Dama is the italian 8x8 variant of Draughts. It bears testimony to the idea that Italians either prefer 'complicated' to 'simple' or cannot distinguish between 'complicated' and 'complex', and in either case are obsessed with hierarchy.
Checkers is simple and complex. Italian Draughts is complicated and complex. There's nothing gained except the loss of simplicity.

Rules The diagram shows the board and the pieces in initial position. Note that the main diagonal runs bottom-right to top-left. There are two players, red and white. White begins. Players move - and must move - in turn. Movement Capture has precedence over a non-capturing move. If the player to move has no capture to make, he has the following options: Moving a man Moving a king A king is a promoted man.

A man moves one square diagonally forwards, provided the target square is vacant. If a man thus reaches the back rank, it promotes to king. A king moves one square diagonally forwards or backwards.

Capture
Capture is compulsory. Men may capture forwards only, kings may capture both forwards and backwards.

• If a man is on a particular line, and next to it on that line is a square occupied by an opponent's man, then the man captures the opponent's man by jumping over it to the square immediately beyond, which must be vacant for the capture to take place. If the man can proceed in a similar way in the same or the perpendicular direction, it must do so. A man may not capture a king.
• If a man in a capture reaches the back rank, the move ends there and the man is promoted to king.
• A king is an omni-directional man. It moves and captures like a man, but both forwards and backwards and both men and kings. It is subject to the same completion rule: if it can proceed in the same or a perpendicular direction, it must do so.
• A multiple capture must be completed before the captured pieces are removed from the board.
• A king making a multiple capture may visit a square more than once, but a piece may not be jumped more than once.

Priorities of capture.

• If there is more than one way to capture, a player must choose a sequence of jumps which results in the capture of the greatest possible number of opposing pieces, men and kings each counting as one piece.
• If there is more than one way to capture the greatest possible number of opposing pieces, the capture must be made with a king, if possible, rather than with a single man.
• If there is more than one way to capure the greatest possible number of pieces with a king, the most kings must be captured.
• If there is more than one way to include the greatest possible number of kings in a capture, a capture which results in a king being captured earliest in the sequence of jumps must be chosen.
• If that still leaves the player a choice, he is free to choose.

Object
If a player has no legal move he loses the game. This may come about either by being eliminated or being blocked completely. Draws may occur by mutual agreement or 3-fold.

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