Carom billiards Totally Explained

Everything about Carom Billiards totally explained

Carom billiards, sometimes called carambole billiards or simply carambole and, in some cases, used as a synonym for the game of straight rail from which many carom games derive, is the overarching title of a family of billiards games generally played on cloth-covered, 5 by 10 foot (approximately 1.5 × 3 m) pocketless tables, which often feature heated slate beds. At its simplest form, the object of most carom games is to score or "counts" by one's own off both the opponent's cue ball and the on a single shot. The invention as well as the exact date of origin of carom billiards is somewhat obscure but is thought to be traceable to 18th century France.
There are a large array of carom billiards disciplines. Some of the more prevalent today and historically are (chronologically by apparent date of invention): straight rail, cushion caroms, balkline, three-cushion billiards and artistic billiards. There are many other carom billiards games, predominantly intermediary or offshoot games combining elements of those already listed, such as the champion's game, an intermediary game between straight rail and balkline, as well as games which are hybrids of carom billiards and pocket billiards, such as English billiards played on a snooker table and its descendant games, American four-ball billiards, and cowboy pool. also known as star fruit. But this may simply be folk etymology, as the fruit bears no resemblance to a billiard ball, and there's no direct evidence for such a derivation.

Equipment

Cloth

Cloth has been used to cover billiards tables since the 15th century. In fact, the predecessor company of the most famous maker of billiard cloth, Iwan Simonis, was formed in 1453. Most cloth made for carom billiards tables is a type of baize that's dyed green, and is made from 100% worsted wool, which provides a very fast surface allowing the balls to travel with little resistance across the table . The green color of cloth was originally chosen to emulate the look of grass, and has been so colored since the 16th century. However, the color also serves a useful function, as humans have a higher light sensitivity to green than to any other color, allowing play for longer periods of time without eye strain.

Balls

balls (61.5 mm [2⁷⁄₁₆ in] diameter), including a red, a plain white, and a dotted cue ball for the opponent. Some games use an additional object ball.]] Modern billiard balls are made from phenolic resin or other highly resilient plastics, are normally 61.5 mm (2⁷⁄₁₆ in) in diameter, weigh between 205 and 220 grams (7.23 – 7.75 ounces; 7.5 is average), and are significantly larger and heavier than their pocket billiards counterparts. While UMB, the International Olympic Committee-recognized world carom billiards authority, permits balls as small as 61.0 mm (approximately 2³⁄₈),
Billiard balls have been made from many different materials since the start of the game, including clay, wood, ivory, plastics (including celluloid, Bakelite, crystalate, and phenolic resin) and even steel. The dominant material from 1627 until the early- to mid-twentieth century was ivory. The search for a substitute for ivory use wasn't for environmental concerns but based on economic motivation and fear of danger for elephant hunters. It was in part spurred on by a New York billiard table manufacturer who announced a prize of $10,000 for a substitute material. The first viable substitute was celluloid billiard balls, invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1868, but the material was volatile and highly flammable, sometimes exploding during manufacture.

Billiard cues

Billiard cues have specialized refinements making them different from the typical pool cue which many people are more familiar with. Such cues tend to be shorter overall, with a shorter, a fatter, a wooden pin joint, a, and a smaller tip diameter as compared with pool cues. These features make the cue significantly stiffer, which aids in handling the larger and heavier billiard balls as compared with pool cues, but more importantly, act to reduce . Deflection, sometimes called squirt, may be defined as displacement of the cue ball's path away from the parallel line formed by the cue stick's direction of travel. It is a factor that occurs every time (sidespin) is employed, and its effects are magnified by speed. In some carom billiards games, deflection plays a large role because many shots require extremes of english, coupled with great speed; a combination typically minimized as much as possible, by contrast, in pocket billiards.

History of games

Straight rail

Straight rail, sometimes referred to as carom billiards, straight billiards, the three-ball game, the carambole game, and the free game in Europe, is thought to date to the 1700s, although no exact time of origin is known. It was known as French caroms, French billiards or the French Game in early times, taking those bygone names from the French who popularized it. The object of straight rail is simple: one point, called a "count", is scored each time a player's cue ball makes contact with both object balls (the second cue ball and the third ball) on a single . A win is achieved by reaching an agreed upon number of counts. Ultimately, however, despite its divergence from straight rail, the champion's game simply expanded the dimensions of the balk space defined under the existing crotch prohibition which wasn't sufficient to stop nursing.
   In the balkline games, rather than drawing balklines a few inches from the corners, the entire table is divided into rectangular balk spaces, by drawing balklines a certain distance lengthwise and widthwise across the length of the table a set number of inches parallel out from each rail. This divides the table into eight rectangular balkspaces. Additionally, rectangles are drawn where each balkline meets a rail, called anchor spaces, which developed to stop a number of nursing techniques that exploited the fact that if the object balls straddled a balkline, no count limit was in place. 12½.2, 14.1, 14.2, 18.1, 18.2, 28.2, 38.2, 39.2, 42.2, 45.1, 45.2, 47.1, 47.2, 57.2 and 71.2 balkline. In its various incarnations, balkline was the predominate carom discipline from 1883 to the 1930s when it was overtaken by three-cushion billiards (and pocket billiards). Balkline isn't very common in the U.S. but still enjoys a large popularity in Europe and the Far East. is traceable to 1820s Britain and is a descendant of the doublet game dating to at least 1807. The game is sometimes incorrectly referred to as one-cushion or one-cushion billiards, which is the direct translation of its name into English from various other languages such as Spanish ("una banda") and German ("einband"). At least one publication categorically states he invented the game as well.
   The very first tournament at three-cushion billiards was held in 1878 in St. Louis, won by New Yorker Leon Magnus. The game was infrequently played prior to 1907, with many top players of the era voicing their dislike of it. However, in 1907 after the introduction of the Lambert Trophy, the game became increasingly popular both in the U.S. and internationally.
   By 1924 3-cushion had become so popular that two giants in other billiard disciplines agreed to take up the game especially for a challenge match. On September 22, 1924 Willie Hoppe, the world's Balkline champion (who later took up the game with a passion), and Ralph Greenleaf, the world's pocket billiards title holder, played a well-advertised, multiple day, 600 point match. Hoppe was the eventual winner with a final score turned in of 600-527. The game's decline in the U.S. came about in 1952 when Hoppe, then 51-time billiards champion, announced his retirement.
   Three-cushion billiards is a very difficult game. Averaging one point per is professional level play, and averaging 1.5 to 2 is world class play. An average of one means that for at every turn at the table, a player makes 1 point and misses once, thus making a point on 50% of his or her shots. The high run at three-cushion billiards for many years was 25, set by the American Willie Hoppe in 1918 during an exhibition. As of 2007, the high run record is 31 points, shared between Semih Saygıner from Turkey and Hugo Patiño who is originally from Colombia but resides in the US. The best game at the standard 50 points in a tournament is 9 innings by the Swede Torbjörn Blomdahl in 2000 and 4 innings by the Korean Sang Lee in 1992 in an exhibition game.
   Three-cushion billiards is the most popular carom billiards game played in the U.S. today, although overall pocket billiards is far more widespread. Three-cushion retains great popularity in parts of Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Decades later, the Billiards World Cup Association (BWA) competed with UMB, but faded in the late 1990s due to financial problems.

Artistic billiards

In Artistic billiards, sometimes called fantasy billiards or fantaisie classique, players compete at performing 76 preset shots of varying difficulty. Each set shot has a maximum point value assigned for perfect execution, ranging from a 4-point maximum for lowest level difficulty shots, and climbing to an 11-point maximum for shots deemed highest in difficulty level. There is a total of 500 points available to a player. The governing body of the sport is the Confédération International de Billard Artistique (CIBA).
Each shot in an artistic billiards match is played from a well-defined position (in some venues within an exacting two millimeter tolerance), and each shot must unfold in an established manner. Players are allowed three attempts at each shot. In general, the shots making up the game – even 4-point shots – require a high degree of skill, devoted practice and specialized knowledge to perform. World title competition first started in 1986 and required the use of ivory balls. However, this requirement was dropped in 1990. The highest score ever achieved in world competition was 374, by the Frenchman Jean Reverchon in 1992, while the highest score in competition overall is 427 set by the Belgian Walter Bax on March 12 2006 (External Link

). The game is played predominantly in western Europe, especially in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Further Information

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