How to play carrom board and what are its rules
Everyone loves the comfort of indoor games, and there is no such game better than carrom. It brings friends and family together. Whether it's Saturday night or any other day and you decide to sit back and enjoy with your loved ones, carrom uplifts the room with happiness and joy. Carrom is not only limited to house parties; it has taken a turn to the championship as well. Carrom has its tournaments & championship which is organized on state, national, and international level.
Recently also, with all global pandemic guidelines, the tournament was organized. If you are also interested in spending quality time with your loved ones, but don’t know how to play this game, then this post has got you covered!
Before looking forward to the rules of the game, first, let us just go back to carrom's history in brief.
Origin
Carrom is very much popular in South Asia and known in different languages. This game originated in India. Specific cafes and clubs organize regular tournaments. Carrom is not a patented game; instead, it is in the public domain. There are different rules and standards according to the location where this game is being played. During the early 20th century, it became more popular in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms. If you are a beginner and looking for the right guide to play this game, keep reading further.
Design & Equipment used
- This game is usually played on a square board made up of plywood with pockets in the corner.
- Usually, the dimensions of this board are 29 inches (75cm) square playing area.
- The edges of the board are bounded by bumpers of wood.
- Underneath each pocket, it is covered by a net that is 10cm or larger.
- The carrom board powder is used on the top of the board to enable the pieces to slide easily, and Boric acid powder is generally used for this purpose.
- Usually, in the UK, many players use anti-set-off spray powder from the specific printing industry. It has particles of 50 micrometres in diameter and is made up of pure starch of food-grade vegetables.
- Strikers are the most important part of carrom; pieces of strikers are used to push the carrom men and the queen across the board to hit the pocket.
Rules and regulations applied
- Carrom consists of nine white and nine black stickers, and each colour is assigned to a player.
- The red piece is considered a queen; it requires the player to strike the queen into the pocket in order to win the game.
- A player can only place the striker at the baselines closest to him; he can not place any striker on the left or right baselines.
- When a player is placing the striker on the board to shoot, it should touch both the baselines.
- The striker should either cover the end circle completely or not just touch it all.
- The striker hound does not touch the diagonal arrow line.
- Your arm should not cross the diagonal arrow's imaginary line.
- A player can not stand up from his seat while striking. Also, his feet and knees are kept in your quadrant.
- If a player strikes his striker in the pocket on his first shot, he will continue to play another turn.
- The player should always return the striker to the rectangle before taking a new shot.
- In the doubles game, turns go anti-clockwise from right to left.
- You can pot the queen if you have already stricken in the pocket at least one piece of your colour.
- In case, if you pocket the queen before pocketing your colour, your turn will continue further.
Whether you are striking a simple shot or side shot, there are following rules which need to be followed.
Simple shot
It is considered the commonest shot, where a striker should be in front of the baseline.
The player is asked to put the striker on the baseline so that the striker, coin and plackets align on a straight line.
If with your shot, both coin and striker end up in the pocket, it is considered as a foul.
Side shot
A side shot is played when you want to be on the safer side; this shot is played in such a way that it pushes the coin in the opposite direction.
For example, in a side shot, if you flick the striker on the right side, it will eventually go towards the left side.
A player can play this shot to block opposite players shot by playing this side shot.
Conclusion
This historic game may look intermediating initially, but it can be fun once you learn the right rules to play. You can even polish your skills with the guide given above. Carrom generally brings people together, but you can play it further to create a name in this indoor sport as well. We recommend you to consider the guide given above and learn the exact way of playing this friendly and competitive game.
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