International Draughts

01Discover the game

The International Ladies oppose two players on a checker of ten in ten. Each camp tries to capture or block the opposing pieces. Everything is visible on the set: there are no hidden cards or chance. A sacrificed pawn can sometimes force the other player to enter a combination of several shots.

The overall difficulty is difficult: the basic movements are short to learn, but the mandatory catches require the calculation of the answers. This chapter follows the international variant with 100 boxes of the FMJD. It should not be added to the rules of the English Ladies on 64 boxes: the pawns here take back and the ladies go through a whole free diagonal.

02Equipment

It takes a checker of 100 boxes alternating two colors, 20 light pawns and 20 dark pawns. The 50 dark boxes are the only ones used. Plan a few pawns captured to stack them on the rooms promoted: a lady usually recognizes herself to two superimposed pawns. A sheet is useful to note a part or count the strokes of a final; the pendulum is optional for this initiation.

The international numbering ranges from 1 to 50 on the dark squares. Looking from the clear camp, the row at the top door 1 to 5 and the row at the bottom 46 to 50. It facilitates examples: 32–28 indicates a move; 32×23 indicates a catch. Numbers are not necessary to play, but avoid confusing two boxes.

03The goal

You win if the opponent has no more coins or if, in turn, all his coins are blocked and no legal blow is possible. He can also give up. Having more pawns does not automatically give victory: a camp with few coins can get a null or prepare a decisive combination.

04Prepare the checker

Orient the checker so that the dark spot of the nearest corner is to the left of each player. Put the dark pawns on boxes 1 to 20, the light on 31 to 50. The two central rows, 21 to 30, remain free. The whites begin and each plays a turn-by-turn.

Check together the four rows occupied by each army. Choose a place where you can easily see the diagonals, without turning the checker during the game. If you use drawn coordinates, keep the same point of view for all diagrams.

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05Move, take and become a lady

Simple moving

A pawn moves from a diagonal square to the opposing camp, on a free square. It does not simply move backwards. A lady advances or moves backwards as many free squares as she wishes along a diagonal. She does not jump over a room to make a move without a plug.

Compulsory take-up

When a catch exists somewhere in your camp, you have to take it. A pawn jumps over an opposing room placed next to it diagonally and arrives on the free square immediately behind. To take it, it can go forward or backward. A lady can meet the opposing room remotely on her diagonal, pass over and stop on a free square behind it.

If the piece that has just taken can still take, the raffle continues with the same piece. It can change diagonally after a jump. Do not remove the captured pieces until the raffle is completed: during the journey, they remain obstacles. It is allowed to go back to an empty box, but not to jump twice the same piece or to cross one of its own pieces.

Choosing the right sweep

If there are several possibilities, you have to capture the largest number of coins. A lady and a pawn each count for a coin: taking a lady has no particular priority. If two raids take so many coins, you choose freely between them. So look for the whole suites before touching your first pawn.

Promotion

A pawn that ends its blow on the last row of the opponent becomes a lady. Place a second pawn of his color on it. He will use the lady's moves in his next turn, after the opposing answer. A pawn that crosses the promotion row during a raid but ends elsewhere remains pawn: one does not change his way of taking in the middle of the raid.

Play clearly

Moves and removes the pieces with one hand. Partly regulated, touching a playable play requires to play it legally. Announcement "j-doube" before re-focusing a play. To discover the game, you can decide before the game to fix the mistakes together, without applying the old custom of "blowed": removing a pawn who has forgotten a catch is not the international rule.

06An Explained Take

In an exercise position, place a white pawn in 32, a black pawn in 28 and leaves 23 free. White can take 32×23: the black pawn 28 is between the two boxes. If Black also has a room in 19 and 14 is free, White continues 23×14. The two black pieces are removed only after arrival in 14.

Now imagine a second white piece that could take a single pawn elsewhere. This shot is not allowed as long as the two-piece roundup is available. The rule requires the largest number captured, not the shortest route. Before making the drawing, check that all the finish boxes are free and that no other longer roundup exists in the complete position.

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07End of game and null

The disappearance or total blockage of a camp's parts makes it lose. If no player can force victory, they may agree to a null. The same position appearing for the third time with the same player on the line is also void.

The FMJD provides precise limits in the final: 25 successive shots per player with only women's moves, without pawning or taking, lead to the null. Three pieces comprising at least one lady against one lady alone give a maximum of 16 shots to each camp; one catch does not reset this counter to zero. Two ladies, one lady and one pawn, or one lady alone against one lady each give a maximum of five strokes. Within the limit of 16 strokes, one last shot that leaves the opponent without a coin or without displacement makes win before zero declaration. Note the shots to apply these limits correctly.

08Frequent errors

• Play on a clear box or turn the checker with the wrong corner.
• Refuse to take because she then exposes her play.
• Forget that the pawn can capture back.
• Choose to take a lady instead of a longer run.
• Remove the captured pieces too early and artificially open a diagonal.
• Turn a pawn into a lady in the middle of a round that ends elsewhere.

09Tips for starting

Before you play, inspect all the shots on both sides. Ask yourself what blow will be mandatory after you move. Combinations often arise from a given piece that forces an answer.

Keep your pieces close to each other: a formation can defend itself, while an isolated pawn easily offers a target. A lady is powerful, but does not replace the calculation. After the game, put back an interesting position and compare two possible suites, without trying to memorize many variants at once.