Snooker

Snooker is a billiards game, played on a special table, with one white cueball, 15 red balls and 6 balls of various colours (the 'colours'). It is particularly popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. Of the players to regularly make televised tournaments, the only other countries to be represented are Australia, Hong Kong, Malta, Thailand, and China. The intention of the game is to score points by causing the red and coloured balls to be played into the pockets along the edge of the table (in all 4 corners and the middle of each of the long cushions).

The game

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Snooker is played on a 6' by 12' (about 1.83m by 3.66m) table with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. At one end of the table is the so-called 'baulk line'. On this line the yellow ball (2 points) is on the left, the green ball (3) on the right and the brown ball (4) in the middle. At the exact middle of the table starts the blue ball (5), and yet further down the pink one (6), followed by the red balls, touching each other and placed in a triangle behind the pink, and finally the black ball (7). The white cueball can be placed anywhere inside The D (the semi-circle behind the baulk line), although it is normal for players to start by placing the ball on the line, between the brown ball and either the green or yellow ball.

The game consists of two phases. In the first phase, the players have to play a red ball (that is, play the cueball so that it is a red ball it first touches). When they succeed in potting a red ball, they get another shot, now at a colour. When this colour is potted, it is replaced on the table - if possible on its own spot, otherwise on the highest remaining spot, or if all spots are occupied, as close to its own spot in a straight line (perpendicular to the baulk line) as is possible without touching the ball sitting there. After this another red has to be played, etcetera.

When potting a colour, the game's rules state that a player must nominate the ball he is playing for to the referee; however this is not necessary on most shots because the choice is obvious. The choice is usually only made explicit if two or more coloured balls are in close proximity or near the same line of sight.

After the last red and the following colour have been played, the second phase begins. In this phase, all colours have to be potted in the correct order (yellow, then green, then brown, then blue, then pink, then black).

One scores points by potting the correct ball - 1 point for each red, the ball's value for the colours. One also scores points if the opponent makes a mistake such as:

• not hitting any ball with the cueball
• hitting a colour first when a red should be hit, or a red when a colour should be hit, or the wrong colour
• potting a red when a colour should be potted, or a colour when a red should be potted, or the wrong colour
• potting the cueball
• making a ball go off the table
• touching any ball other than the cueball
• playing a "push shot" - a shot where the cue, cueball and object ball are in simultaneous contact

Penalty points are 4 points, the value of the ball that should be hit or the value of the ball that was faulted with, whichever is highest. If a foul has been committed and the referee judges that the player has not made the best possible effort to play a legal shot, then a "miss" is called and all balls on the table are returned to their position before the foul. (In top class play, this will usually only require the cueball and a couple of other balls to be moved.) When a foul shot has been played, the player who committed the foul may be asked to go back to the table for another shot if the position is still difficult to play from.

The highest possible score in a break that can be achieved without receiving penalty points is 147; in that case, the player must pot the black ball after each red ball in the first phase of the game. Scoring 147 points in a single break rarely occurs in match play.

The highest possible score achievable (in a single break) is 155 points. That happens when an opponent fouls before any balls are potted and leaves the other player unable to hit any of the reds on both sides. The player nominates and sinks a colour which is scored as a red, then sinks the black for a total of 8 points. He then clears the table to score the 147 points mentioned in the previous paragraph, and adds that to his 8 points for a total of 155.

History

The game of billiards goes back to the 15th century, but snooker is a more recent invention. In the late 19th century, billiards games were popular among British army officers stationed in India, and players used to experiment with variations on the game. The most commonly accepted story is that, at the officers' mess in Jubbulpore in 1875, Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain (no relation to the later Prime Minister) suggested adding coloured balls to a billiards game. The word 'snooker' was army slang for a first-year cadet. This came to be used for novices to the game, and eventually for the game itself. British billiards champion John Roberts travelled to India in 1885, where he met Chamberlain. Chamberlain explained the new game to him, and Roberts subsequently introduced the game to England.

Snooker championships date back to 1916. In 1927, Joe Davis, by far the best player of the time, helped set up the first professional world championship, and won its prize of £6.10s. He won every subsequent world championship until 1946.

Snooker suffered a decline in the 1950s and 1960s, so much so that no tournament was held from 1958 to 1963. In 1969, the BBC, in order to demonstrate their new colour broadcasts, launched a new snooker tournament, called Pot Black. The multi-coloured game, many of whose players were just as colourful, caught the public interest, and the programme's success wildly exceeded expectations.

A few years later, the world championship was first televised, and snooker became a mainstream professional sport. World rankings were introduced in 1977. Money poured into the game, and a new breed of player, typified by Steve Davis, young, serious and dedicated, started to emerge. The first televised 147 was achieved in 1982 by Steve Davis. The top players became sterling millionaires. There was even a comic snooker song in the pop charts: Snooker Loopy by Chas & Dave.

Perhaps the peak of this golden age was the world championship of 1985, when 18.5 million people (one third of the population of the UK) watched Dennis Taylor lift the cup after a mammoth struggle that went on well after midnight.

Snooker remains immensely popular in the United Kingdom, second only to football amongst television viewers. There has recently been a surge of interest in the Far East, with players from Thailand, Hong Kong and China entering the rankings.

Tournaments

The most important event in professional snooker is the World Championship, held annually since 1927. The tournament has been held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield (England) since 1977.

The group of tournaments that come next in importance are the so-called invitational tournaments, to which most of the highest ranked players are invited. The most important tournament in this category is the Benson & Hedges Masters.

Third in line are the nine ranking tournaments, which include the World Championships. Players can score points here for the ranking. A high ranking ensures qualification for next year's tournaments, invitations to invitational tournaments and an advantageous draw in tournaments.

Notable players

Some of the most famous snooker players are:

• Joe Davis (England), won the World Championships 15 consecutive times from 1927 to 1946
• Steve Davis (England), won six World Championships in the 1980s
• Ken Doherty (Republic of Ireland), won the 1997 World Championship
• Graeme Dott (Scotland), Finalist at the Embassy 2004 World Championship
• Tony Drago (Malta), one of the fastest snooker players around, noted for potting the fastest ever maximum break.
• Stephen Hendry (Scotland), won seven World Championships in the 1990s
• Alex Higgins (Northern Ireland), won two World championships; 1972 and 1982
• Ronnie O'Sullivan (England), won two World Championships, most recently in 2004; holder of the record for fastest televised 147 break.
• John Pulman (England), dominated in the 1960s
• Ray Reardon (Wales), won six World championships in the 1970s
• Dennis Taylor (Northern Ireland), won the 1985 World Championship final; also famous for wearing large spectacles.
• Cliff Thorburn (Canada), the only non-British player to win the world championship other than Ken Doherty.
• Bill Werbeniuk (Canada), noted for the large amounts of alcohol he consumed during matches on medical advice to control tremors.
• Jimmy White (England), the "eternal 2nd", was runner-up in the World Championships six times.

Embassy world rankings 2004/5

Ranking	Name	Nationality
1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	England
2	Mark Williams	Wales
3	Stephen Hendry	Scotland
4	Paul Hunter	England
5	John Higgins	Scotland
6	Matthew Stevens	Wales
7	Ken Doherty	Ireland
8	Peter Ebdon	England
9	Stephen Lee	England
10	Alan McManus	Scotland
11	Jimmy White	England
12	Chris Small	Scotland
13	Steve Davis	England
14	David Gray	England
15	Graeme Dott	Scotland
16	Marco Fu	Hong Kong

Snooker equipment

• chalk: The tip of the cue is 'chalked' to ensure good contact between cue and ball.
• cue: The wooden stick, which is used to strike the cueball.
• rest: A stick with an X-shaped head, which is used to support the cue when the player's arm is too short.
• spider: Similar to the rest but has an arch-shaped head, which is used to elevate (and support) the tip of the cue above the height of the cueball.
• swan: Rarely used - the swan has an single extended neck with a fork-like prong at the end to give extra distance over larger obstructions.

Glossary

• baulk area: The area between the baulk line and the nearest edge.
• break: Series of consecutive pots by the same player.
• cannon: Strong hit at another ball after the object ball has been hit. Can for example be used to spread a pack of balls.
• century: A break of 100 points or more.
• cherry: A red ball
• clearance: Break ending with potting the black in phase 2, and thus with an empty table (except for the cueball).
• fluke: Unintended, usually lucky, way to pot a ball.
• frame: A single game in a match over a number of games.
• hooked: Snookered (see below)
• kiss: Situation where either the cueball or the object ball makes unintended contact with another ball (or each other) after the object ball has been hit.
• masse: A shot played with the cue played in an almost vertical position - used to impart extreme swerve on the cue ball.
• maximum: The maximum (without fouls) possible score of 147, scored in a single break.
• plant: Shot at a red ball, such that it hits another red ball which then is potted.
• pot: To hit (a ball) into one of the pockets.
• push stroke: The cue is still pushing the cueball, when the cueball hits another ball. This is a foul.
• respotted black: When the frame ends with both players having the same number of points, the black is put back on the table, as is the cueball, and the first player to pot it wins the frame. If a foul shot is committed by either player, that player loses the frame.
• safety: A way of playing the ball, not with the intention to pot something, but to make it hard or impossible for the opponent to make a pot on his next shot.
• shot to nothing: An attempt or half-attempt to pot a ball in such a way that opponent is not left an easy chance if the pot fails - a combination of a potting attempt and a safety shot.
• snooker: A player is said to be snookered when he cannot hit any correct ball directly in a straight line. A player 'needs snookers' when potting all the remaining balls would still leave him trailing his opponent.
• touching ball: Situation in which the cueball is touching another ball. If this is a ball that is to be hit, the ball counts as having been hit if the cueball is played away from it.

External link

• World Snooker Association