Is Draughts the Same as Checkers? Names and Rules Explained

Yes. Draughts and checkers are the same game under two names. The 8×8 game Americans call checkers is the game the British call draughts, with the same board, the same rules and 12 pieces a side. But “draughts” also names other games in the wider family, above all International draughts on a 10×10 board, and those play differently.

So the full answer depends on which draughts someone means. In Britain and America it means the 8×8 game.

Is draughts the same game as checkers?

For the 8×8 game, completely. BoardGameGeek files it under one entry, “American Checkers / English Draughts”, and lists Checkers, Draughts and British Draughts as its names. Sultan Ratrout’s guide to draughts variants, hosted by the world draughts federation, does the same, with one row for “American/British (Checkers/Draughts)”. The game’s governing bodies include both the American Checker Federation and the English Draughts Association.

We see it from the inside, too. We build the engine that runs this site, and it has one rule set for this game, not two. Our English draughts page and our checkers page load exactly the same rules. Only the name on the page changes.

The famous computer proof treats them as one game as well. When Jonathan Schaeffer’s team at the University of Alberta showed in 2007 that perfect play ends in a draw, the one proof covered the 8×8 game played under English and American rules.

What is checkers called in England?

Draughts. The full name is English draughts, and you’ll also see British draughts. Nothing about the game changes when it crosses the Atlantic. A British draughts set and an American checkers set are the same board and the same 24 men, and Black moves first in both. You can read the complete rules on our American checkers rules page. They’re the English draughts rules too.

Starting position for checkers, also called English draughts: 12 white men on rows 1 to 3 and 12 black men on rows 6 to 8. — One starting position, two names. Americans set this up and call it checkers. In Britain the same 24 men on the same board are a game of draughts.

Does checkers have any other names?

A few. Besides draughts, English draughts and British draughts, the 8×8 game is sometimes called straight checkers. Don’t confuse it with pool checkers, a different game on the same board with flying kings.

When “draughts” means a different game

Outside Britain and America, “draughts” is often just the English word for the whole family. According to BoardGameGeek, the family settled into about three dozen fixed rule sets, roughly one per country or region. Plenty of them go by “draughts” in English, and most aren’t the game an American would call checkers.

The biggest is International draughts, which BoardGameGeek calls “the most widely played Checkers game”.

Here’s how the main games in the family compare. The rule columns match the settings our engine plays each game with.

Game	Other names	Board	Men each	Flying kings	Men capture backward	Must take the most pieces	Moves first
American checkers	English draughts, British draughts, straight checkers	8×8	12	No	No	No	Black
International draughts	Polish draughts, Continental draughts	10×10	20	Yes	Yes	Yes	White
Russian checkers	Shashki, Draughts-64	8×8	12	Yes	Yes	No	White
Brazilian draughts	Jogo de Damas	8×8	12	Yes	Yes	Yes	White
Spanish checkers	Spanish draughts, Dama Española	8×8	12	Yes	No	Yes	White
Turkish checkers	Turkish draughts, Türk daması	8×8, all 64 squares	16	Yes	No	Yes	White
Canadian checkers	Jeu de Dames Canadien	12×12	30	Yes	Yes	Yes	White

A flying king moves any distance along an open diagonal, like a bishop in chess. In American checkers and English draughts a king still moves one square at a time.

Only the first row is the game the English and American names refer to. Everything below it is a separate game, even where the board looks identical. Russian, Brazilian and Spanish use the same 8×8 board and the same 12 men, and all three give the king the power to fly.

In Friesland, in the Netherlands, the local game is Frisian draughts, and standard draughts has a nickname of its own there: “Oer Hoek”, meaning over corners.

What is the difference between draughts and checkers?

When both words mean the 8×8 game, there isn’t one. The only real differences show up when “draughts” means International draughts. That game is bigger, with 100 squares and 20 men a side. Its kings fly, its men can capture backward, you must take the largest capture on offer, and White moves first.

We compare those two rule by rule in American checkers vs International draughts.

Is International draughts the same as checkers?

No. It’s in the same family and it isn’t the same game. A good checkers player sitting down to International draughts has to relearn a lot. The board is wider, there are more pieces to track, and forced capture works differently when you must take the sequence that wins the most pieces. A single flying king can control a whole diagonal from across the board.

English draughts on an 8×8 board with 12 men a side, next to International draughts on a 10×10 board with 20 men a side. — Both called draughts, drawn to the same scale. English draughts on the left has 64 squares and 24 men. International draughts on the right has 100 squares and 40 men.

That’s why the 10×10 game gets its own name. Saying International draughts, not just draughts, makes sure nobody sets up the wrong board.

Which name should you use?

Use whichever one the person across the board uses. In the US it’s checkers. In Britain it’s draughts. If you mean the 10×10 game, say International draughts.

And if you’re curious how far the family goes, we have 14 draughts variants on this site, from Italian to Turkish. The checkers variants guide lays out how each one differs. For where the game came from, see the origins of draughts and the history of checkers.

You can play English draughts right now against the computer or a friend. It’s the same game as checkers, whichever name you prefer.

Sources:

BoardGameGeek: Checkers family wiki and American Checkers / English Draughts: alternate names, governing bodies, number of rule sets, International draughts as the most widely played, Frisian “Oer Hoek”
Sultan Ratrout, A Guide to Checkers Families and Rules (2018), p. 18: “American/British (Checkers/Draughts)”, also called straight checkers
Schaeffer, J. et al., “Checkers Is Solved”, Science 317 (2007): the 2007 proof for the 8×8 English and American game
Mats Winther: checkers variants: the Draughts-64 name for Russian checkers