If checkers has a "serious" version, this is it. International draughts — Polish draughts — is the game contested at world championships and governed by the World Draughts Federation. It's the deepest mainstream form of the game, and it's the parent ruleset that Brazilian and Canadian checkers also use. Learn it here and you've learned the whole international family.
Why international draughts is the competitive standard
The combination of a large 10×10 board, backward-capturing men, and long-range flying kings produces a game with vastly more strategic depth than 8×8 American checkers — enough to sustain a global competitive scene with national federations, ranked players, and world title matches. When serious players say "draughts," this is almost always the game they mean.
The international ruleset (the canonical rundown)
These are the rules shared by the whole international family (International, Brazilian, Canadian). Three of them are the big departures from American checkers:
- Backward captures. Men capture both forward and backward (they still only move forward when not capturing). The whole board is live with threats.
- Flying kings. A king slides any number of empty squares along a diagonal and captures an enemy piece from a distance, landing on any empty square beyond it. One promotion can dominate the board.
- Maximum capture (the majority rule). When several captures are available, you must take the one that wins the most pieces. You don't get to choose a smaller, safer capture.
Plus the universals: capture is mandatory; multi-jumps are mandatory and chain; you never jump your own pieces; a man promotes only if it ends its move on the last row (passing through during a capture doesn't crown it); win by capturing everything or leaving the opponent no move.
How the 10×10 board changes the game
Twenty pieces a side on a hundred-square board means more space, longer games, and far longer forced sequences. The maximum-capture rule turns those sequences into the heart of play — a single offered piece can trigger a chain that wins four or five at once, so calculation runs deep. Where American checkers is sharp and quick, international draughts is positional and grinding, rewarding players who can see long combinations and steer toward favorable forced lines.
What strong international play looks like
Control of the center and "tempo" matter even more on the big board; you maneuver to force your opponent into the unfavorable side of a maximum capture. Flying kings are the prize — promote one and its full-diagonal reach can pin and pick off a whole wing. And because men capture backward, you defend in every direction at once, so loose, unsupported advances get punished hard.
Who plays it?
International draughts dominates competitive play across the Netherlands, France, the former Soviet states, and parts of Africa, and it's the discipline of the World Draughts Federation (FMJD). If you want the version with the richest theory and the strongest field, this is your game.
Play international draughts
Play the full 10×10 game here against the computer, with backward captures, flying kings, and maximum capture all enforced automatically. Coming from the 8×8 game? You'll feel the extra depth immediately. For the same ruleset on smaller and larger boards, see Brazilian checkers (8×8) and Canadian checkers (12×12). All variants.