Play Draughts Online — Free, No Signup

What is draughts?

Draughts is a two-player board game of diagonal moves and jumped pieces, played on the 32 dark squares of an 8×8 board. Each player begins with twelve round pieces, called men, arranged on the three rows nearest them. Men slide one square diagonally forward, leap over enemy pieces to capture them, and earn a crown when they reach the far side of the board.

It is an old game with a long memory. Board-game historians place the European draughts family in the twelfth century, most likely beginning in France or Spain, and it has travelled everywhere since. In Britain, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth the game is draughts; in the United States the very same game goes by checkers. What you play on this page is English draughts, the traditional 8×8 version.

How this site works

Press Play Now and you are in a game. Nothing to download, nothing to sign, nobody asking for your email.

Against the computer

Three difficulty settings are on offer. Easy suits a first game or a young opponent. Medium puts up a proper fight. Hard searches far enough ahead to punish a careless move, so bring a plan. You can take either colour; Black opens the game, as the laws require, and the computer does its thinking quietly in the background while the page stays responsive.

Two players, one screen

Prefer a human opponent across the table? Choose 2 Players and share the device. The board tracks whose turn it is, applies the compulsory-capture rule for both of you, and settles any argument about whether that jump really was forced. It was.

Undo, hints and resuming

The Undo button takes back a move when an experiment goes wrong, and the Hint button points out a strong reply when you are stuck. Close the tab mid-game and the position is waiting when you return, saved on your own device rather than on a server.

Play offline

Draughts Online is an installable web app. Load it once and it keeps working on the train, in the garden, or anywhere else the signal gives up. Look for Install or Add to Home Screen in your browser menu.

The rules in brief

• Black moves first, and the players then alternate.
• Men move one square diagonally forward, always on dark squares.
• To capture, jump over an adjacent enemy piece into the empty square beyond. Capturing is compulsory.
• If the same piece can jump again straight away, it must keep jumping in the same turn.
• A man reaching the far row is crowned a king, which moves one square diagonally in any direction.
• You win by taking every enemy piece or leaving your opponent with no legal move.

That is enough to start playing. For the complete laws, including exactly how draws are decided, read the rules of draughts.

A very British name

The word trips up almost everyone who first meets it in print. It is said "drafts": the gh fell silent centuries ago, the same way it did in laugh. If you have ever wondered why the odd spelling survived, or why half the world says checkers instead, our page on how to pronounce draughts settles it in a couple of minutes.

Fancy a live opponent?

The computer never tires, but it never gloats either, and half the pleasure of draughts is the company. When you want a real person on the other side of the board, play draughts online against real opponents at Checkers Online, our sister site. It also hosts the wider family of variants, from Spanish and Russian draughts up to the 10×10 International game.

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce "draughts"?

Say "drafts", rhyming with rafts. The gh is silent, just as it is in laugh. Our short guide to draughts pronunciation covers the spelling, the history and what the word actually means.

Is draughts the same as checkers?

Yes. Draughts and checkers are two names for one game: draughts in Britain, Ireland and much of the Commonwealth, checkers in North America. The board, the pieces and the moves are identical.

Do you have to take a piece in draughts?

You do. Capturing is compulsory: whenever a jump is open to you, you must play one. If several jumps are available you may choose whichever suits your plan. The full rules of draughts explain captures step by step.

Can two people play on one device?

Yes. Pick "2 Players" on the setup screen, pass the phone, tablet or laptop across the table, and the game keeps track of whose turn it is.

Can I play draughts online against other people?

Not on this site: here you face the computer or a friend sitting beside you. For live opponents, head to Checkers Online, where you can play draughts against real people.

Do I need an account, and does it cost anything?

No account and no charge. The game is ready the moment the page loads. Your unfinished game and your win record are stored on your own device, never on a server.

Does the game work offline?

Yes. Once the site has loaded, the game carries on working without a connection, and you can install it like an app from your browser menu.