Carrom

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For the billiards game, see Carom billiards

American version
Carrom boards

Carrom is a family of tabletop games sharing a similarity in that their mechanics lie somewhere between billiards and shuffleboard.

Carrom is also the name of a games company in the United States (headquartered in Ludington, Michigan) which produces a specific variant of a Carrom board. The variant of Carrom played on Carrom brand boards is called American Carrom. For the remainder of this article, this distinction will be used.

1 Origins
2 Equipment
3 Rules
4 Point carrom
5 American Carrom
6 Australian Carrom
- 6.1 Maze version
7 Board variations
8 External links

[edit] Origins

Two children playing carrom with a catholic nun in India

The origins of Carrom are uncertain. The majority of sources suggest that the game is of Indian origin while some sources claim the game is of Chinese origin. Yemen, Ethiopia and North Africa are also suggested as potential regions of origin.

[edit] Equipment

The nineteen carrom men are set up in the "outer circle"

The game was played on a board of lacquered plywood, normally 29" (74 cm) square. The edges of the playing surface are bounded by bumpers of wood. The object of the game is to strike a heavy disk called a "striker" such that it contacts lighter disks called "carrom men" (alternatively, carrom seeds) and propels them into one of four corner pockets. The carrom men come in two colors denoting the two players (or, in doubles play, teams). Traditionally, these colors are white (or unfinished) and black. The breaker always plays white. An additional carrom man is colored red and called the "queen".

Carrom men and two strikers, arranged at the start of a game.

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[edit] Rules

The aim of the game is to pot your nine carrommen before your opponent pots his/hers. However, before sinking your final carromman, the queen must be pocketed and then "covered" by pocketing one of your carromman on the same or subsequent strike. Fouls, such as crossing the diagonal lines on the board with any part of your body, or potting the striker, lead to carrommen being returned to the board. In the game of carrom the player is not allowed to shoot the striker behind the line.

[edit] Point carrom

A variant often popular with children or an odd number of players. Play is as above except that all players try to sink all carrom men, regardless of color. The nine carrom men of one color are worth one point each and the nine carrom men of the other color are worth two points each. The red queen is worth five points and may only be captured by pocketing another carrom man on the same or subseqent strike. A player reaching 17 or more points is the winner, otherwise the winner is the player with the most points after all carrom men have been pocketed.

[edit] American Carrom

American version with cue sticks
Checkboard pattern with pockets

Made in Ludington, Michigan
Display at the Vistor's Center

American Carrom is a variant on Carrom brought to America from the East by missionaries around 1890. Believing that the game required restructuring for Western tastes, a Sunday school teacher named Henry Haskell altered the game. Much of the game is the same, but the striker's weight is reduced and the carrom men are smaller. Generally, instead of disks of solid wood, ivory, or acrylic, carrom men (including the striker) are rings, originally of wood but now made of light plastic in the American variety. In addition, as an alternative to using the fingers to flick the striker, American Carrom comes with short cue sticks. American Carrom boards also have pockets built into the corners to make pocketing easier. Generally speaking American Carrom boards are printed with checkerboard and backgammon patterns and are sold with checkers, chess pieces, skittles, etc to allow for some limited variant of over 100 traditional games to be played on them. Often, these boards are also built to play Crokinole.

[edit] Australian Carrom

Australian Carrom, also known as "PuckPool", is a variation created in the mid-90s. The game is a variant of Carrom, utilizing the same board, but adopting the rules of 8-ball which is already popular in Western society. "PuckPool" is only played with 8 pucks a side as opposed to 9, and is a fast challenging and fun game. PuckPool is played without the use of powder, and is becoming very popular in licensed venues as the first "Carrom" based game available in such venues as it is self managed with a coin operated mechanism. PuckPool boards are built using the latest technology to ensure fast, consistent play on every board.

[edit] Maze version

A version of American Carrom was played in Southern California schools in the 1950s-1970s, using a somewhat larger square board and wooden rings struck with cue sticks. There was both a golf version and a maze version. In the maze version, the playing board was divided by wooden rails into a maze of spiral corridors. The object was to be the first to get to the center. The surface was marked with areas that would send the player forward or back if landed on, similar to other board games. [1] [2] A modified commercial version is offered in 2006: mazegame

[edit] Board variations

Carrom boards come in various sizes, as do the corner pockets. Smaller boards, and boards with larger pockets, are often employed by beginners for easier gameplay. On traditional carrom boards the corner pockets are only slightly larger than the carrommen, and smaller than the shooter. On boards with larger pockets, it is possible to sink the shooter, resulting in a scratch shot as in the game of billiards.