Turkish Draughts is played on an 8x8 board, with each player's sixteen men placed on the second and third rows from their side. Unlike checkers, the pieces use every square, not only the dark ones, because men move straight rather than diagonally. This leaves the first, or back, row and the two middle rows empty at the start, with the two armies facing each other across the centre. The back row being empty matters because a man promotes to a king only when it reaches the opponent's far row. From this compact setup, both players begin pushing pieces straight forward into the middle.