Brazilian Checkers Rules & Strategy (Damas Brasileiras 8×8)

What is Brazilian Checkers (Damas Brasileiras)?

Brazilian Checkers (known in Portuguese as Jogo de Damas Brasileiras or Damas de 64 Casas) is one of the fastest-growing competitive draughts variants in the world, governed internationally by the World Draughts Federation (FMJD Section-64). In simple terms, Brazilian Checkers combines the compact 8×8 board (12 pieces per side) of American Checkers with the explosive tactical rules of 10×10 International Draughts.

You can analyze any Brazilian Damas game on our Brazilian Checkers AI Solver (Jogo de Damas) or play live matches against 24 AI bots at Play Brazilian Checkers Online.

The 4 Core Rules of Brazilian Checkers (8×8)

1. Backward Captures by Regular Men (Captura para Trás)

In standard American/English checkers, an uncrowned pawn (pedra) can only move and jump forward. In Brazilian Checkers, regular men still move 1 square diagonally forward on non-capturing turns, but they can jump and capture enemy pieces both forward and backward! Multi-jump sequences frequently zigzag forward and backward across the board in a single turn.

2. Flying Kings (Dama Voadora)

When a piece reaches the far back rank and ends its move there, it is crowned a Flying King (Dama Voadora). Unlike the short-stepping American King (which moves only 1 square), a Brazilian Flying King slides any number of unoccupied squares forward or backward along a diagonal—just like a Bishop in chess—and can jump over an enemy piece from several squares away, landing on any empty square beyond it along the same diagonal (provided no other capture continuation is missed).

3. The Maximum Capture Rule (Lei da Maioria)

Capturing is strictly mandatory in Brazilian Checkers, and if you have more than one way to capture, you must obey the Maximum Capture Rule (Lei da Maioria):

• If one piece can capture 2 enemy pieces and another piece (or path) can capture 3 enemy pieces, you are legally required to play the 3-piece capture—even if the 2-piece capture would have won a King or suited your position better!
• Men and Kings count equally (1 piece each) when counting the maximum number of captured pieces.

4. No Mid-Jump Promotion (Touch-and-Go Rule)

This is the #1 rule that surprises Russian Shashki players: in Brazilian Checkers, a pawn only promotes to a King if it stops on the 8th rank at the end of its turn. If a pawn lands on the back rank in the middle of a multi-jump sequence and immediately jumps backward off the back rank to capture another piece, it remains a regular pawn at the end of the turn.

Comparison Table: American vs Russian Shashki vs Brazilian Damas

3 Winning Strategy Tips for Brazilian Checkers (Damas)

1. Exploit the Maximum Capture Rule (Golpes de Maioria): Because your opponent is forced to take the path that captures the most pieces, you can sacrifice two pawns in one direction to force their defending piece away from the main diagonal—unleashing a 4-piece combination (balão or golpe) on the next move!
2. Guard the Great Diagonal (Grande Diagonal): The longest 8-square dark diagonal running from corner to corner is the highway of Brazilian Damas. A single Flying King controlling the Great Diagonal can paralyze three enemy pawns simultaneously.
3. Calculate Backward Jump Rebounds: Never assume a piece behind your frontline is "safe." Because enemy pawns can jump backward, any empty square behind your advanced pieces can serve as a springboard for a multi-directional tactical shot.