Carrom is played on a square board with corner pockets. Two players — or two doubles teams — flick a striker to pocket their coins. Club and club rules may add local details; always follow the referee and your event bulletin. For a fuller plain-language walkthrough of the laws, see Laws of carrom.
Scoring a board
On each board only one player receives coins, 0 to 9. The queen holder for that board is recorded alongside.
Byes and walkovers
These are event outcomes, not board rules. A bye scores 13–0 when a group has an odd number of players; a walkover scores 25–0 when the scheduled opponent does not show. See Swiss round robin for how they affect standings.
The aim of a match
Each side has nine coins of one color plus a shared queen (red). In tournament play the first side to reach 25 points wins the match. A match is made up of individual boards; running totals build toward 25.
At the table
- The striker must be flicked legally; fouls may forfeit the turn or award penalties per local rules.
- Pocketing the striker, the wrong coin, or the queen without proper cover may be fouls depending on your federation.
- First strike (who breaks) alternates by board or by match according to event rules.
- In doubles, partners share one color; seating and communication follow your event format.
Knockout series
In knockout phases, a tie may be a best-of series (for example 2 of 3 sets). Each set is played to 25 like a full match. See Knockouts.