Carroms board game rules

Carrom is a strategy game for 2 to 4 players. In 2 player games, opponents sit opposite of each other, and for 4 players, partners are used and sit opposite of each other.

The only difference between these two game plays is the use of partners and seating, all gameplay is the same. In a three-player game, you play for points. The goal of the game is to score points by being the first player to clear the boar once the queen has been successfully pocketed. The goal is to reach 25 points, but if this does not occur before 8 boards are played the winner is the player with the highest point total. Below is a diagram with the needed layout for the opening board and the terminology needed for the game.

The first player is chosen randomly. They will be the white player in 2 and 4 player games. The board should be set up so that the queen is in the center and is surrounded by 6 pieces of alternating black and white, in the next bigger circle there should be 12 pieces of alternating black and white. Unlike the diagram above, you want double white instead of black and you want them to line up with the net holes as closely as possible.

Once the board is set the first player will place their striker and will have 3 chances to break the center circle. When placing a striker, a player must place it between the two parallel baselines. They may also place it completely on the red bases at the end of the baselines but may not place them partially on the base and baselines.

When striking you may not have your arms, hands or legs cross the diagonal foul likes at the corners of the board. You must also only flick with your finger and not push, and the finer used must cross the front baseline when flicking.

For three-player games, the goal is to score the most points, up to 25 to win, and the most if 8 game boards are reached. There are no pieces assigned to players, instead, points are assigned to pieces. The black pieces are worth 1 point, whites are worth 2 points and the queen is worth 5 points. The first player has 3 attempts to break the carrom. Masters Games has based the following rules on those from the UK Carrom Club, tailoring them for simplicity where possible. Luxury Carrom Boards by Atelier Radscha.

Uber Games Carrom Stand. Equipment The following dimensions vary considerably and are given only as an example of a tournament board. A Carrom board is a square smooth flat wooden board that can be 72cm or 74cm square and which should be positioned 60 - 70cm above the ground.

In each corner is a circular hole that can be 51mm in diameter and underneath each hole is a net to catch the pieces in a similar way to a snooker table. Two lines are drawn on the table along the diagonals. These are the "foul lines". In the centre are two concentric circles - the centre circle is the size of a piece, the main circle having a diameter about six times larger. Outside the circles and a short way in from each side of the board are two straight lines parallel with the edge of the board.

They should be about 3. This thin rectangle with circles at either end is called the "baseline" and the baseline nearest to a player is the area that the player's striker must be played from. There are nine dark or black pieces and nine light or white pieces plus a red piece called the "Queen".

The smooth wooden pieces are slightly smaller than the the striker which is between 3. People often own their own strikers which can also be made of bone or ivory and which are normally somewhat heavier than the pieces although can vary in weight from half as heavy to four times as heavy as a piece.

On some boards, potato starch, chalk dust or other lubricant is used to make the pieces slide more easily over the surface of the board - the most popular lubricant is boric acid. Preparation To decide who goes first, one player should hold a piece concealed in one hand.

If the opponent guesses correctly which hand, the opponent chooses who goes first, otherwise the player concealing the piece chooses. The person who plays first aims to pocket the white pieces. The game is played by two opponents sitting opposite each other. To begin, the Queen is placed in the centre of the board.

Six pieces are put around the Queen directly in a circle, each touching the Queen and their neighbours. The remaining twelve pieces are positioned around the inner circle of six pieces, so that each outer piece touches the inner circle.

Both circles should have the pieces alternating in colour. The two circles are oriented so that the Queen, a white piece from the inner circle and a white piece from the outer circle lie in a straight line pointing towards the centre of the side of the board where the player who will play first is sitting. Objective Players take turns to play. A turn consists of one or more strikes. A player wins by pocketing all of the pieces of their chosen colour first. However, neither player can win until one or other player has "covered the Queen".

To cover the Queen, a player must pocket one of her own pieces immediately after pocketing the Queen. If the Queen is pocketed but not covered, the Queen is returned to the board. Both players normally try to cover the Queen in addition to trying to win the game because a player who wins and also covers the Queen receives bonus points. Fouls When a player commits a foul, the turn comes to an end immediately and a penalty is incurred. The penalty is that one pocketed piece is returned to the board by the opponent anywhere within the main circle.

Any other pieces requiring to be returned to the board are also placed within the main circle by the opponent. It is normal for pieces to be positioned in order to confer an advantage for the opponent.

A foul is recorded in the following situations:. Where a penalty is incurred but no pocketed pieces exist to return, the penalty is "owed" until a piece becomes available. If a penalty is owed, when a piece becomes available due to being pocketed, the piece is returned to the centre by the opponent at the end of the turn.

Should the opponent forget to do this before the start of the next turn, any owed penalties are lost. Scoring At the end of the game the winner scores 1 point for each opponent's piece left on the board. If the winner also covered the Queen, a bonus 5 points are scored. The maximum score for one game is therefore 14 points. A match is usually played to 29 points and for matchplay, if the winner's score has reached has 24 or more points, then 5 bonus points are NOT added for covering the Queen.

Doubles Carrom is played by four people just as often as by two. For the doubles game, partners sit opposite one another and turns proceed in a clockwise order. Other than that, play is exactly the same as for the singles game. The game has a different character, though, because pieces behind the baseline can be safely left for the partner to deal with unlike in the singles game where pieces behind the baseline can only be moved by the opponent or by rebounding of the board edges.

These rules are provided by Masters Traditional Games, an Internet shop selling quality traditional games, pub games and unusual games.