Carrom Board Game

Carrom is the collective name for a number of board games that have in common that they resemble a combination of billiards and shuffles. Carrom is also the name of a company in the United States that produces games, including an American version of Carrom. This variant is usually called American Carrom.

Origin and distribution

There is some uncertainty about the origin of carrom. Most Western sources cite India as the origin, but other countries are also mentioned. It is certain that an American, Henry Haskell, first patented the game in the 1890s.

In India and its neighboring countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc.) one finds Carrom players in the streets of cities and villages. Since the 1980s, the popularity of the game has been growing in Europe and North America and played worldwide. Tournaments also take place regularly in the Netherlands.

Requirements

The game is played on a board or table of varnished plywood, usually 74 by 74 centimeters. There are wooden bands on all four sides, so that the stones can be reflected. If a lubricant is starch used. The aim of the game is to have the largest and heaviest disc on the board, the plastic striker (target or game disc) to shoot forward with the fingers from the baseline so that it reflects the smaller stones into one of the holes in the corners. These wooden carrom stones or discs (in fact, just checkers can be used for this) are subdivided into as many black as white discs. These colors indicate which discs are to be inserted by the respective players or teams. The person who opens the game always plays white. There is also a red carrom stone, which is called the queen.

Board variants

The board is made in different sizes with different corner pockets. With some boards it is not possible to shoot the target in the holes.

Rules

The intention of the game is that the player has seen his nine carrom stones before the opponent does. The queen must be scored before the last tile and must be covered in the same or next move by a tile from the player. If that cover fails, the queen is placed back in the middle. Even if a player places body parts (fingers) over the diagonal line, or if the target is shot in one of the holes, penalty stones are removed from the holes and placed back in the middle.

Point carrom

This is a variant that is very popular with children and with an odd number of players. The game is the same as above, with the difference that players are allowed to score regardless of which color. One color counts for one point, the other color counts for two, while the queen yields five points if it is covered in the same or next move by a normal carrom stone. The first player to accumulate 17 points is the winner, or the one who has the most points when all tiles are scored.