Billiard sports
Speaking about the origin of the billiard game, it is impossible to accurately determine the time of its appearance. It is only known that it, like chess, is of very ancient origin, and the homeland of billiards is Asia, according to some – India, according to others – China. However, in European countries, even before their appearance, the principles of modern billiards were already laid down in some games.
For example, in the German folk game Balkespiel, which existed in Germany back in the Middle Ages, long tables with rough sides and recesses were used, where the player tried to drive the opponent’s stone ball with a baton. In England, around the same years, the game Pall-Mallspill was widespread, in which players played several balls on a hard-packed earthen platform, trying to roll them (according to certain rules) through the gate. In the middle of the XV century. many garden games turned into indoor games, which greatly affected their further development.
The first billiard tables had many technical imperfections. So, the sides were not elastic and the balls, hitting them, were not reflected, it was impossible to give the ball a lateral rotation with rough cues- clubs, the board on which the balls were rolling was not very smooth and solid, the game looked very primitive.
In the future, since the end of the XVI century, billiards has been improved. Simple holes (pockets) in the sides are equipped with mesh pockets, and the number of pockets is consistently reduced to six. The sides of the table are lined with wool, and later edged with rubber, which made them more elastic and allowed them to reflect the balls better. Billiard boards were handled more carefully. Moreover, both the boards and the sides began to be covered with cloth. Gradually, the short stick gave way to a long cue, the game takes on a completely different character and interest in billiards increases dramatically.
The improvement of the billiard table has also affected its shape. A square, then a six-, octagonal, and even a round table eventually gets a firmly established modern quadrangular shape, in which, regardless of the size of the billiard table, strict proportionality is maintained: the length of the table is always twice its width. It turned out that such a quadrangular shape, consisting of two squares, has a number of significant advantages over other forms: it seemed possible to place six pockets at an equal distance from each other, that is, the most appropriate number of them, since any other number of pockets overly simplifies or, conversely, complicates the game during the game it became possible to get from the long sides, any ball located in the middle of the table, the balls reflected from the sides are reduced to the simplest four types of strikes ( from one, two, three, and four sides) along with playing balls into pockets, wagering is widely used, there was enough room for strikes when laying balls across the entire pool table. The sizes of billiard tables also changed. Experience and practice have shown that the most interesting game can only be played on a large billiard table.
The improvement of the billiard table has also affected its shape. A square, then a six-, octagonal, and even a round table eventually gets a firmly established modern quadrangular shape, in which, regardless of the size of the billiard table, strict proportionality is maintained: the length of the table is always twice its width. It turned out that such a quadrangular shape, consisting of two squares, has a number of significant advantages over other forms: it seemed possible to place six pockets at an equal distance from each other, that is, the most appropriate number of them, since any other number of pockets overly simplifies or, conversely, complicates the game during the game it became possible to get from the long sides, any ball located in the middle of the table, the balls reflected from the sides are reduced to the simplest four types of strikes ( from one, two, three, and four sides) along with playing balls into pockets, wagering is widely used, there was enough room for strikes when laying balls across the entire pool table. The sizes of billiard tables also changed. Experience and practice have shown that the most interesting game can only be played on a large billiard table.
From the very beginning, Russia has developed its own characteristic type of billiard games, currently known as “Russian Billiards”. Russian players preferred strict billiard tables, on which balls could fall only with a very correct hit. Guided by the wishes of the best billiard players of that time, the famous St. Petersburg manufacturer and player A. Freyberg, who can rightfully be called the father of Russian billiards, in 1850 began to produce billiard tables of a new type, the so-called Freiberg billiards, the main features of which have survived to the present day.
Freyberg, according to Lehmann, had great talent. He intuitively understood what to strive for in order for the game to acquire a characteristic pattern for Russian billiards. The Russian Freiberg billiard table is a table with strict pockets and sides of medium elasticity that stand out from the sides. The ball falls into the pocket only with a perfect hit. Freyberg was the first in Russia to put slate plates on billiards instead of wooden boards, determined the optimal side profile, reduced the length of the mouth of the pocket, set the optimal width of the pocket (74-76 mm) and the best size of the balls (68-70 mm). According to his patterns, pockets were cut at all billiard factories in Russia, of which there were at least five.
A distinctive feature of modern Russian billiard tables is the inability to play side-mounted aiming balls along the side into a corner, which leaves an imprint on the entire strategy and tactics of the game. This circumstance leads to the existence of a lot of dead zones on the billiard table, from where it is impossible to play a aiming ball with a direct hit into the corner. The rigor of the Russian table determined the corresponding set of billiard games. Currently, billiard competitions are held in the following varieties: “Russian pyramid”, “Moscow Pyramid” and “American Woman”. They complement each other.
Russian Russian Pyramid, in its modern version, historically appeared as the first of the modern Russian sports billiard games. Its appearance and spread in Russia, according to A. Lehman, occurred in the eighties of the last century. The Russian Pyramid is particularly affected by the presence of numerous dead zones, so it disposes to a leisurely and subtle positional game with numerous wagers and games. Recently, young people prefer the “American Woman” and the “Moscow Pyramid”.
The appearance and spread of the “American Woman” occurred, apparently, in the twenties and thirties. Even before the war, the championship of Moscow was held. “American Girl” is an ideal game for practicing good masonry. The origin of the “Moscow Pyramid” dates back to the early sixties. Currently, it has gained the greatest popularity among craftsmen and amateurs. The Moscow Pyramid opens up unlimited possibilities for improving the technology of control and management of the cue ball. The audience is particularly impressed by such unique techniques as lowering the spinning top along the side into the corner pocket, a wide variety of braces with a strong side twist of the cue ball. Her positional possibilities are inexhaustible.
The history of the development and condition of billiard sports in Minsk.
СBilliard sport in the Republic of Belarus and Minsk began its modern development in the late 80s and early 90s. In 1991, the public association “Minsk Billiard Sports Federation” (NGO “MFBS”) was registered. In 1998, the public association “Belarusian Billiard Sports Association” was registered.
Minsk billiard players have high achievements in international competitions in Russian billiards.
In 2012, Anastasia Novikova and Evgeny Saltovsky won bronze medals at the European Youth Championship.
In 2013, Yevgeny Saltovsky became the bronze medalist of the men’s World Championship at a young age.
Achievements of Minsk billiard players at international snooker competitions:
In 2013, Yana Shut and Anastasia Tumilovich won bronze as part of the Belarusian national team at the European Team Championship.
In 2002, the first ever European Championship in Russian billiards was held in Minsk.
On the basis of the billiard and sports club “Karambol” (Smolyachkova str., 9) there is a “Billiard school” of the NGO “MFBS”.
A snooker School operates on the basis of the Classic-1 billiard and sports club (8a P. Brovki Street).
NGO “Belarusian Billiard Sports Association”
Address: 10a Chernyshevsky str., Minsk, 220012
Phone: 2808812
NGO “Minsk Billiard Sports Federation”
Address: Minsk, Rafieva str., 95, 1H, office. 29
The head of the Executive Committee is Lobach Yuri Georgievich
Phone number: +375 (17) 246-91-17 +375 (29) 606-04-07
Website: http://www.probilliard.by/