Official Carrom Rules

Setting Up the Game

• Place the game board on a flat, level surface. During two-player games, both players sit across from each other, each player sitting within one of the board&'s quadrants. During a four-player game, each quadrant will be occupied by one player. Position the light and dark carrom pieces in the center of the board in the usual configuration, with the red queen piece in the center, the light pieces radiating outward in three arms and the dark pieces filling the gaps. Most game boards have a configuration template applied to the board&'s center, making setup a snap.

Playing the Game

• Flip a coin to determine which player will shoot first. The winning player will place his striker on both base lines within his quadrant. After flicking the striker into the pieces for the "break," the player can continue flicking until he fails to sink a piece. Much of the game&'s strategy involves shooting your opponent&'s pieces into disadvantageous locations while sinking your own. Before you can sink your final piece, any player must sink the red queen piece. Immediately after sinking the red queen, however, the same player must sink another friendly piece to "cover" the queen. If the player fails to do so, the red queen is replaced on the center of the game board.

Fouls

• Like in billiards, there are several actions players might take that result in a foul. For instance, shooting a striker that is not touching both base lines results in a foul. Pocketing the striker or your opponent&'s pieces will result in a lost turn. Pocketing the queen before pocketing your last piece will forfeit the game to your opponent. Shooting the striker with any part of the hand over the quadrant boundary will result in a lost turn.

Winning the Game

• The first player to pocket his final piece after the red queen has been previously covered is the winner. In another variation, winning players earn one point for each of their opponent&'s unpocketed pieces and three points for pocketing the queen. Several games are played, and the first player to reach 25 points wins the match.