the annual British and World Marbles Championships is played at its spiritual home, The Greyhound Inn, in Tinsley Green, Sussex. the village is reputed to be the scene of an epic marbles battle in Elizabethan times over the hand of a local maiden. In this competition, players have to be aged 50 or over to battle it out for a trophy, a coveted golden marble donated by the sponsors, a brewing company but for all its grand title, it does seem to be an all-British event.
perhaps it is time for younger players to be allowed to play and there are some American standardised rules which could be adopted.
some of the sensible rules include: that the standard size of a marble be 5/8 inch in diameter although the judge may allow slight variations for manufacturing faults. a player must allow any target marble or taw set in motion during a shot to continue until it comes to a full stop. The target marble or taw is "dead" once it comes to a complete stop. if a target marble moves thereafter, the judge will put the target marble back. players are cautioned not to walk on the court during a shot. the judge will tell the players when to toss or shoot their taw. players must lag at the same time (whatever that is).
no spitting or swearing please.
perhaps we can come up with a few alternative rules to enhance the game.
on an historical note - in ‘The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England’ published in 1898, Joseph Strutt wrote, "It is said of Augustus when young that by the way of amusement he spent many hours in playing with little Moorish boys cum nucibus [with nuts]. <enough said>-- po, Jun 22 2002 Apparently this is a French thing... http://www.worldmarbles.com/Ansi, cuit au four. Whatever that means. [DrCurry, Jun 22 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004] hah, and I thought you were *predictable* - wrong!-- po, Jun 22 2002 (RE: World Cup... On the news here last night, the anchor says, "USA is eliminated after Germany beats them in the World Cup. No, I don't care either.")-- waugsqueke, Jun 22 2002 *My* *comment* is *worthless* but *we* *seem* to be *using* stars more *often* and i *don't* *want* to be *left* *out*-- [ sctld ], Jun 22 2002 (On the news I caught, the anchor was, gee whiz, spouting on about how the game would be better if the goals were bigger.) (And then on the actual broadcast, the commentator kept calling free kicks "restarts".) (F***ing morons.)-- DrCurry, Jun 22 2002 [po] You attribute the spiritual home of this game to The Greyhound Inn, in Tinsley Green, Sussex...I was so hoping that that you were either going to make a routine pun regarding the Elgin Marbles, or else finally bestow true meaning upon the Stonehenge ruins by declaring them a marble-gaming arena, at least during the times of the Roman occupation. I'm informed by a "reliable" source that there is a huge cache of 5/8 inch diameter golden marbles buried just three meters below the marked "X" in the parking lot adjacent to the monument.-- jurist, Jun 23 2002 ....well, how wrong can one be.......-- po, Jun 23 2002 [Waugs] (Re: World Cup) I actually stayed up to watch that match (4:30 AM,here) thinking it would help me understand and appreciate my European counterparts better if I had an elementary understanding of the game they seem to have become narcotized upon. Um, the patch didn't take, and I refuse to feel shame.-- jurist, Jun 23 2002 random, halfbakery