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(Artwork by artist Najat Mutahr has highlighted Hijaz’s links with carrom through an artwork showing grandparents playing the board game with their grandchild. Over the decades, it became an important part of social life in the Kingdom, featuring in family events, all-female or all-male meetings, and even in gatherings of children.Īrtist Najat Mutahr's tribute to Hijaz's connection to the board game: Saudi grandparents playing carrom with grandchild. The arrangement is considered complete when nine black coins and nine white pieces are positioned in Y formation, surrounded by black coins and the red “queen” in the center.Ī puck, known as “striker,” is then used to flick carrom men and the queen into pockets located at the board’s four edges.Ĭarrom lore suggests that the game first reached Saudi Arabia via the Hijaz region through traders from India. If either condition is not met, the queen has to be placed back in the middle of the board. Each black and white piece counts as one point, while the queen counts as 5 (3 universally) points. The scoring system varies from region to region, but in most parts of Saudi Arabia, the team that collects 21 points (25 universally) wins the game.Ĭustomers now are searching the websites of online retailers that claim to import the best carrom boards from India for delivery in Saudi Arabia.Ĭarrom is most commonly played during Ramadan nights as people stay up with family members or friends, waiting for the early morning call to prayer.Īt the beginning of a game, small circular wooden disks, called carrom men or coins, are massed in a group in a circle at the center of the board. It cannot be secured if its pocketing is not followed up by the sinking of a carrom man of the player’s color. The queen can only be pursued after at least one carrom man of the player’s color has been secured. Rival teams are assigned white or black coins before the game starts, and each team tries to win by sinking all nine coins of their color in the pockets and securing the red-colored queen. In many stores in Jeddah, including shops in the city’s downtown area, the board game is now out of stock.Ī carrom game is a competition between two individual players or two teams of two players each. They sold out very quickly,” Al-Dosari said. “Prices of carrom boards tripled afterwards, going up to SR300-400. The seller delivered the item to his house two days later for SR90 ($24). When Jeddah was placed under curfew, Al-Dosari placed his order through the Haraj website.
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It’s coffee and tea and carrom with my brother, his wife and my sister.” “We usually meet up for lunch, but now we play carrom together throughout the day. “I got into it a few weeks ago after playing games with my future in-laws, and I wanted to get one for my family,” he told Arab News. Majid Al-Dosari, an engineer working from home in Jeddah, considers himself lucky to have bought a carrom board just days before the item sold out. The board, square in shape, is often placed on four wooden legs, with each player occupying one side of the square.ĭemand for carrom boards has rocketed as lockdowns and curfews aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus force Saudis to look for ways to keep boredom at bay.įor many families, there is no better way to stay entertained than by playing carrom, a board game that both old and young enjoy.Ĭarrom is popular in many parts of the Gulf region, especially in the coastal areas of Saudi Arabia, where its appeal cuts across all age groups. Different standards and rules exist in different parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, people trooped to toy stores to buy a largely forgotten traditional board game, carrom, which quickly sold out across the Kingdom.Ĭarrom is a wooden table-top board game that bears many similarities to pool. JEDDAH: When the global coronavirus pandemic hit, some countries ignored it, while others had people singing from their balconies to keep their spirits high.