Carambole is a variant of Carrom ("finger pool"). It was designed by Swiss engineer Mändu Stauffer. The game then spread in Western Europe in the 80's.
The wooden board is 60 cm x 60 cm with four 4,5 cm diameter holes in the corner. The aim it to sink 9 checkers (black or white) and the lone red checker. One wins as many points as the number of checkers still on the board from the opponent (extra 5 points for having confirmed the red checker). Rounds are played until a player reach 21 points or higher.