Carom board game in pakistan

**faiza66** · 10-12-2011,01:04 PM

You require a nice carrom board to start playing the game. Normally, the board is made of lacquered plywood and has a playing surface of 29inch. The playing surface is bordered by bumpers of wood and it has four corner pockets.

Carrom-Men:

A carrom-men are wooden uniform small disk used in playing carrom. They are also known by colloquial terms such as seed, coin, puck or goti. The carrom-men come in three colors: white, black and red. ICF(International Carrom Federation) sanctioned pieces must have a diameter of no more than 3.18cm and no less than 3.02 cm and must be between 7mm and 9mm thick, with an edge that is round and plain and the weight should be between 5-5.5g.

The Queen:
The Queen also known as the "match-taker" coin is the most powerful carrom piece. It is red in color and it is placed at the center of the circle.

The Striker:
The striker is a larger heavier piece used to hit the carrom-men and knock them into corner pockets. According to carrom laws by ICF, "The striker shall be smooth and round, with a diameter not more than 4.13 cm." It's weight should not be more than 15gms.

Powder:
Fine grained powder is used on the board for the easy sliding of pieces. Boric acid powder is most commonly used for this purpose

Carrom Board Game Rules

Striking

For each strike, the player must position the striker within the baseline OR on one of the two circles at either end of the baseline. A striker within the baseline must touch both the front line and the rear line. The striker may not "cut the moon" - be placed partially within the baseline and partially within the circle. The player must flick the striker with one finger so that it crosses the front baseline - it is not permitted to flick backwards or horizontally. A piece that is on or behind the front baseline must not be struck by the striker until the striker has crossed the front baseline.
In striking, the player's hand or arm must not cross the diagonal foul lines at either end of the baseline.

Basic Rules

For the very first turn, the player is allowed three attempts to "break" i.e. disturb the central group of counters. It doesn't matter which piece the striker hits first and it doesn't matter if the striker hits no pieces. If a the striker pockets the Queen and/or one or more pieces of her own colour, the player retrieves the striker and takes another strike.
If the player pockets no pieces or commits a foul, the turn finishes.

Covering The Queen

A player may only pocket and cover the Queen if that player has already pocketed at least one piece of that player's colour. Should a player pocket the Queen before being permitted to cover it, the turn continues but the Queen is returned to the centre at the end of the turn. If a player pockets the Queen and one of her own pieces in the same turn, this counts and that player has covered the Queen. Such a player must have already pocketed at least one piece in order to cover the Queen as per normal.
When a player pockets the Queen but does not cover it, the Queen is returned as near as possible to the centre circle by the opponent.

Other Rules

Pieces returned to the centre can be placed on top of other pieces within the main circle. If pieces come to rest standing on their edge or overlapping another piece, they are left as they are until moved again in the normal course of play.
If the striker comes to rest under another piece, the striker should be removed with as little disturbance to the covering piece as possible.

Fouls(When is a foul recorded)

The striker is pocketed. The striker or any other piece leaves the board. A player pockets an opponent's piece. If the Queen was also pocketed, it is returned to the centre by the opponent together with the penalty piece. Any other pieces pocketed in the same strike remain pocketed. A player pockets the final opponent's piece. Regardless of whether the Queen has been covered, the opponent's piece is returned to the centre in addition to the penalty piece. A player pockets the final piece before the Queen has been covered. In this case both the pocketed piece and a penalty piece are returned to the centre. A player contravenes the rules for striking. A player touches any piece in play, other than the striker.
The first player to strike fails to break the counters in three attempts.

Scoring

At the end of the game the winner scores 1 point for each opponent's piece left on the board. If the winner has less than 24 points and the winner also covered the Queen, a bonus 5 points are scored. If the winner has 24 or more points, then no points are scored for covering the Queen.
The maximum score for one game is therefore 14 points. A match is played to 29 points.

Carrom is one of the most interesting game i have felt ever. It is a indoor game played by the people of most of the countries of the world such as Nepal, India ,Pakistan etc. Moreover it has got very interesting rules. There are four sides in the board and each sides contains one team. The total of four people can play this game. They may also play by making two teams or they may play single as well. There is a queen which is taken at the ending of the game and the game is won by the people takes queen at last.
In 1889 Henry Haskell, a Sunday School teacher, was concerned about the growing number of boys who were hanging around pool rooms. He decided to use his clever and inventive mind to create games for the boys would be wholesome and enjoyable. Carrom has been providing family entertainment for all ages ever since. Some games tested your skills or used strategy, other games were just for fun.
The Carrom Company went through various name changes through the years (it was originally the Ludington Novelty Company until 1901), but today is known as the Carrom Company, just as it was known from 1914-1939.
The original Carrom game tables were table top games. They were usually made of wood, about 30" square which often had rounded corners and some with pockets in each corner for various games. Different game patterns were featured on each side.