Carrom rules and tips to improve your strike

Carrom looks like a casual game until you play someone who has played it for years. Then the coins start disappearing into pockets in neat sequences and you realise there is real skill involved. This guide covers the rules as most people play them, then moves on to the techniques that actually improve your strike.

The equipment

• A square board with a pocket in each corner, usually dusted with a fine powder so the discs glide.
• Nine coins in one colour for each player (commonly white and black), plus one red coin called the queen.
• A striker, a heavier disc you flick to hit the coins.

At the start the coins are arranged in a flower-like pattern around the centre, with the queen in the middle surrounded by a ring of alternating colours.

The basic rules

1. Players sit on opposite sides. Each shoots from the baseline in front of them, with the striker touching the line.
2. You flick the striker with your finger to hit a coin. The striker should not be pushed.
3. If you pocket one of your own coins, you take another shot. Carry on until you miss.
4. If you do not pocket anything, your opponent shoots.
5. You win by pocketing all nine of your coins, and the queen must be settled before the game ends.

The queen and the cover

The queen is worth the most, but you must cover it. After you pocket the queen, you need to pocket one of your own coins right away, on that shot or the next one. If you manage it, the queen is yours. If not, the queen is returned to the centre. Smart players often leave the queen until they have cleared several coins, so that the cover is easy.

Fouls

If the striker falls into a pocket, that is a foul. In the usual rules your turn ends and one of your already pocketed coins is put back on the board. Pocketing your opponent’s coins gives them progress for free. The exact penalties and the way points are counted differ between households, clubs and tournaments, so agree on yours before you begin. The version you can play on inkmate follows the classic approach described here.

Tips to improve your strike

1. Fix your grip and flick

Most players rest the striker against the side of the thumb or the middle finger and flick with the index or middle finger, whichever gives a straight, repeatable motion. Experiment, then stick with one grip. The goal is a flick that sends the striker along the line you aimed at, every time. Consistency matters more than power.

2. Aim through the coin

To pocket a coin, imagine a line from the pocket through the centre of the coin and on to the spot behind it. Your striker has to hit the coin at exactly that spot. For a straight shot, the striker, coin and pocket line up. For an angled shot, you hit the coin off-centre, and the coin leaves in the direction opposite to your contact point.

3. Choose the right baseline position

You can slide the striker anywhere along your baseline. Pick the spot that gives the straightest line to the coin and pocket. Moving the striker sideways just a little can change an awkward angle into an easy one.

4. Use less power than you think

A hard shot sends coins flying and often drops your opponent’s coins into pockets. Most pockets can be reached with a firm but controlled flick. Save big shots for breaking up a cluster or clearing a blocked coin.

5. Think about where the striker stops

The best shots leave you a good next shot. If your striker ends up near a cluster you can attack next, you are building a run. If it rolls into a corner with no line, you may have just given up your turn.

6. Learn the cushion

The board’s wooden edges bounce discs back, so you can bank a shot to reach a coin that is not directly accessible. Bank shots are harder, but they matter once your opponent starts hiding coins behind others.

7. Defend as well as attack

When you cannot pocket anything, try to leave your opponent a hard position: move a coin so it is tucked behind another, or keep the queen guarded. A tidy defensive miss is better than a loose attacking one.

tip: Keep your hands dry and the board clean. Even a little moisture or dust slows the striker and changes how far every shot travels.

Practising

A simple routine: set a coin near a pocket and practise potting it from several baseline positions until you get it almost every time. Then move the coin further out. On a screen, play against the carrom bot to get a feel for angles, and pass one phone with a friend for a quick match. When you want a different kind of game, ludo and chess are both close by. For the short launch overview of the online version, read how to play carrom online.