Burmese Carrom ဇယ်တောက်ခုံ
A Burmese Carrom fan abroad reached out to us recently seeking rules clarification & game pieces. Researching for his query makes us feel nostalgic for our childhood memories of playing it with our cousins & neighbor kids. So here it is.
The game is called ဇယ်ခုံ /ze khoun/ or လက်တောက်ခုံ /lat tout khoun/ in Burmese. This is a dexterity game of skill. Depending on the people who introduced the game, it could be played in many ways. Carrom is just like a deck of cards. The game is limited only by your imagination. We also played with many house rules during our childhood.
Burmese Carrom includes a square wooden board, 19 numbered circular pieces (ဇယ် ‘ze’ / carrom) in 3 different colors (eg. 1-9 yellows, 10-18 blues & 19 whites) & a bigger circular piece (ဒိုး ‘doe’ / striker). It’s usually played by 2 to 4 players or solo.
Shooting…