Carrom Board Dimensions
Official carrom board measurements — tournament, standard, and mini sizes per ICF rules
Carrom Board Dimensions
Official carrom board measurements — tournament, standard, and mini sizes per ICF rules
What Are the Official Carrom Board Dimensions?
A tournament carrom board measures 74cm × 74cm on the inner playing surface, with the total frame extending to approximately 77cm × 77cm. This is the size mandated by the International Carrom Federation (ICF) for all official competitions including the World Carrom Championship. The four corner pockets each have a diameter of 4.45cm — large enough for a carrom piece to fall through cleanly but not so large that the game becomes trivial.
The board has two key circles marked on its surface. The base circle (also called the inner circle) has a diameter of 3.18cm and sits at the very centre — this is where the Queen and the initial piece arrangement are placed at the start of each game. The outer circle has a diameter of 47.5cm and marks the boundary of the main playing area. Pieces may be placed anywhere within the outer circle at the start.
Carrom is played with a striker and 19 carrom men (9 white, 9 black, and 1 red Queen). The striker is larger and heavier than the carrom pieces — maximum diameter 4.13cm, maximum weight 15 grams. Each carrom man is 3.02cm in diameter and weighs approximately 5–7 grams. The Queen is slightly larger at 3.18cm in diameter and is the most valuable piece — worth 3 points, and covering the Queen (pocketing an own piece in the same shot) is required to score it.
How to Read This Diagram
Board Size by Type
- • Tournament (ICF): 74cm × 74cm — official competition standard
- • Standard: 72cm × 72cm — most club and recreational boards
- • Mini: 50cm × 50cm — travel and children's boards
- • Pocket diameter: 4.45cm — same across all standard sizes
Why Precise Board Dimensions Matter for a Game of Millimetres
Carrom is a game of fine angles played across a relatively small surface, so tiny inconsistencies in board size, pocket diameter, or piece weight would compound quickly into genuinely unfair outcomes — a pocket even a millimetre too small or too large changes how forgiving the game is on marginal shots, which is exactly why the ICF standardises every one of these measurements down to fractions of a centimetre for official play.
The size gap between the striker and the carrom men isn't incidental either: the striker needs enough extra mass to transfer force effectively into a stationary piece, but not so much that the game becomes about power rather than precision, which is why the striker's weight and diameter are both capped rather than left open-ended.
?Frequently Asked Questions
An ICF tournament carrom board measures 74cm × 74cm on the inner playing surface. The total board including the frame is approximately 77cm × 77cm. The four corner pockets each have a diameter of 4.45cm. This is the size used at the World Carrom Championship and all ICF-sanctioned international competitions.
The base circle (inner circle) is the small 3.18cm diameter circle at the very centre of the board. It marks the centre point where the Queen is placed and around which pieces are arranged at the start of each game. The outer circle (47.5cm diameter) is the much larger ring that defines the boundary for initial piece placement and the area within which breaks must be played.
An ICF-approved carrom striker has a maximum diameter of 4.13cm and a maximum weight of 15 grams. It is heavier and larger than the carrom pieces themselves (3.02cm diameter, approximately 5–7g) to give it the mass needed to drive pieces into pockets. The striker must be stroked — not thrown or pushed — using a finger flick technique.
A standard carrom game starts with 19 pieces: 9 white carrom men, 9 black carrom men, and 1 red Queen placed at the centre. The Queen is the most valuable piece — worth 3 points. To legally score the Queen, a player must pocket it and then pocket one of their own pieces in the same or immediately following shot (this is called "covering" the Queen).
Tournament-grade carrom boards are made from plywood with a compressed, highly polished playing surface — usually finished with a fine powder (boric powder or carrom powder) to reduce friction so pieces glide smoothly. A rough or unpolished board slows pieces down unpredictably and makes shots far harder to judge consistently, which is why serious players re-powder the surface between games even at the same size and specification.
A Mini board (50cm × 50cm, roughly two-thirds the tournament size) exists purely for portability and casual/children's play, not competitive use — it's designed for travel, small living rooms, or younger players learning the basic mechanics. Because the pocket diameter and piece spacing scale down along with the board, gameplay dynamics change too, which is why Mini boards are never used for ICF-sanctioned competition despite being a recognisable carrom board.
Players must flick the striker using a single finger motion from within the base circle (or from the designated baseline area) — throwing, pushing, or using multiple fingers is an illegal stroke. This rule exists to keep the game a test of finger control and angle judgement rather than raw force, since a thrown or pushed striker could be driven with far more uncontrolled power than a proper finger flick allows.