The passion of a person for the game begins to manifest itself at an early age and remains for life. Psychologists consider this phenomenon of vigorous activity - a great way to learn about the world. Among the wide variety of games, billiards is one of the oldest and practically unchanged rules.
History of billiards
None of the historians can say when and where humanity began to roll balls on the table and drive them into holes. In Germany and England, there were types of games similar to billiards. The Germans, using a truncheon, tried to drive the iron balls into the holes of the table, and the prim Englishmen - into special gates that were placed on the earthen platform.
The history of the origin of the word "billiards" is interesting and ambiguous. Most researchers are inclined towards two versions. The first is that the name of the game is made up of two ancient Saxon words: ball and yerd, which mean "ball" and "stick", respectively. The second version indicates that the concept of "billiards" originates from the French "billart", which means "wooden stick".
Throughout history, only kings and royal persons have played billiards, who constantly made their own adjustments to the rules of the game and even at times forbade the ball to be pocketed.
Among the royal rulers, Mary Stuart distinguished herself with her passion for this game, who before her death asked the Archbishop of Glasgow to save her billiards table.
In Russia, this type of strategic game appeared thanks to Peter I, who learned about the existence of billiards while traveling to Holland. The king promoted the game among his subordinates by setting up a table in his reception room.
Billiards became even more widespread during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, who every day practiced the art of rolling balls.
In 1994, the rules of Russian billiards were approved by the National Federation of Billiard Sports.
Billiards rules
Throughout the rich and ancient history of development, billiards has been constantly changing. There are about 30 varieties of this game, which are conventionally divided into 4 main ones: Russian billiards, sports pool, snooker, carom.
Despite the wide variety of types, there are basic rules for playing billiards.
The player makes the first hit on the ball, which breaks the rest of the balls. When preparing for a blow, it is necessary to maintain a comfortable and fixed position of the body, lead the cue straight and freely. The goal of the game is to roll the maximum number of balls into special recesses of the table - pockets. Before the game, it is necessary not only to develop a specific and accurate strategy, but also to constantly follow it.
Before the game starts, 15 balls are arranged tightly in a pyramid shape. The first hit is determined by the rally. The winner has the right either to strike himself or to concede it to his opponent.
When performing the initial strike, it is forbidden to put the hull beyond the line of the outer side of the long board A ball that is pocketed is considered played. The ball bounced off the pocket remains in play.
The blow begins from the moment the cue sticker with the cue ball touches and ends after all balls in the playing area have stopped. The opponent starts playing after a violation of the rules, or if no balls have been played.
