Russian draughts

Russian draughts

Russian draughts starting position
Genre(s) Board game
Abstract strategy game
Players 2
Setup time 10–60 seconds
Playing time

5 minutes for blitz

15 minutes for rapid

45 minutes for classic
Random chance None
Skill(s) required Strategy

Russian draughts (also known as Shashki or Russian shashki) is a variant of draughts (checkers) played in Russia and some parts of the former USSR, as well as parts of Eastern Europe and Israel.

Rules

As in all draughts variants, Russian draughts is played by two people, on opposite sides of a playing board, alternating moves. One player has dark pieces, and the other has light pieces. Pieces move diagonally and pieces of the opponent are captured by jumping over them.

The rules of this variant of draughts are:

Notation

Games and positions are recorded using a special notation – algebraic notation. The vertical columns of squares are labeled from a to h. The horizontal rows of squares are numbered 1 to 8 starting from White's side of the board. Thus each square of the board has a unique identification of file letter followed by rank number.

 1. e3-d4 d6-c5
 2. g3-f4?? c5:e3:g5
 3. ...
abcdefgh
8
b8 black circle
d8 black circle
f8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
c7 black circle
e7 black circle
g7 black circle
b6 black circle
d6 black circle
f6 black circle
h6 black circle
a3 white circle
c3 white circle
e3 white circle
g3 white circle
b2 white circle
d2 white circle
f2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
c1 white circle
e1 white circle
g1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Starting position. White move first.
abcdefgh
8
b8 black circle
d8 black circle
f8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
c7 black circle
e7 black circle
g7 black circle
b6 black circle
d6 black circle
f6 black circle
h6 black circle
d4 white circle
a3 white circle
c3 white circle
g3 white circle
b2 white circle
d2 white circle
f2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
c1 white circle
e1 white circle
g1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
After 1. e3-d4
abcdefgh
8
b8 black circle
d8 black circle
f8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
c7 black circle
e7 black circle
g7 black circle
b6 black circle
f6 black circle
h6 black circle
c5 black circle
d4 white circle
a3 white circle
c3 white circle
g3 white circle
b2 white circle
d2 white circle
f2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
c1 white circle
e1 white circle
g1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
After 1. e3-d4 d6-c5
abcdefgh
8
b8 black circle
d8 black circle
f8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
c7 black circle
e7 black circle
g7 black circle
b6 black circle
f6 black circle
h6 black circle
c5 black circle
d4 white circle
f4 white circle
a3 white circle
c3 white circle
b2 white circle
d2 white circle
f2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
c1 white circle
e1 white circle
g1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
After 2. g3-f4??
abcdefgh
8
b8 black circle
d8 black circle
f8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
c7 black circle
e7 black circle
g7 black circle
b6 black circle
f6 black circle
h6 black circle
g5 black circle
a3 white circle
c3 white circle
b2 white circle
d2 white circle
f2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
c1 white circle
e1 white circle
g1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
After c5:e3:g5

Sport

Official rules were printed in Russia in 1884. The first Russian championship was held in 1894. The following three took place in 1895, 1898 and 1901.

The first championship in the Soviet Union occurred in 1924. From 1924 to 1991 there were 51 men's championships and 35 women's. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, championships have been held in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and other Post-Soviet states.

The first world championship of Russian draughts occurred in 1993 as part of the World championship in draughts-64 (Russian and Brazilian variant — since 1985) under the auspices of the Section-64 World Draughts Federation. The European championship of Russian draughts is held as part of the European championship in draughts-64 (Russian and Brazilian), as well as at national championships.

Games based on main rules of Russian draughts

There are several variants of draughts games based on main rules of Russian draughts. Amongst the most popular ones is ″Poddavki″, where a player wins if he doesn't have any legal moves on his turn (either by giving up all of his checkers or having them being blocked). Another popular variant is called "Bashni" ("Towers"), where captured pieces are not removed from the game, but placed underneath the capturing piece, forming a "tower".

Another variant is played on a 10x8 board (2 additional columns, labelled 'i' and 'k'). There are official championships for shashki and its variants.

Another variant, invented Grandmaster Vladimir Vigman, exists in which each player have 24 pieces (two full set) — one on the white squares, second on the black. Each player play two game simultaneously: one game at white squares, other game at dark squares. Total result is sum results of both games.

Position in game Bashni. There are three light towers and one dark.
abcdefghij
8a8b8 black circlec8d8 black circlee8f8 black circleg8h8 black circlei8j8 black circle8
7a7 black circleb7c7 black circled7e7 black circlef7g7 black circleh7i7 black circlej77
6a6b6 black circlec6d6 black circlee6f6 black circleg6h6 black circlei6j6 black circle6
5a5b5c5d5e5f5g5h5i5j55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h4i4j44
3a3 white circleb3c3 white circled3e3 white circlef3g3 white circleh3i3 white circlej33
2a2b2 white circlec2d2 white circlee2f2 white circleg2h2 white circlei2j2 white circle2
1a1 white circleb1c1 white circled1e1 white circlef1g1 white circleh1i1 white circlej11
abcdefghij
80 square draughts
abcdefgh
8
a8 black circle
b8 black circle
c8 black circle
d8 black circle
e8 black circle
f8 black circle
g8 black circle
h8 black circle
a7 black circle
b7 black circle
c7 black circle
d7 black circle
e7 black circle
f7 black circle
g7 black circle
h7 black circle
a6 black circle
b6 black circle
c6 black circle
d6 black circle
e6 black circle
f6 black circle
g6 black circle
h6 black circle
a3 white circle
b3 white circle
c3 white circle
d3 white circle
e3 white circle
f3 white circle
g3 white circle
h3 white circle
a2 white circle
b2 white circle
c2 white circle
d2 white circle
e2 white circle
f2 white circle
g2 white circle
h2 white circle
a1 white circle
b1 white circle
c1 white circle
d1 white circle
e1 white circle
f1 white circle
g1 white circle
h1 white circle
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
The Vigman's draughts

See also

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