The bowls playing field is a bowling green, a smooth lawn where competitors roll balls for points. The rules are to roll grapefruit-size balls toward a target ball that is slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Points are gained for how close players can place their balls to the target ball without actually striking the target ball. Players are also able to use their ball to knock out an opponent’s ball if it is close to the target ball.
Bowls historians believe that the game developed from the Egyptians. One of their pastimes was to play skittles with round stones. This has been determined based on artifacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C. The sport spread across the world and took on a variety of forms, Bocce (Italian), Bolla (Saxon), Bolle (Danish), Boules (French) and Ula Maika (Polynesian). The oldest Bowls green still played on is in Southampton, England where records show that the green has been in operation since 1299 A.D. There are scattered classical references, but the game’s key developments go back to late-medieval Europe as part of rural folk festivals
Certainly the most famous story in lawn bowls is with Sir Frances Drake and the Spanish Armada. On July 18, 1588, Drake was involved in a game at Plymouth Hoe when he was notified that the Spanish Armada was approaching. His immortalized response was that "We still have time to finish the game and to thrash the Spaniards, too." He then proceeded to finish the match, which he lost before embarking on the fight with the Armada, which he won. Whether this famous story really took place has been heavily debated
King Henry VIII was also a lawn bowler. However, he banned the game for those who were not wealthy or "well to do" because "Bowyers, Fletchers, Stringers and Arrowhead makers" were spending more time at recreational events such as bowls instead of practicing their trade. Henry VIII requested that anybody who wished to keep a green pay a fee of 100 pounds. However, the green could only be used for private play and he forbade anyone to "play at any bowle or bowles in open space out of his own garden or orchard".
The earliest documented use of the word 'Jack' in Bowls is either from 1611 "Was there euer man had such lucke? when I kist the Iacke vpon an vp-cast, to be hit away?" or alternatively Shakespeare used it in Cymbeline (thought to have been written in 1609) when he caused Cloten to exclaim, "Was there ever man had such luck! When I kissed the jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away."
There are competing theories as to etymological origin of the word "Jack". John P Monro, Bowls Encyclopaedia (3rd ed), gives that the name 'jack' is derived from the Latin word jactus, meaning a cast or a throw. A sport played by young men called "casting the stone" is mentioned by William FitzStephen, a close friend of Thomas à Becket, in the preface of his biography Vita Sancti Thomae written during the twelfth century. Casting of stones translates in Latin as "jactu lapidum" and was a game in which rounded stones were thrown at or bowled towards a target object and so some are persuaded that the modern word 'Jack' derives originally from this term.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Piquet
The game of Piquet or Cent , the game’s English name in period, has been played since at least the end of the 15th century. It is mentioned in literary and scholarly works as diverse as Rabelais’s Gargantua et Pantagruel (1534) and Girolamo Cardano’s Liber de Ludo Aleae (Book on Games of Chance, 1564), a treatise on probability theory. One of the earliest instruction manuals for a card game was Le Royal Ieu du Piquet Plaisant et recreatif, The Royal and Delightfull Game of Piquet.
• Piquet is a game for two players, using 36 cards (sixes through Aces). The dealer is called the younger; the other player is called the elder. Each hand of piquet is divided into five parts:
• Blanks and discards,
• ruffs,
• sequences,
• sets, and
• tricks.
The parts are played in that order. Scores are counted in each part of the hand; the first player to score 100 points is the winner. This may take several hands.
The players cut for the deal of each hand, and the holder of the low card is the dealer. Each player is dealt 12 cards in increments of 2 to 4 cards. The remaining stock of 12 cards is placed between the players.
• Playing the five parts of Piquet
Blanks and discards:
Each player may discard up to 8 cards, and draw as many from the stock. The elder discards and draws first, followed by the younger. Both players must discard and draw at least one card.
A hand with no face cards is called a blank. If the elder has a blank, the player may declare the blank and the number of cards he/she is going to discard. After declaring, the player shows their hand to the other player. The younger discards and draws his/her new cards if they do not have a blank. Then the elder discards, draws and receives 10 points. However, if the younger also has a blank, they declare and show it. No points are awarded, and play continues as though neither had a blank. The younger may not declare a blank independently.
Ruffs:
A ruff is the total number of points in a suit. Aces count 11 points, face cards count 10 points, and number cards count their number. The elder declares the number of points in her largest ruff. If the younger has an equal or higher ruff, the player declares his/ her points, too. If the ruffs are equal, then neither player scores. If not, the high ruff receives points for all cards in the hand. 1 point is scored for each 10 points in the hand. 1 to 4 points are rounded down, and 5 to 9 points are rounded up. The loser may ask to see the winning ruff.
Sequences:
A sequence is a group of three or more consecutive cards in a suit. The elder declares the number of cards in her longest sequence. If the younger has an equal or higher sequence, she declares it. If the sequence sizes are equal, both declare the largest card in the sequence. If both sequences are of equal length with the same high card, then neither player scores. Otherwise, either the longest sequence, or the sequence containing the largest card receives points for all sequences in the hand. Sets of three and four score 3 and 4 points, respectively. Sets of five and up score 10 points plus the number of cards in the sequence. The loser may ask to see the winning sequence.
Sets:
A set is three or more tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. The elder declares the number of cards in his/her largest set. If the younger has an equal or higher set, they declare it. If the set sizes are equal, the set card is declared. The largest set, or, if both have sets of equal size, the set with the highest card receives points for all sets in the hand. Sets of three score 13 points and sets of four score 14 points. The loser may ask to see the winning set.
Tricks:
Tricks are played like no-trump tricks in bridge. For the first trick, the elder leads a card, and the younger tries to play another, higher card in the same trick. The highest card in the "lead" suit wins the trick. The winner of the trick leads for the next trick, and so on until all cards are played. Tricks are scored both during and after play. Players receive 1 point for leading a ten or larger, 1 point for winning a trick, 2 points for winning the last trick with a ten or higher, or 1 point for winning the last trick with a nine or lower. After all tricks are played, each player counts the number of tricks they have won. A player with seven through eleven tricks receives 10 points; a player with all twelve tricks (known as a Capet) receives 60 points.
• Piquet is a game for two players, using 36 cards (sixes through Aces). The dealer is called the younger; the other player is called the elder. Each hand of piquet is divided into five parts:
• Blanks and discards,
• ruffs,
• sequences,
• sets, and
• tricks.
The parts are played in that order. Scores are counted in each part of the hand; the first player to score 100 points is the winner. This may take several hands.
The players cut for the deal of each hand, and the holder of the low card is the dealer. Each player is dealt 12 cards in increments of 2 to 4 cards. The remaining stock of 12 cards is placed between the players.
• Playing the five parts of Piquet
Blanks and discards:
Each player may discard up to 8 cards, and draw as many from the stock. The elder discards and draws first, followed by the younger. Both players must discard and draw at least one card.
A hand with no face cards is called a blank. If the elder has a blank, the player may declare the blank and the number of cards he/she is going to discard. After declaring, the player shows their hand to the other player. The younger discards and draws his/her new cards if they do not have a blank. Then the elder discards, draws and receives 10 points. However, if the younger also has a blank, they declare and show it. No points are awarded, and play continues as though neither had a blank. The younger may not declare a blank independently.
Ruffs:
A ruff is the total number of points in a suit. Aces count 11 points, face cards count 10 points, and number cards count their number. The elder declares the number of points in her largest ruff. If the younger has an equal or higher ruff, the player declares his/ her points, too. If the ruffs are equal, then neither player scores. If not, the high ruff receives points for all cards in the hand. 1 point is scored for each 10 points in the hand. 1 to 4 points are rounded down, and 5 to 9 points are rounded up. The loser may ask to see the winning ruff.
Sequences:
A sequence is a group of three or more consecutive cards in a suit. The elder declares the number of cards in her longest sequence. If the younger has an equal or higher sequence, she declares it. If the sequence sizes are equal, both declare the largest card in the sequence. If both sequences are of equal length with the same high card, then neither player scores. Otherwise, either the longest sequence, or the sequence containing the largest card receives points for all sequences in the hand. Sets of three and four score 3 and 4 points, respectively. Sets of five and up score 10 points plus the number of cards in the sequence. The loser may ask to see the winning sequence.
Sets:
A set is three or more tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. The elder declares the number of cards in his/her largest set. If the younger has an equal or higher set, they declare it. If the set sizes are equal, the set card is declared. The largest set, or, if both have sets of equal size, the set with the highest card receives points for all sets in the hand. Sets of three score 13 points and sets of four score 14 points. The loser may ask to see the winning set.
Tricks:
Tricks are played like no-trump tricks in bridge. For the first trick, the elder leads a card, and the younger tries to play another, higher card in the same trick. The highest card in the "lead" suit wins the trick. The winner of the trick leads for the next trick, and so on until all cards are played. Tricks are scored both during and after play. Players receive 1 point for leading a ten or larger, 1 point for winning a trick, 2 points for winning the last trick with a ten or higher, or 1 point for winning the last trick with a nine or lower. After all tricks are played, each player counts the number of tricks they have won. A player with seven through eleven tricks receives 10 points; a player with all twelve tricks (known as a Capet) receives 60 points.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)