About the Draughts Terminology Project

Purpose

The Draughts Terminology Project is an initiative by Alexander Presman, under the leadership of the World Draughts Federation (FMJD), to standardise and translate draughts and checkers terminology across languages. The goal is clear communication among players, officials and enthusiasts from different linguistic backgrounds.

Background

Draughts — also called checkers in some regions — is played worldwide under various rule sets and regional variations: international draughts on 10×10, Brazilian and Russian draughts on 8×8, English draughts, Turkish draughts, Frisian draughts and others. That diversity has produced a rich but sometimes confusing array of terms for game elements, moves and concepts.

This glossary covers draughts terminology across those variants, not one code alone. Where a term belongs to a particular variant, or means different things in different ones, that distinction matters and is worth recording.

The project began in 2025 as a collaborative effort to compile, standardise and translate the terminology used in draughts.

The entries

Each entry is a single concept. Every language — English and Dutch included — is recorded as a translation of that concept, so no one language is treated as the original.

A translation marked confirmed has been checked by an editor for that language. Entries awaiting confirmation are shown with a small marker.

How to use it

Choose which languages to show as columns
Filter alphabetically, or search across every language at once
Suggest new terms, translations or corrections

Contributing

Anyone may suggest a term, propose a correction from any term's page, or get in touch. Suggestions are reviewed before they appear. See the credits for the people and sources behind the collection.

Languages

Future plans

More languages, detailed explanations and diagrams for complex terms, and further resources for draughts education and communication.