Turkish Checkers (Dama)

How to play Turkish Checkers (Dama)?

Turkish Checkers (Dama) is a time-honoured brain game in which pieces move straight (forward, left and right) instead of diagonally and capturing is mandatory. The Turkish Checkers on Oyun Treni follows the official Turkish Draughts Rules (v3) of the Turkish Draughts Federation (TÜDAF) and uses the same rules engine as our Turkish Checkers mobile app. Play the computer at three levels (Easy, Medium and Hard), a friend on the same device, or a friend online.

1. Each player has 16 pieces, set up on the second and third rows. Pieces move one square forward, left or right - never diagonally and never backwards.
2. If the square right behind an opponent's piece is empty, you jump over it and capture it. A captured piece leaves the board immediately.
3. Capturing is mandatory. If there are several capture routes you must play the one that takes the most pieces (any of them if tied). In a multiple capture you cannot turn back on the same line (no 180° turn).
4. A piece reaching the last row becomes a King ("Dama"). If it reaches the last row during a capture, it continues the chain as an ordinary piece and is crowned only when the move ends.
5. The King flies: it moves any number of empty squares forward, backward, left or right, and can jump over an opponent's piece to any empty square behind it.
6. You win by capturing all opponent pieces or leaving the opponent with no legal move. The game is drawn if each side has one piece left (man or king), if the same position occurs three times, or if 40 moves pass without a capture or a man move.

Turkish Checkers (Dama) strategy tips

• If there are several capture routes you must take the one that captures the most pieces; use this rule to force your opponent into a capture you have prepared as a trap.
• Move your pieces not one by one, but in groups that protect each other; The stone left alone is easily eaten.
• Use the compulsion to eat as a weapon: you can "gift" a piece to the opponent and get two or three pieces in return.
• To remove checkers, it is safer to proceed from the edges; The pieces in the middle are open to attack from all directions.
• Remember that a checker controls long lines: do not line up your pieces while your opponent has checkers.

Turkish Checkers (Dama) history

In Türkiye the official rules of the game are set by the Turkish Draughts Federation (TÜDAF). Turkish Checkers on Oyun Treni is based on the Turkish Draughts Rules (v3) published by the federation and runs on the same rules engine as our Turkish Checkers mobile app.

Turkish Checkers is a type of checkers widely played in Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. This game, which has been loved for generations from coffeehouses to family tables, is often referred to simply as "checkers" in Türkiye.

The most important difference from other types of checkers in the world is that the pieces move straight (forward and sideways) rather than diagonally and all squares of the 8x8 board are used. Flying checkers and the "obligation to eat the most tiles" add a deep tactical dimension to the game.

Other names: Checkers, Turkish checkers, Turkish drafts, checkers game