tiddlywinks

the other day as one feature of a conversation i was sharing with my class the subject of tiddlywinks came up. to my amazement, none of them knew what tiddlywinks was! to their amazement, i knew about something called tiddlywinks.

tiddlywinks was one of those games that my mother’s parents pulled out each time we visited them, and i liked it. it was challenging and had enough variables in it that you couldn’t really predict the eventual winner based on a skill set because the nap of the carpet or the size of the egg cup being used threw all those predictors right out the window.

so, being loath to let go of the formative elements of my childhood, (which as adults we are convinced are worthy of handing on to our poor progeny), i offered to share the secrets of tiddlywinks with them on condition that some permanent relic or memento of this handing on of “the knowledge” be created. it was agreed that each student would eventually craft a tiddlywinks set that they could then gift to their own children when and if the time arose.

i’ll let you know how that project unfolds!

of course, the class asked me how you play it and you know what? it’s actually easy to explain and then very difficult. so i did a little research and found out that there is a whole fascinating tiddlywink world with a history, names and terms, rivalries and a host of other features. i figured that with all this tiddlywinkology there was almost certainly a set of rules that went with this apparently harmless game, and sure enough there’s a set!

here’s the best guide to tiddlywinks that i have come across courtesy of the fine folk at http://www.etwa.org/

TIDDLYWINKS: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Compiled by Patrick Barrie

Is tiddlywinks a serious game?
The short answer is yes, but it's great fun as well. The first thing to state is that it's not just about flicking counters into a cup. It is in fact a complex game of strategy and tactics, which involves a fascinating mixture of manual dexterity and intellectual activity as well. It's a bit like chess in a way, but on an infinitely squared board, and you have the added difficulty of actually playing a piece to where you want it to go. Oh, it's also got an added dimension- height. In tiddlywinks you can capture enemy counters (winks) by covering them up with one of your own. Thus winks often get stacked on top of one another to form 'piles' during a game.

What are the rules?
The rules are available from http://www.etwa.org for those who are interested in reading them. Here, is a brief description.
Tiddlywinks is a game for four players who play in two pairs. In singles matches each player operates two sets of coloured counters (winks) rather than one. There are 6 winks (4 small and 2 large) of each colour (blue, green, red and yellow). The game is played on a six foot by three felt mat with a pot placed in the centre. The winks are played by using a 'squidger'; this is any circular disc between 25 and 51 mm in diameter. Players use different squidgers for different shots (like selecting a club in golf). A player normally only plays a single shot in each turn, but is rewarded with an extra shot if they happen to pot a wink of their own colour. Play is time limited. Pairs matches last for 25 minutes and Singles matches last for 20 minutes, after which each colour has a further five rounds, ending with the colour that started.
The aim of the game is to secure the highest number of table points ('tiddlies'). At the end of a normal game, three tiddlies are scored for each wink in the pot and one for each wink which remains uncovered by other winks on the mat. The player who scores most tiddlies gets four game points, the player who comes second gets two game points, and the player who comes third gets one game point. In pairs, partners add their points together. Thus there are always seven points in every game. In matches and tournaments points are usually added, so that the margin by which games are won, rather than just the number of games won, is important.
If one player gets all their six winks into the pot they are deemed to have won by "potting out". Any winks covered are then released and two more colours must also get all their winks into the pot to distribute the seven points based on who comes first, second and third in the potting race. The partnership which potted out is rewarded by the transfer of one point from their opponents to their own score.
Although potting out potentially provides the best score for the winners, pot-outs are rarer than might be expected. The reason is that if any wink is covered by another, the lower wink is said to be "squopped" and cannot be played. It must be rescued by another wink of that partnership. A shot which starts on the top wink of a pile may continue through underlying winks and thus squopped winks may be rescued in this way. Why are pot-outs fairly rare? The answer is simple. If a player attempting to pot out misses one shot at the pot, his wink may be captured by the opponents. If several of his winks are already in the pot, he and his partner have far fewer winks on the mat with which to fight their opponents. The chances of rescuing the squopped wink are low, and the probability that the opposition will be able to manoeuvre themselves into a winning position is high.
Hence true winks is a game of strategy. A pair must capture and guard their opponents' winks whilst preserving their own. The basic skills of the game can be learnt in days, but the tactical knowledge of players takes years to acquire and can always be improved. Complex tactical games can develop with lots of small piles and the choice of where to attack; alternatively you may find yourself in a game in which all winks end up in a huge pile, or one of your opponents takes the calculated gamble of trying to pot out...

Silly words and their meanings.
Winks has a very colourful vocabulary. Here is a glossary of some of the most common terms that are in use:
BLITZ: an attempt to pot all six of your own colour early in the game (generally before many squops have been taken).
BOMB: to send a wink at a pile, usually from distance, in the hope of significantly disturbing it.
BOONDOCK: to play a squopped wink a long way away, usually while keeping your own wink(s) in the battle area.
BRING-IN: An approach shot.
BRISTOL: a shot which attempts to jump a pile onto another wink; the shot is played by holding the squidger at right angles to its normal plane.
CARNOVSKY: a successful pot from the baseline (i.e. from 1 metre away).
CRUD: a physically hard shot whose purpose is to destroy a pile completely.
DOUBLETON: a pile in which two winks are covered up by a single enemy wink.
FREE TURNS (and FAILURE TO FREE): far too complicated to go into here.
GOOD SHOT: named after John Good. The shot consists of playing a flat wink through a nearby pile in the hope of destroying it.
GROMP: an attempt to jump a pile onto another wink (usually with the squidger held in a conventional rather than Bristol fashion).
JOHN LENNON MEMORIAL SHOT: a simultaneous boondock and squop.
KNOCK-OFF: to knock the squopping wink off a pile.
LUNCH: to pot a squopped wink (usually belonging to an opponent).
PILE: a group of winks connected directly or indirectly by squops.
POT: (noun) the cup that is placed in the centre of the mat; (verb) to play a wink into the pot.
SCRUNGE: to bounce out of the pot.
SQUIDGER: the circular disk used to propel winks.
SQUOP: to play a wink so that it comes to rest above another wink.
SQUOP-UP: the situation that occurs when all winks of a partnership have been squopped. Free turns result (q.v.).
SUB: to play a wink so that it ends up under another wink.
WINKS: the circular counters used in the game.

and there you have it folks. now to get a handful of winks, a pot, and a few friends willing to put some dignity on the line.