Dama Linda — Checkers and draughts: how the game is | damalinda.com
Orient the board on its dark squares, place 12 men per side on rows 2 and 3, agree who opens, and choose a first move from the front row.
Everything in checkers starts from the dark squares. An 8×8 board has 64 squares, 32 of them dark, and the game is played only on those 32. Before placing pieces, set the board so that both armies will sit on dark squares — if the men land on light squares, the board needs a quarter-turn.
Count out 12 men per side. Each player fills the dark squares of rows 2 and 3 on their own half, in the row numbering this guide uses, so the two armies together occupy 24 of the 32 dark squares. The 8 dark squares left empty between the armies are the corridor where the opening is fought.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Decide who opens before the first move is made. Casual players usually alternate the honour from game to game; what matters is that both sides agree, because the first move shapes the whole opening structure.
Only the front row can move at first — the men behind it are blocked. Three opening ideas follow directly from that setup: step an edge man forward, which offers a single diagonal option and keeps a man on the sheltered side of the board; step an inner man toward the centre, which contests the middle squares but opens two directions of reply; or mirror your opponent's first step, keeping the armies symmetrical until the first capture appears.
If you are playing the international game, scale everything up: a 10×10 board of 100 squares, 50 of them dark, and 20 men per side filling 40 of those dark squares at the start. The variants page compares all four rule sets side by side, and the capture rules page explains what happens the moment the first jump appears.
Further reading