Checkers — Russian Draughts Online Against a Real Opponent (2026)

Checkers in Gift Club is Russian checkers online in Telegram, played one against one for Stars or as a Spark round. It is draughts on the dark squares of an 8×8 board with 12 men each, but not the English game: men capture backwards as well as forwards, and a king flies any distance along a diagonal. Take all your opponent's pieces, or leave them with no move, and the pot is yours: 1.90× your stake. Checkers is coming soon to Gift Club: the tile is already in the Games hub, and challenges open when it goes live.

How to play Checkers

1. 1
   Find Checkers in the Games hubLaunch Gift Club inside Telegram and open Games. Checkers 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 diagonally forwardTap a piece, then the square it goes to. A man steps one square diagonally forward on the dark squares. You have 20 seconds a move.
4. 4
   Capture forwards or backwardsJump an enemy piece on the diagonal onto the empty square behind it, forwards or backwards, and keep jumping while you can. Capturing is a must, but any capture will do, not only the longest.
5. 5
   Crown a flying king and finish the boardA man that reaches the far row becomes a king and moves any distance along a diagonal. Take every enemy piece, or leave your opponent with no move, to win.

Checkers 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×

Checkers pros and cons

What are Russian checkers?

Russian checkers, or Russian draughts (русские шашки), is the draughts played across russia, Ukraine and the countries around them. The board and the start look like English checkers: an 8×8 board, play on the dark squares, 12 men each on the three rows nearest you, white moves first. Who plays white is drawn when the match starts. Three rules make it a different game:

• Kings fly. A king moves and captures any distance along a diagonal, so a single king can cross the board in one move.
• Men capture backwards. A man still only steps forward, but it jumps in all four diagonal directions.
• A man crowned in a capture jumps on as a king. If a capture reaches the far row and the new king can take again, it carries on in the same move.

Capturing is a must, but unlike Turkish or international draughts you may choose any capture, not only the longest. Once you start one you play it to its end, and the taken pieces come off after the move, so none can be jumped twice.

How do you win at Russian checkers?

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 Russian checkers well

1. Look backwards too. Your men can be taken from behind, and so can theirs. A piece that has run ahead alone is a target from both sides.
2. Hold the long diagonal. The diagonal from corner to corner is the main road for kings. A king on it is hard to trap and hits half the board.
3. Use the free choice of capture. When two captures are open, the shorter one can be better if it leaves your piece safe. Your opponent has the same choice, so check every capture you offer them.
4. Keep the back row as long as you can. While your first row is home, an enemy man has nowhere to crown.
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 Russian 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.

Checkers or another duel?

• Want every square in play: Dama, Turkish draughts on the same backend.
• Want a game of skill that finishes faster: Sea Battle.
• Want dice in the mix: PvP Ludo.

Checkers FAQ