Rules

Frisian draughts is played on the same board as International draughts, and uses the same rules for moving the pieces. The following additional rules apply:

• Besides capturing diagonally, a player can also capture horizontally and vertically. Every piece can thus capture in eight directions.

• When faced with a choice in capturing, a player always has to play the capture sequence with the highest value. There is a difference in the value of the pieces. A king is worth 199, whereas a man is worth 100. For example, white has to take the man and king in the diagram below, as this sequence has a higher value than two men.

• If a king and a man can play a capture sequence of equal value, a player is always forced to play with the king.
• If a player has one or more kings on the board but also has one or more men left, they are not allowed to play more than three non-capturing moves in a row with the same king. If no capture is available for a king after its third non-capturing move, they are forced to play with a different king or a man. After that move, the player can play any move with that king again, resetting this rule. This rule does not apply for a player that has no more men left (only kings on the board).

Drawing

There is no draw by threefold repetition in Frisian draughts. The only drawing rules apply when there are only kings left, with three pieces or less on the board:

• When one player has two kings and the other player has one king, the game is drawn after both players have made 7 moves.
• When both players have one king left, the game is drawn after both players have made 2 moves. The official rules state that the game is drawn immediately when two kings are left unless either player can win by force (which means the other king can be captured immediately or will necessarily be captured next move). As we currently can't distinguish the positions that win by force on PlayStrategy, this rule is implemented by always allowing 2 more moves to win the game.