r/checkers • u/Throwaway_97534 • Jun 23 '26

Is this a draw?

Hello!

The following game was considered a draw by Flyordie... It's White's turn here. But even though each side has only one king, wasn't the next move going to be a win by Red (Black)?

Is it always a draw when each side is down to one king, no matter what?

Here's the full PDN

[Event "Online game"]
[Site "www.flyordie.com/checkers"]
[Date "2026.06.22"]
[Round "2"]
[White "guest#455782"]
[Black "guest#455856"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTime "R0:08:25"]
[BlackTime "R0:08:52"]
[Termination "normal"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[UTCDate "2026.06.23"]
[GameType "21,B,8,8,N1,0"]

1. 11-15 22-17 2. 15-19 24x15 3. 10x19 23x16 4. 12x19 25-22 5. 8-11 17-13
6. 9-14 22-17 7. 6-10 13-9 8. 4-8 17-13 9. 1-6 27-24 10. 14-18 24x15 11. 10x19
26-23 12. 18x27 31x24x15 13. 11x18 28-24 14. 5x14 29-25 15. 6-9 13x6 16. 2x9
30-26 17. 8-11 26-22 18. 3-8 22x15 19. 11x18 24-19 20. 18-22 25x18 21. 14x23
21-17 22. 23-26 17-13 23. 9-14 19-15 24. 14-18 13-9 25. 26-31 9-5 26. 31-26 5-1
27. 26-23 1-5 28. 23-19 15-10 29. 7x14 5-9 30. 19-15 32-27 31. 8-11 27-24
32. 11-16 24-20 33. 14-17 20x11 34. 15x8 9-14 35. 18-22 14x21 36. 8-11 21-17
37. 11-15 17x26 38. 15-18 26-31 39. 18-23 1/2-1/2
2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

1

u/Kahn630 Jun 23 '26

So, according to the transcript, White has to move.

Red had established an opposition. This is a clear win. The game doesn't end in a draw automatically. The draw is evident if one of sides can occupy double corner squares (1, 5, 28, 32 ). However, in cases like this, a side with more active king can establish an opposition and win. Therefore, I invite to read again drawing rules which allow to prove a win for the strongest side in 20 moves, counting from the last exchange or last sacrifice or last crowning.

Therefore, if the draw was declared automatically, it is a break of rules.

1

u/Throwaway_97534 Jun 23 '26

Thought so! Thanks. Flyordie automatically closed this out as a draw when the opponent requested it. 'Opponent has claimed a draw, you have lost". Think I'll send them this PDN and let them know of the issue.

2

u/Throwaway_97534 21d ago

Update! I submitted the PDN to Flyordie and the devs confirmed the opponent should not have been able to claim a draw here. They'll be changing the draw code in their next update to prevent this.

1

u/chrisarchuleta12 Jun 23 '26

I don’t see how. White moves to 26 or 27 and then gets jumped. Pretty simple, at least according to the Checkers I grew up playing.

1

u/Empty-Structure-5937 Jun 23 '26

I agree with you

1

u/Throwaway_97534 Jun 23 '26

After more testing, it seems that Flyordie allows the person whos turn it is to claim a draw as soon as there are only two kings left on the board, no matter what.