Crokinole
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crokinole (pronounced croak-i-knoll) is an action board game similar to carrom, shove ha'penny or squails with elements of shuffleboard and curling reduced to table-top size. Players take turns shooting 12 checker-like pieces across the board surface. The pieces have concave faces to reduce sliding friction and often have a central hole. They may also be ring shaped and formed of wood or plastic.
Board dimensions vary with a playing surface typically of polished wood or laminate approximately 27 inches in diameter. The arrangement is 3 concentric rings worth 5, 10, and 15 points as you move in from the outside. There is a shallow 20 point hole at the center. The inner 15 point ring is guarded with 8 small bumpers or posts. The outer edge of the board is raised a bit to keep errant shots from flying out. Crokinole boards are typically octagonal or round in shape.
Players flick or flip their pieces (or in some cases use small cue sticks, like those that would be used for Pool and Billiards) from a quadrant shaped outer ring, which in turn is surrounded by a gutter. Rules vary; nevertheless, you must shoot and hit or touch an enemy piece if present, or the shot disc is 'fouled' and removed from the board. Many (but not all) rules also state that if no opposing pieces are on the board, you must shoot for and land completely in the guarded center 15-point ring. This is often called the 'no hiding' rule, since it prevents players from placing their first shots where their opponent must traverse completely though the guarded centre ring to hit them and avoid fouling. Scoring occurs after all pieces have been played and is differential: opposing pieces in the same ring cancel. Play continues until a predetermined score is reached.
The game is of uncertain origin, however some say that the first authenticated board was made by a Mennonite sign painter in Ontario in 1876. It was patented in 1880. It is also called Pichenotte. The game has remained particularly popular among Canadian Mennonites in Ontario and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan (prairie provinces) more generally. The prairie province version never uses cue sticks, counts the centre hole as 20, and usually plays in teams of two, starting play rotating to each of the 4 players in turn.
A world championship tournament has been held annually since 1999 in Tavistock, Ontario, Canada. In 2005, there were 134 competitors in the Adult Singles division, and the winner was Bruce Hartung of Palmerston, Canada.
In 2006, a documentary movie called "Crokinole" was released. The "world premiere" occurred at the Princess Cinema in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in the Spring of 2006. The movie follows some of the competitors of the 2004 World Crokinole Championship as they prepare for the event.
The flip side of Carrom-brand game boards is a Crokinole board.
[edit] Bibliography
- "The Crokinole Book" by Wayne Kelly, ISBN 0-919783-83-X
- "Sports and games in Canadian children's books" by Irene Elizabeth Aubrey; National Library of Canada; ISBN 0-662-51763-6
- "Board and table games from many civilizations" by R. C. Bell, Dover Publications, N.Y.,1979; ISBN 0-486-23855-5
[edit] External links
- Crokinole.com FAQ - Rules, FAQ and gallery of boards
- Crokinole at BoardGameGeek
- World Crokinole Championships
