How to play Carrom
Carrom is a flicking game played on a square board with a pocket in each corner. There are nine white coins, nine black coins and one red queen in the middle. On your turn you place the striker on your baseline, then flick it to knock the coins into the pockets.
- Taking a shot: slide the striker along your line, then press the board and pull back like a slingshot. The dotted line shows where the striker will go and the ring shows the first thing it will touch. The further you pull, the harder the flick.
- Classic: player one has the white coins and player two the black. With four players it is white against black as two teams, with partners opposite each other. Pocket one of your own coins and you shoot again. An opponent's coin that you pocket stays pocketed and does not give you another shot.
- The queen: after you pocket the red queen you must pocket one of your own coins on your next shot to cover her. If you do not, she goes back to the centre.
- Winning a board in classic: pocket all your coins first. You score one point for each of your opponent's coins left on the board, and three more if you covered the queen.
- Points mode: any coin can be pocketed. A white coin is worth 20, a black coin 10 and a covered queen 50. Keep your turn while you keep pocketing. The highest score when the board is clear wins.
- Fouls: if the striker drops into a pocket, your turn ends and the coins you pocketed on that shot go back on the board. In classic you also put one of your pocketed coins back.
Tips
- Start with a gentle shot to open the cluster, then pick off coins that sit near a pocket.
- Aim the striker at the point on the far side of the coin, in line with the pocket you want it to go into.
- Leave the queen until you can cover her straight away.
- Soft shots are easier to control than hard ones.