Dama — Turkish Draughts Online Against a Real Opponent (2026)

Dama is Turkish draughts online in Telegram, played one against one for Stars or as a Spark round. Every square of the 8×8 board is in play: men step forward or sideways, kings fly along rows and columns, and if you can capture you must take the most pieces you can. Take all 16 of your opponent's men, or leave them with no move, and the pot is yours: 1.90× your stake. Dama is coming soon to Gift Club: the tile is already in the Games hub, and challenges open when it goes live.

How to play Dama

1. 1
   Find Dama in the Games hubLaunch Gift Club inside Telegram and open Games. Dama sits in the Play with Friends row; until launch its tile is marked coming soon.
2. 2
   Pick a stake and an opponentStake 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 or 100 Stars, or play a Spark round. Both players stake the same. Send the challenge link to a friend in any Telegram chat, or play the bot at once: it plays Spark rounds only.
3. 3
   Move a man forward or sidewaysTap a piece, then the square it goes to. A man steps one square forward or sideways, never back and never diagonally. You have 20 seconds a move.
4. 4
   Capture the most you canJump an enemy piece beside you onto the empty square behind it, and keep jumping while you can. Capturing is a must, and you have to take the line that captures the most pieces.
5. 5
   Crown a king and finish the boardA man that reaches the far row becomes a king and moves any distance along a row or a column. Take every enemy piece, or leave your opponent with no move, to win.

Dama payouts

How the pot pays outBoard and match rules

Your stake	Pot	Winner collects	Effective multiplier
1	2	1 or 2	1.90× on average
5	10	9 or 10	1.90× on average
10	20	19	1.90×
20	40	38	1.90×
50	100	95	1.90×
100	200	190	1.90×

Dama pros and cons

What is Turkish draughts?

Turkish draughts (Türk daması, or simply dama) is the draughts of Turkey, Greece and much of the Middle East. Unlike checkers it uses every square of the board and no diagonals at all. Each side starts with 16 men on two full rows, one row in from its own edge, and the first row stays empty. Men move one square forward or sideways; kings move any distance along a row or a column. Who plays white, and so moves first, is drawn when the match starts.

If you know Russian or English draughts, three rules change the game:

• The maximum capture is a must. When several captures are open, you must play the line that takes the most pieces. A king and a man count the same.
• Pieces come off as you jump them. So a long capture can cross the same square twice, but a king never turns straight back along the line it just jumped.
• No backward moves for men. Not to step and not to capture. A man that reaches the far row in the middle of a capture goes on jumping as a man and is crowned when the move ends.

How do you win at dama?

You win when your opponent has no piece left or no legal move. A player who runs out of time three moves in a row, or resigns, loses the match too. The board decides a draw in three cases: 25 moves each with no capture and no man stepping forward, the same position for the third time with the same side to move, or one king each when the side to move cannot take. If a game reaches 150 moves in all, material decides it: a man counts 1 and a king 3, and the side with more wins. Level material is a draw.

Playing Turkish draughts well

1. Count the longest capture first. Before every move, check what your opponent must take after it. The maximum rule forces their hand, and a sacrifice that steers them into a short capture can open a long one for you.
2. Keep your rows tight. A man with a friend behind it on the same column cannot be jumped from the front. Gaps in a row are where captures start.
3. Get the first king. A flying king on an open board controls a whole row and column at once. Opening a file for one of your men is often worth a piece.
4. Watch the sideways step. Men also move sideways, so a piece that looks stuck can slide out of a threat, and one of yours can slide into an enemy jump.
5. When ahead, trade. With one piece more, every exchange makes your extra piece count for more, and the move-limit count favours material.

Want to practise first? Our free checkers online board plays Turkish rules against the computer, among six other rule sets.

The clock and missed moves

Each move has a 20-second clock. Let it run out and a move is played for you, and it is a weak one on purpose, so a lapse is never better than playing. The first and second lapses in a row are forgiven that way; the third in a row loses the match. Only a move you make yourself resets the count. Resign takes two taps, so you cannot give up a game by accident.

Stakes, the pot and draws

Both players stake the same: 1 to 100 Stars, or a Spark round. The winner of a Stars match takes both stakes less a 5% rake, which is 1.90× their own stake at every tier: 19 Stars at 10, 190 at 100. A draw is the one result where nobody pays: both stakes come back in full, with no rake, and each player gets 1 XP.

A Stars match pays both players XP equal to the stake, win or lose. A Spark round pays 1 XP to each side. The bot plays Spark rounds only, so it is the place to learn the rules; a Stars match is always against a friend you challenge with a link, which stays open for 10 minutes. Online games for money explains why a flat rake leaves the better player their edge.

Dama or another duel?

• Prefer diagonals and backward captures: Checkers, Russian draughts on the same backend.
• Want a game of skill that finishes faster: Sea Battle.
• Want dice in the mix: PvP Ludo.

Dama FAQ