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Emanuel Lasker · 1911

Lasca – the column draughts

The strategy game by World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker (1911): capturing is compulsory, captured men become columns – and every column can change sides. Play against the AI, online against humans or face to face.

Play against the AI Play online Two players, one device

Free, no downloads – right in your browser.

Everything a great Lasca experience needs

AI on five levels

From beginner to master: the engine searches with an evaluation of column heights and officers – and plays fairly, on time.

Online against humans

Lobby matchmaking, chess clock, draw offers and rematches – games are rated with Elo.

Two players, one device

Hotseat right in the browser, no account needed. With take-back and full rule checking.

Leaderboard & profile

Starting rating of 1000 Elo, game history with replay – track your progress across every game.

Learned quickly

Five minutes of rules, a lifetime of tactics: forced capture and columns create surprising twists.

How Lasca works in 60 seconds

  1. Play takes place on the 25 alternating squares of a 7×7 board. Each side starts with 11 men.
  2. Men move one square diagonally forward. Capturing is compulsory – backwards too for officers.
  3. Captured men are placed under the capturing piece: columns form, owned by the player whose piece is on top.
  4. When a column reaches the opponent's back row, its top piece becomes an officer and may move in both directions.
  5. Whoever captures all enemy pieces or immobilises the opponent wins.
Read all the rules in detail

A piece of game history

Lasca was devised in 1911 by Emanuel Lasker, the second World Chess Champion, from English draughts and the Russian tower variant Bashni. His goal: a draughts game without dull draws – and with columns that can change owners in the middle of the fight.

"I have invented a game that unites the spirit of draughts with the depth of chess."

Emanuel Lasker, World Chess Champion 1894–1921

Ready for your first column?

Free, no downloads – right in your browser.

Play against the AI Play online Learn the rules