The checkers/draughts family encompasses dozens of variants played around the world, but American Checkers and International Draughts are by far the most popular. American Checkers is the standard in North America, played on an 8×8 board with 12 pieces per side. Kings move one square backward. When multiple captures are available, you can choose which to take. International Draughts is the standard in Europe and for world championship play, using a 10×10 board with 20 pieces per side. Kings become "flying kings" that can move any distance diagonally. The maximum capture rule requires you to take the sequence that captures the most pieces. These seemingly small rule differences create fundamentally different games. Checkers tends toward shorter, more tactical games where individual captures and king promotion are decisive. Draughts produces longer, more complex games where positional strategy and multi-piece combinations play a larger role. Both games are rewarding in their own way, and playing both provides a richer understanding of this ancient game family.