into draughts by adding its game id, draughts, after the program name. It sits among the other traditional board games on the shelf, such as Mill and Flip Discs.