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Strategy
The rules tell you how to move, but not where. For that, players have general ideas that travel from game to game: the fight for the centre, tempo, a favourable exchange, a well-timed sacrifice, weak points and the skill of playing out the end of a game. Below they are described in plain words, without analysing specific positions. Try to spot them in your own games — and the board will start to look different.
A strong move is rarely the loudest one. More often it simply leaves your opponent no comfortable replies.
How this section works: the ideas are general and suit most games in the catalogue. Each game expresses them in its own way, so test them in practice.
The basics worth coming back to after every game.
Pieces in the middle of the board influence more directions than pieces at the edge. In draughts the centre gives room to manoeuvre; Go is different: territory is easier to enclose along the edges and in the corners, so the fight for the centre comes later.
Tempo is time measured in moves. A move your opponent has to answer keeps the initiative with you, while an aimless move hands it to your opponent. Before every move, ask yourself what it changes on the board.
Giving up a piece for one of your opponent's pays off when your position becomes simpler or more solid afterwards. If you are ahead, exchanges bring victory closer; if you are behind, it is better to keep the tension.
Sometimes a piece is given away on purpose — for a breakthrough, a tempo or a better position. In draughts a sacrifice can be especially effective because capturing is compulsory: your opponent must take, even when it does them no good.
A square or point you cannot defend becomes a foothold for your opponent. In reversi it is dangerous to give up squares that let them reach the edge, and in nine men's morris the point where they can complete a mill.
The end of the game, when few pieces are left and every move weighs more. Precise calculation counts here: in draughts, who will crown a king first; in Go, how much territory each side will keep; in reversi, who will end up with more discs.
After your opponent's move, ask yourself why they played it: what are they threatening to capture, surround or occupy?
Check whether there is a move the rules require you to make, such as a capture in draughts, or a move you must not miss.
Pick a few possible moves and, for each one, work out your opponent's most unpleasant reply.
Before you let go of a piece, look at the board from the other side: are you leaving them an easy target?
Your first game of draughts step by step, from setting up to reviewing the game. Plus the catalogue of our articles.
Glossary: king, capture, liberties, komi, territory, eye, mill, sowing, draw, endgame, tempo and exchange.
How to choose a game for your group: age, game length, depth, how easy it is to learn and whether you need a set.
Why one game can have several sets of rules and how to agree on them before the first move.
We describe the rules in general terms. Clubs, families and different rulebooks have their own variations, so before a serious game check the rules you agreed on at the board.