(Photo by Graham Chastney) We're old-fashioned when it comes to games and toys. We prefer Lincoln Logs to Leapsters, Backgammon to Warcraft, and even Rock Paper Scissors to Grand Theft Auto. So when we recently learned about a traditional playground game that requires only horse chestnuts (also known as "conkers") and string, we were intrigued. The more we learned about the game of Conkers, the more we felt we'd been deprived of something wonderful as children. In Conkers (which is played mostly in the U.K., Ireland, and some former British colonies), the preparation is nearly as important as the game. Competitors -- generally school kids, although nostalgic (and sometimes inebriated) adults also partake -- select the biggest, toughest, or luckiest-looking horse chestnuts from the autumn crop. Some contestants boil, bake, soak in vinegar, or shellac their conkers in order to toughen them up -- though others insist that any conker-tampering is cheating. Players carefully bore a hole through each nut, and thread a string through it, knotting the end to keep it in place. And then the games -- and the bruises -- begin. The game consists of two competitors taking turns whacking one another's conkers with their own, with play determined by a catalog of arcane rules and traditions. The conker that breaks first is the loser, with the winning nut receiving a score that is the sum of its own victories, plus the victories of all the loser's vanquished opponents. A particularly lucky conker might have dozens of victories under its belt before being smashed or retired from competition. Once a competitor graduates from playground matches, there's only one place to go: the World Conker Championships. The annual event takes place in Ashton, England, on the second Sunday of October. If you can't make it to the games in person this weekend, grab your conkers and play along at home! Suggested Sites... World Conker Championships - official site of the world's most serious game of Conkers. Institution of Occupational Safety and Health: Conkers! - the safety group now sponsors the WCC, dispelling a myth that they once required children to wear protective goggles while playing Conkers. Conkers: A Favourite Childen's Game - detailed, illustrated instructions -- all you need to start playing Conkers. BBC: Caravan Conkers! - the boys from BBC's "Top Gear" play Conkers with cranes and RVs. The End of Horse Chestnut Trees? - BBC report on a deadly fungus that threatens horse chestnut trees -- and Conkers.

Directory categories: Conkers, Games, U.K. Games, Game Retailers

Archived under: Conkers, Contests, Games, Kids, Recreation and Travel, Regional, Sports, United Kingdom

Post a comment (2) | Email this posting