In the United States and Canada people say checkers. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and many other countries the same game is called draughts. Both refer to diagonal games of movement and jumping.
Are checkers and draughts the same game?
Quick answer: Yes, checkers and draughts are two names for the same family of games; checkers is the common North American term while draughts is used in Britain and much of the world.
The words checkers and draughts often cause confusion, but they describe the same core game. The differences come from region and variant, not from the name itself.
Same game, different name
Where the variants differ
What actually changes from country to country is the ruleset. American checkers uses an 8x8 board with short range kings, while international draughts uses a 10x10 board with long range flying kings. The name draughts is often attached to those larger variants.
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