How to play carrom: rules, scoring, the queen and fouls

Updated October 13, 2026 · 5 min read

Carrom is a tabletop game from South Asia that sits somewhere between pool and shuffleboard. Instead of a cue you flick a heavy disc, the striker, with your finger, and knock lighter pieces into the four corner pockets. It is played in homes, clubs and tournaments across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the rules are short enough to learn in one board. Here is how a standard game works, how scoring is counted, and how our version plays in the browser.

What you need and the goal

A square board with a pocket in each corner, nineteen pieces and one striker. The pieces are nine white, nine black and one red, called the queen. Two players sit opposite each other, or four play in two partnerships with partners facing each other across the board.

Each side owns one colour. You win a board by sinking all nine of your pieces before the other side sinks theirs, and you win the match by being first to an agreed number of points across several boards.

The setup and the break

The queen goes in the center circle, ringed by six pieces, with the other twelve around them, colours alternating so that a mix of white and black points in every direction. Each player has a baseline: two parallel lines in front of them with a small circle at each end. The striker must sit on your baseline for every shot, and you may slide it anywhere along it, as long as it does not touch a piece.

The first strike of a board is the break. Whoever breaks plays white, which is a small advantage, so the break usually alternates from board to board. A hard, straight break into the center circle scatters the pieces and often sinks one or two.

How a turn works

You flick the striker forward, away from your own edge. You may bank it off the frame, which is how many of the best shots are made.
Sink one of your own pieces and you strike again. Your turn lasts as long as you keep pocketing your colour without a foul.
Sink nothing, or only the other side's piece, and the turn passes. Outside the break, a piece of theirs that you sink counts for them, not you.
The striker comes back to you after every shot. Only the pieces stay where they land.

The queen and covering her

The red queen is worth the most, and she comes with a condition. You may only pocket her once you have already sunk at least one of your own pieces. After she drops, you must cover her: sink one of your own pieces on the same shot or on your very next one. If you fail to cover, the queen goes back to the center circle and is up for grabs again.

Covering the queen is where many boards are won. Sinking her early is tempting, but she is only worth something once she is covered, so line up the cover before you go for her: look for one of your pieces sitting near a pocket that you can reach on the follow-up.

Fouls

A foul costs you a piece: one of your sunk pieces comes back out and is placed in the center circle. If you have none in yet, you owe one, and the next one you sink goes back. The usual fouls are:

Pocketing the striker.
Sinking the other side's piece, after the break (it counts for them as well).
Sinking your last piece while the queen is still on the board. The queen has to be covered before you can finish.
Touching pieces with your hand, or placing the striker off your baseline. In a physical game these are common; in a browser version the controls simply do not allow them.

Scoring a board and a match

When one side clears all nine of its pieces, the board is over and only the winner scores: one point for each of the opponent's pieces still on the board, plus three for the queen if the winner covered her. A board won early, with most of the other colour left out, is worth a lot more than a scrappy one where both sides are down to their last piece.

A match is played to a target, traditionally 25 points, or for a fixed number of boards. Tournament rules add details, such as the queen's three points no longer counting once you are close to the target, but the core is always the same: clear your colour fast and cover the queen.

How carrom plays on Knockout

Our Carrom follows the standard rules above. From the game's own rules and code:

Two to four players: head to head, two against two with partners opposite, or three, where one plays alone against a pair.
Play to one board, 9 points or 25 points. An optional strike clock gives each shot 30 or 60 seconds.
Disc Pool is a second mode: one board where every piece scores for whoever sinks it, white 20, black 10 and the covered queen 50. Most points when the board is clear wins.
With a mouse or a finger, slide the striker along your baseline, then pull back from it and let go. It flies the opposite way, harder the further you pull, and a dashed line shows the first piece it will meet.
On a keyboard, Left and Right slide the striker, Up switches to aiming, and you hold Space and let go at the power you want.
Computer players at Easy, Normal and Hard fill any empty seat.

Tips for better shots

Use the whole baseline. Sliding the striker to the end of your line opens angles that a center shot never has.
Shoot at the near half of a piece to send it wide, and the far half to cut it back. Watch where the aim line says the piece will go, not just the striker.
Do not hit everything hard. A soft shot that leaves your next piece near a pocket keeps your turn going; a hard one scatters the board for your opponent.
Plan the queen and her cover together. If there is no easy cover, leave her where she is.
Late in a board, count. If your opponent has two pieces left and you have six, sinking theirs by accident is a disaster; play safe shots that leave them awkward angles.

Where to play carrom free

Carrom is free in a browser here, with no download. Play the computer straight away, or create a game and send a friend the invite link. If you like flicking and banking shots, Pool and Air Hockey scratch the same itch, and Checkers is the classic board game to try next; read How to play checkers: rules, jumping and kings. For more games that work well with one other person, see The best 2-player games to play online.