I have been spending way too much time staring at this game board which hangs in my kids’ playroom. I love the wood, the colors, its aging. It is rich in ingenuity, designed with four game boards locked into one unit. With so much thought put into it, I often wondered how they botched the scoring labels; a ten point inner circle and subsequent five point ring, followed by a circle with no points at all. A noticeable blemish on an otherwise notable board.
Not long ago, Jeremy Tracey from crokinolegameboards.com created a fun and informative Youtube video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoFMHC4frws) explaining the official National Crokinole Association Rules. The refresher allowed for some reflection on the rules and the variants that exist. Enthusiasts of crokinole, like those of baseball, take pride in its traditions and timelessness, and again, like baseball, it has experienced changes that have impacted game play and in the long run made it more enjoyable. So I decided to review the rules from the oldest source that I know; The Rules and Regulations of the Parlor Game Crokinole for M.B. Ross boards.
As far as I can determine, the Ross pamphlet which does not contain a date, may contain the oldest ‘official’ rules of the game. I can’t be certain but this is my defense: 1. M.B. Ross owned the oldest known U.S. patent for crokinole originating in 1880. 2. Some unique phrases that exist in other rule books all appear in this pamphlet, along with a wood cut that includes a unique floating arm demonstrating the fillip. This image appears in countless rule booklets and advertising during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, but in these sources, it was always in a poorer, copied form. 3. Since Ross seems to be the first to commercialize and mass produce the game, he needed to create a guide so people knew how to play once purchased. The origins of crokinole suggest that the game grew organically out of Canada and people were exposed to the game and rules from other players, and as such, the boards were probably made one at a time while the rules were handed down orally and from playing experiences. Now with Ross, you purchased the game first and then learned the rules, thus a need for a guide.
Reading Ross’ rules is similar to reading early baseball rules from the 1800’s, the game is quickly recognizable but you immediately notice differences that would change play and strategy. Let’s look at some of the similarities to today’s version of crokinole and changes that occurred. A quick note on the board and the first similarity; while the rules don’t mention specs, owning a Ross board from the era, I can attest, that the playing surface and circles are within range to today’s recreational boards (more about this board and its discs will be included in a future post).
The Fillip: The booklet describes the generally accepted practice of using the first finger supported between the thumb and ‘first finger’ to snap or fillip the closely placed disc (see the above illustration). But where to shoot? Here is where a twist begins on this basic strategy as the the quote below suggests.
Why? Because it’s about the points! Any decent player knows that the best crokinole shot maximizes your position in or near the twenty circle while knocking your opponent in the ditch. Look at the board illustration and look at the letters. In the booklet, each is assigned a score; A-The center hole, like today is 20 points, but things quickly differ, B-was 10 points (15 today), C-was 5 (now 10) and D-was worth 0 (currently 5). But the Ross rules offer an additional area for points; the ditch. Any opponent’s discs that ended up in the ditch were worth 5 points for you.
So, if you look back at that shot the floating hand is about to take, it wouldn’t make sense in the modern game. First off, the white disc would have been removed because it is on the outer line. No such rule existed then, so it stayed. But why go for that shot if it is in a circle that has no points? Because if the black disc hits the white into the ditch, they earn 5 points and they might just get 5 points if it successfully caroms into the circle labeled C. The rules created different strategies.
Other differences between the Ross and the National Association of Crokinole rules .
| Ross Rules | Modern Rules (NCA Rules) |
| You are obliged to hit an opponent’s disc if on the board, attempt seems to count. | You must hit an opponent’s disc if there is one on the board. |
| Not required to land disc in inner circle if no opponent’s discs on board or if only your discs are on the board. | Required to land disc in inner circle if no opponent’s discs on board or if only your discs are on the board. |
| No penalty if you hit your disc(s) and not opponents. (This is assumed and not specifically mentioned in booklet. ) | Disc removed if you fail to hit opponent’s disc and any of your other discs are re- moved if incidentally hit as well. |
| Disc that hits side wall and returns to board remains on board and counts. | Discs that hit side and returns to board are removed but ‘the damage’ remains. |
| Twenties are counted immediately unless it would result in the game ending. For example if a player had 80 points, and playing to 100 , you would not count it and it would remain on the board until the end of the round, unless your opponent knocked it out during their turn. | All twenties are immediately removed, but point totals are not tallied until the end of the round. |
| Last circle worth 0 points. | Last circle worth 5 points. |
| Opponent’s discs in ditch worth 5 points. | Ditch discs worth 0 points. |
| If your disc is resting in your quadrant on the border line nearest ditch, you may put shooting disc in front of it and flick the disc on the line instead. | A disc on the outermost line would be removed to the ditch. |
| Similarities that still exist. |
| Only one player receives points per round based on the difference between the point totals of the players. |
| A disc resting on a line counts toward the lower point total/circle. |
| A player cannot move seat or board during a round. |
| Only player shooting disc can touch the board/table or have disc on board. |
| A player must shoot from the lines within his/her quadrant. |
The following article from January 10, 1889, in The Journal Times, a newspaper from Racine, Wisconsin introduces the citizens of that area to the game and rules of crokinole which are identical to the Ross rules.
To note, the original rules include familiar terms like ditch and discs, but don’t use twenty/center hole (was ‘central recess’) or quadrant (was ‘line in front and short lines’). The rules don’t mention the number of discs (the above article does, however), but the Ross board included a box with 12 of each color and one of each that do not fit in the box (extras?). It is suggested to play to 100.
The rules also state that the 20 must be immediately counted but does not state that the disc be removed. A disc could be knocked out and counted again if it is knocked back in the twenty hole on another shot (can’t simply go in and out on same shot), but can’t be counted again if it was already counted and remained there at the end of the round when adding up the points.
Future rules clean up the attempt to hit an opponent’s disc and make it a requirement when shooting. Having no requirement to land discs in the inner circle when no opponent’s discs are on the board, must have made for some defensively mired games where players hid on their own sides far away from their opponents, protected by the posts. Looking back at other versions of rules, it is easy to see that vagueness was gradually fleshed out to rectify these situations.
For example, by 1900, perhaps even earlier, manufacturers adjusted rules to close one such loophole, or may have done greater research to align with already existing rules. The instructions illustrated below with a copyright date of 1900 offer similar rules to the Ross version, but ditch discs no longer count for the opponent. This booklet also offers an alternative scoring method where the points count from center out: 20, 15, 10, 5 and no points for the ditch with the point difference going to the winner of the round. This should sound more familiar to the modern player, but curiously, it also now includes points (5 points per disc) for each disc in excess on the board beyond your opponent’s discs if you have the most discs on the board. This new wrinkle was added for both scoring methods in this pamphlet.
Other changes will occur which will eventually get us to the complete modern rules, but all players know that many variations still exist and that house rules make for colorful challenges and glimpses into family preferences and probably, past family squabbles.
Looking back at my beautiful board, I take heed to the advice that my wife tells me when I see something that contradicts what I think; “you’re probably wrong.” Yes, once again, I was wrong; those point reminders were accurate based on those early rules. But I did have fun finding out why I was incorrect.