Carrom Rules: How to Play Carrom

These carrom rules follow the standard international rules used in tournaments, explained simply for family play at home. Carrom is the much loved Indian tabletop game where you flick a striker to knock wooden coins into the four corner pockets. It is played in homes, clubs and colonies across India and South Asia, and whether you play singles or doubles, the aim is the same: pocket all your coins, cover the red queen, and win the board.

Quick rules

• Each side owns one colour: white or black. The first striker plays white.
• Strike from your own baseline by flicking the striker with a finger.
• Pocket one of your coins and you strike again. Miss and the turn passes.
• The red queen must be covered: pocket one of your own coins right after it, or it returns to the centre.
• Pocketing the striker is a foul: you lose your turn and one pocketed coin goes back to the centre.
• The side that clears its coins first wins the board and scores 1 point per opponent coin left, plus 3 for the queen if they covered it.
• First to 25 points wins the game.

What you need

• A carrom board. A standard board has a 74 cm square playing surface with a pocket in each corner.
• 19 coins: 9 white, 9 black and 1 red queen.
• A striker, larger and heavier than the coins.
• Carrom powder (or fine boric powder) to make the surface smooth.
• For doubles, partners sit opposite each other.

Setup

1. Place the board on a stand or table at a comfortable height, and sprinkle a little powder evenly.
2. Put the queen on the centre spot.
3. Arrange six coins in a ring touching the queen, alternating white and black.
4. Arrange the remaining twelve coins in an outer ring, keeping colours alternating so the pattern forms a neat circle.
5. Decide who starts by a toss. The traditional method is to hide a white and a black coin in closed hands and let the opponent guess. The winner may break, or give the break to the other side.

How to play

1. Placing the striker

1. Each player has a baseline: the two parallel lines in front of them, ending in a circle at each end.
2. The striker must touch both baselines. At the ends it must either cover the circle completely or not touch it at all.
3. The striker must not touch the diagonal arrow lines.

2. Striking

1. Flick the striker with a finger or thumb. Pushing the striker is not allowed.
2. Stay seated in your place. Your hand and arm must not cross the diagonal lines, and you may not move your chair.
3. The first shot of a board is the break, aimed at the centre group. A player usually gets three tries to disturb the coins on the break.

3. Continuing your turn

If you pocket one of your own coins, you get another strike. If you pocket nothing, or only the opponent's coin, your turn ends. An opponent's coin pocketed by you stays pocketed for them.

4. The queen

1. You may pocket the queen only after you have pocketed at least one of your own coins.
2. After pocketing the queen you must cover it by pocketing one of your own coins on your next strike.
3. If you fail to cover it, the queen is placed back on the centre spot.
4. You must cover the queen before your last coin goes in. Pocketing your last coin while the queen is still on the board loses the board.

5. Fouls and penalties

• Pocketing the striker: lose your turn, and return one of your pocketed coins to the centre (the opponent places it). Any coins pocketed on that shot also come back.
• Touching the diagonal lines with the striker or hand, or pushing instead of flicking: foul, one coin returned.
• Coin leaves the board: it is placed back on the centre spot.
• Owing a coin: if you commit a foul before pocketing any coins, you owe one and return it as soon as you pocket a coin.
• Pocketing the opponent's last coin: you lose the board.

Scoring

Only the winner of each board scores. Rule books differ slightly on the queen cut off: some say queen points stop at 21, others at 22.

How to win

A board ends when one side pockets all nine of its coins with the queen covered. Keep playing boards until one side reaches 25 points. Tournaments also cap a game at 8 boards, with the higher score winning.

Variations

• Point carrom (family style): anyone may pocket any coin. White is worth 20, black 10 and the queen 50 (once covered). The player with the most points when the board is cleared wins.
• Queen first allowed: many homes let you pocket the queen at any time, even before your own first coin.
• Three player carrom: play point carrom, as colours cannot be split fairly between three.
• Penalty value: in point carrom, pocketing the striker usually costs 10 points instead of a coin.

Tips and strategy

• Use your index or middle finger for power and your thumb for angled shots near your baseline.
• Do not over powder. Too much powder makes the striker skid and rebound unpredictably.
• Plan your next shot: leave the striker and coins in positions that help you, not your opponent.
• Cover the queen with an easy coin. Line up a sure cover shot before you go for the queen.
• In doubles, leave your partner easy coins near their side when you cannot pocket.

Common mistakes

• Pocketing the queen and forgetting to cover it.
• Clearing your last coin before covering the queen.
• Letting the striker touch the circle partly, which is not a valid placement.
• Getting up or leaning far out of your seat to take a shot.

Looking for more indoor fun? Try ludo, snakes and ladders or chess, or explore our guide to Indian traditional games and board games for kids.