Play Spanish Checkers

How to Play Spanish Checkers

Spanish Checkers (Damas) is played on an 8×8 board with 12 pieces per side. White moves first. It is one of the oldest documented forms of the game: the first known book on checkers anywhere was written by Antonio de Torquemada in Valencia in 1547, and the game is still played across Spain, Latin America, and North Africa.

Rules

• Men move and capture diagonally forward only — no backward captures
• Capturing is mandatory, and you must take the line that captures the most pieces
• When two capture lines take the same number of pieces, you must take the one that captures more kings
• A man that reaches the far row mid-capture stops there and crowns
• Kings are "flying" — they move and capture any distance along a diagonal
• The board is mirrored: the double corner sits on each player's left

Winning

Capture all opponent pieces, or leave them with no legal moves.

You can also play against a real opponent: hit Play Online to be paired with another player, or create a private game and share the link or code with a friend. No account needed.

Spanish Checkers is one of the oldest rulebooks in the family — see how it differs from the American Checkers most players know, and where it fits, in our guide to all the checkers variants you can play here.

Want to get better? Read our Spanish Checkers strategy guide, or browse every strategy lesson.