 |
|
Castle Croquet Tournament
|
JULY 16 - 18, 2004
Sunderland, Vermont
Join a great group of playful people for a fun-’n-games weekend in beautiful, green & clean Vermont. Contestants in previous years and those expected in 2004 come from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Minnesota, England, and elsewhere.
THE EVENT: The sixth, almost-annual, international CASTLE CROQUET TOURNAMENT
THE PLACE: Behind THE OLD GAME STORE in Sunderland, VERMONT
For abbreviated rules to CASTLE CROQUET, scroll down or click here: CASTLE CROQUET Rules. For more general information about the game and the event, read on!
This game is not just for the skillful and dexterous. It is a thinking game requiring the exact strategy for the moment, as players position two balls on a slightly uneven playing surface, in a race through "Open Land" from castle to castle.
WHAT IS CASTLE CROQUET?
Castle Croquet is a four-player, eight-ball variation of croquet developed by Lewis Carroll in 1866, a year after he completed “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” Strategy is as important as dexterity!
Carroll’s rough concept has been adapted into an interesting, modern diversion by games historian Bruce Whitehill. Staying faithful to Carroll’s original concept, Whitehill has refined the game play and defined the rules so that you don’t have to be a regular croquet player to enjoy this game.
The basic idea is that there are four stakes near the corners of a more-or-less square playing field. Each stake, along with the two wickets (hoops) closest to it, represents a player’s home territory, or castle; the territory in the middle, between castles, is “open land.”
Players have two balls: a knight and a guard. The object of the game is for your knight to visit each of the other castles, in any order, and then return home. The strategy comes in determining how to use your guard: the guard can help the knight move along faster (in the same way you get extra strokes for hitting a ball in regular croquet), or the guard can remain in the castle to ward off intruders. If your knight is captured, your guard can come to the rescue.
Complete rules will be sent after you register, but you can read an abbreviated version below.
THE SETTING: A rolling spread of grass with a bump or two and an incline here and there make for an interesting course in a clearing in the tree-covered Vermont countryside.
TIMES:
- Friday, July 16: Rules review and practice sessions begin Friday at 4:00 PM.
Two fields are available. You do not have to come on Friday, but you’ll miss a lot of fun!
We’ll all head for Dinner around 6:30, then go somewhere to play board and parlor games.
- Saturday, July 17: The playdowns begin Saturday at 10:00 AM or 1 PM, depending on the number of participants. Everyone will play two games.
Saturday, An informal DOUBLES (COUPLES) TOURNAMENT may be arranged, depending on the number and makeup of participants.
We’ll all head for Dinner around 6:30, then go somewhere to play board and parlor games again!
- Sunday, July 18: The TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS or FINALS (depending on the number of participants) will be Sunday at 10:00 AM; the second game, if required, will be 1:30 PM.
COST: Tournament: $25 per player if your check is postmarked before June; $35 per player on or after June 1.
LODGING: When you register, you will be sent a list of motels and inns in the area. But you need to register early, since it’s a popular location and weekend accommodation fills up quickly! Also, we try to get as many as possible into the same accommodation.
PRIZES: Participants will receive something playful; the three runner-up singles finalists will receive ribbons and token prizes; and The Castle Croquet tournament champion will receive the Tournament Plaque, and, upon returning the plaque the next year, will get (to keep) a small, inscribed trophy. The new champion will also receive some sort of prize (--a BIGGER prize if he/she unseats the current champion!)
OTHER ACTIVITIES: Board games & card games; competitions. Tour, hike, shop, relax, eat.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Singles are welcome! Onlookers are welcome at no charge.
- This is an adults only, non-smoking event.
- The schedule is subject to change.
- Trophies and other prizes will be awarded.
The Castle Croquet Championship plaque is held by the winner for one year,
and is presented to the new winner at the subsequent tournament, at which time the previous year’s trophy is given out.
- Tournament games and scoring:
Succession into the singles finals depends on ranking after both games, or on accumulated score. Details will be available after registration.
REGISTRATION: To register for the tournament, contact Martha Folsom at:
CASTLE CROQUET TOURNAMENT
The Old Game Store
6377 VT Rte. 7A, Sunderland, VT 05250
Tel. 800-818-4263
game @ vermontel.net
http://www.theoldgamestore.com
Hosts: Martha Folsom & Rich Gower
The $25-35 registration fee must be paid in advance. Becasue only four can play at a time, space (time) is very limited--don't dilly dally!
MEDIA AND INFORMATION:
Vermont media should contact Martha Folsom.
Anyone else seeking information about CASTLE CROQUET should contact Bruce Whitehill directly:
Bruce Whitehill
11 South Angell Street #116
Providence, RI 02906
Tel. (401) 254-5135
email: games @ thebiggamehunter.com
|
Abbreviated Rules for Castle Croquet © 1998 and revised © 2002 by Bruce Whitehill
All Rights Reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced without permission.
This abbreviated set of rules will enable you to get started in playing Castle Croquet. An ellipsis (...) indicates that something has been left out, primarily the examples and the finer details about what can happen when balls collide going through wickets, hit dead balls or are knocked out of bounds. Information about how to obtain a complete, printed set of rules is shown at the conclusion.
CASTLE CROQUET...... is a croquet variant devised by Lewis Carroll, in which each player controls two balls. An intriguing recreation that rewards strategy in addition to dexterity, Castle Croquet, first published in 1866, proves to be an interesting, themed variation of the classic game of croquet. These rules have been revised by games historian Bruce Whitehill, with the intent of preserving Carroll’s original concept while clarifying certain instructions and making modifications which would enhance game play. Castle Croquet is for two to four players, but is best with four. There is also an eight-player team game. (See special rules for other than four players.)
THE THEME
You are a Knight living in your castle (your knightdom), but concerned about freedom and justice in other realms. At great risk, you leave your safe haven and pass through Open Land to visit each of three neighboring castles, then try to return home safely. Your only protection is your Guard, who is responsible for safeguarding the castle in your absence, but who will have to leave the castle unguarded if endeavoring to assist you on your journey.
OBJECT
To be the first Knight to return home after visiting all other castles.
COMPONENTS
4 mallets (8 in team play)
10 wickets (also called hoops): the archways and gates
8 balls: the 4 Knights and the 4 Guards
4 stakes(pegs, 1 with rings of color designating the order of play): the towers
Optional marker boards and/or clips ...
Note: Until some company decides to market a “Castle Croquet” set, players need to combine two standard croquet sets for play at home, so each player has two balls of the same color, one of which should be marked to differentiate the Knight from the Guard...
SUMMARY
Instead of one or two stakes on a rectangular field in a typical, American or British croquet game, there are four stakes placed near the corners of a square playing field. Each player’s home territory, or castle, consists of a stake and the two wickets closest to it; two additional wickets crisscross in an “Open Land” area in the middle of the field.
Players have two balls: a Knight and a Guard. The object is for your Knight to visit each of the other castles and then return home. The strategy is in determining how to use your Guard: the Guard can help the Knight move along faster (in the same way you get extra strokes for hitting a ball in regular croquet), or the Guard can remain in the castle to ward off intruders; if your Knight is captured, your Guard may be the only way to get your Knight released.
TERMINOLOGY
- THE KINGDOM: The CASTLES and OPEN LAND; TOWERS, ARCHWAYS and GATES
The kingdom (the entire playing area) consists of five territories: four castles and Open Land. (See illustration.) Each castle consists of a tower (the stake), an archway (the wicket closest to the stake), and the gate (the wicket furthest from the stake). The area in the middle, between all the gates, is Open Land.
- THE PLAYERS: KNIGHTS and GUARDS; INTRUDERS
A Guard in his own castle is said to be “on duty”; the Knight in his own castle is said to be “at home.” A Knight or Guard inside an opponent’s castle is called an “intruder.”
- A TURN: STROKES and STRIKERS, STRIKING and HITTING
The shot you take on your turn is called a “stroke”; you are said to “strike” your ball, and the ball that makes contact with your mallet during your turn is called the “striker.” Players “strike” a ball; balls “hit” other balls. Your turn consists of one stroke on your Guard and one on your Knight, with additional strokes allowed (under most circumstances) for passing through wickets and hitting other balls.
“DEADNESS” When a striker hits another ball, that ball is “dead” to the striker only--the striker can not hit that ball again until the striker passes through an appropriate wicket. (See also “Dead Balls.”)
- BALLS HITTING BALLS: The CROQUET; THE CONNIVANCE and THE CONFLICT
A “croquet” is a shot in which a player whose striker has hit another ball, places the striker next to the hit ball and moves both balls by striking the striker again. When one of your balls hits into your other ball, it is a “Connivance”; when your ball hits an opponent’s ball, it is a “Conflict”; both allow you to take an extra stroke(s) and/or a croquet.
(A1) THE SET UP
The course is set up as square as possible, with boundaries clearly marked or agreed upon. Ideally, the court should be 40’ x 40’ (12 x 12 meters). A stake (tower) is placed in each corner of the Kingdom, one mallet-length away from the corner, along the imaginary diagonal line between two opposite corners. In each castle, a wicket (the archway) is placed along the imaginary diagonal, toward the center of the Kingdom, two mallet lengths away from the stake, so the two “legs” of the wicket are in line with the stake (a 90 degree difference from the wicket placement in standard croquet). A second wicket is placed further away from the stake, along that same diagonal, two mallet lengths from the archway and perpendicular to it, so that the center of the wicket is on the diagonal; this is the gate to the castle. Two wickets are placed in the center of Open Land, one over the other at 90 degrees; players are not required to pass through these, but get an extra stroke if they do, and get cleared of any “deadness.” ...
(A2) ORDER OF PLAY...The player to go first chooses any castle, the second player takes the adjacent castle going clockwise from the first, and so on.
Place your Knight one mallet length from your tower.
Place your Guard inside your castle one mallet length from your gate.
(A3) THE CASTLES and OPEN LAND
Your castle consists of your tower, archway, and gate. The area between all the castles is Open Land. A player is said to be in a castle until passing through the gate in the proper direction into Open Land, and is said to be in Open Land until passing through a gate in the proper direction into one of the castles.
(A4) THE KNIGHT
Each player has a ball representing the Knight. To leave a castle, the Knight must pass through the archway in either direction, then pass through the gate, in the direction moving away from the tower; to enter a castle, the Knight must go through the gate in the direction moving toward the tower; the Knight must pass through the archway in either direction en route to the tower. The Knight gets an extra stroke after passing through any archway or through any gate in the proper direction, or through one of the wickets in Open Land. ...
Your Knight must enter and leave each of the other three castles, going through each gate (in the proper direction) and archway (in either direction), and reach the tower (touch the stake). The Knight gets an extra stroke after reaching the tower.
Your Knight may visit other castles in any order. After visiting the other three castles, your Knight must return home, passing through the gate and archway, and reach the home tower (touch the stake).
(A5) THE GUARD
Each player has a ball representing the Guard. Your Guard serves four purposes: to guard the castle against intruders, to speed up your Knight’s journey, to protect your Knight against foes, and to rescue your Knight if held captive.
The Guard knows secret passages within all castles and does not need to pass through archways when going between the gates and towers; the Guard does not get an extra stroke for passing through an archway, and does not get cleared from any “Deadness” (see “Dead Balls”). The Guard takes an additional stroke after passing through a gate in the proper direction, or through one of the wickets in Open Land. The rule of travel through the gates is the same for the Guard as for the Knight.
Your Guard is “on duty” when he is inside your castle, and “off duty” when outside your castle (whether in Open Land or in another castle). While “on duty,” your Guard may capture any intruder Knight in the castle. While “off duty,” your Guard may free your Knight if your Knight has been captured. ...
(A6) WINNING THE GAME
The first player whose Knight reaches all the other towers (touches all opponents’ stakes) and returns home and reaches his or her own tower (touches the home stake) while the Guard is “on duty” is the winner.
(B1) THE MOVES
Players take turns in clockwise order; use the order of colors on the stake(s) to guide you. On your turn, first play your Guard, then play your Knight (unless the player incurs a penalty, or the Knight is held captive). If you strike your Knight before striking your Guard, you lose the opportunity to strike the Guard on that turn.
You get to strike each ball once, unless you are allowed additional strokes from passing through archways and gates, reaching a tower, or hitting other balls.
You get an extra stroke if your Knight passes through any archway in any direction, or if your Knight or Guard passes through any gate in the proper direction, or through one of the wickets in Open Land. (Each is cleared of deadness when passing through an appropriate* wicket.) A Knight or Guard passing through a gate in the wrong direction is penalized (see “Penalties”).
When your Knight reaches an opponent’s tower (touches the stake) for the first time, you may strike the Knight again.
Once your ball has passed through a wicket, that ball is free to hit any other ball. (See “Dead Balls.”)
All balls remain where they come to rest except when a player chooses to croquet, or when a Knight is captured, or when a ball goes out of bounds or a penalty is incurred. ...
(B2) CONNIVANCE, CONFLICTS AND CAPTURES
A Connivance occurs when your Knight and Guard conspire to assist each other by hitting one into the other to get additional strokes. A Conflict occurs when your ball--either the Knight or Guard--hits an opponent’s ball. A capture occurs during a Conflict when an on-duty Guard touches an intruding Knight.
(B3) THE CONNIVANCE
A Connivance occurs when your Guard (“on duty” or “off duty”) strikes your own Knight, or vice versa. When this happens, you may take two additional strokes by the striker, or take both a croquet and one additional stroke by the striker. After a Connivance, neither ball may touch the other (each ball is “dead” on the other) until one of the balls (either one) has gone through an appropriate wicket.
(B4) THE CONFLICT
A Conflict is engaged in when one player’s ball touches an opponent’s ball. When you strike a ball into an opponent’s ball, you may either take two additional strokes with the striker, or croquet the opponent’s ball; if you choose to croquet an opponent, you do not get another stroke (see “The Croquet”). The exception: if an on-duty Guard touches an intruder Knight, the Conflict results in a capture (see “The Capture”).
(B5) THE CAPTURE
If an on-duty Guard touches an intruder Knight (even if the intruder accidentally touches, or is hit into, the Guard), the Knight is captured. The capturing player places the captured Knight one mallet-head length from the tower in any direction, and places the Guard one mallet length from the tower in any direction. The player does not take an additional stroke on the Guard. If an intruder Knight hits or is hit into a captive Knight, the intruder is also captured.
When your Knight is captured, it is cleared of any deadness (see “Dead Balls”).
Remember, if the castle of an “off-duty” Guard has been invaded, the Guard must reenter his castle through the gate before hitting the intruder.
(B6) FREEING A CAPTIVE KNIGHT
The captured Knight is freed if the Guard goes “off-duty” (even if the Guard later returns to duty), or if any Guard enters the opponent’s castle and hits the Knight. A captive Knight is freed even if hit accidentally by the on-duty Guard. If a Guard frees a Knight, the same rules apply as for any Connivance or Conflict.
If a Guard frees his own Knight, normal rules of “Deadness” apply; his Knight may move when the Guard’s move is finished; ...The stake does not clear a ball of “Deadness.” ...
|
(C1) THE CROQUET
A player may take a croquet under certain circumstances (see “The Connivance” and “The Conflict”) when one ball hits another. The striker--the ball that initiated the hit--is picked up and placed next to (touching) the ball that was hit (the second ball is not moved from where it comes to rest after being hit); the striker may not touch any ball other than the one being croqueted. The player then hits the initial ball, driving both balls; a good croquet can send the two balls in the same direction or can send each ball in a different direction; no part of the body (e.g., the foot) may touch either ball. Once a ball is “in hand” (touched or picked up) it must be played as a croquet.
Only the striker may receive extra strokes...
(C2) WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BALLS HIT OTHER BALLS AND BALLS PASS THROUGH WICKETS
- Let resting balls lie When one ball strikes one or more balls that it is not “dead” upon (see “Dead Balls”), all balls are allowed to remain where they came to rest (provided they did not go out of bounds). ...
- Croqueting through wickets You may strike one of your balls into another ball, then croquet both balls through an appropriate wicket (they are both now cleared), then strike the other ball again with your striker to earn additional strokes. ...
- Only the last action counts The last action of the striker is the one that determines additional moves or deadness with respect to that striker. ...
- Passing completely through wickets A ball has not passed through a wicket until no part of the ball lies underneath the wicket. A ball must pass completely through a gate to be considered in another territory.
- Hitting balls under wickets If, when passing through a wicket, a striker hits a ball with any part of it resting under or on the near side of the wicket, the striker is considered to have hit the other ball before having passed completely through the wicket, so the player gets one additional stroke only, for passing through the wicket.
- Hitting balls beyond wickets If a striker on one side of a wicket hits a ball directly on the other side of the wicket (with no part of it resting under the wicket), the striker is considered (for the sake of argument) to have hit the other ball after having passed through the wicket, allowing you to take (an) extra stroke(s) and/or a croquet, as long as both balls have come to rest in the same territory.
- Ending up in two different territories If your striker and the ball it hits wind up in two different territories (one in a castle, the other in Open Land), you may take one or two additional strokes (depending on whether the last action of your striker was passing through a wicket or hitting the other ball ), but you may not croquet the other ball. ...
(C3) DEAD BALLS
Hitting opponent’s balls After a striker hits an opponent’s ball, the striker cannot hit the same ball again until the striker is cleared by passing through an appropriate wicket. ...A ball is “dead” only to the player’s ball that hits it--other players may hit the same ball. ...
Hitting your own ball In a Connivance, both balls are dead to each other until either one of the balls has passed through an appropriate wicket (NOTE: the Guard is not cleared passing through an archway). ...
(C4) GOING OUT OF BOUNDS
Hitting out of bounds If during your shot, any ball goes out of bounds, your turn ends. Any ball hit out of bounds is placed one mallet-head from the point where it went out of bounds. ...
(D1) ADDITIONAL RULES
- 1. Using your mallet ...
- 2. Playing out of turn ...
- 3. Struck balls that go nowhere ...
- 4. Starting out Your Knight must pass through the archway before your Knight and Guard can make contact.
- 5. Entering/Leaving castles You may not enter and exit (or exit and enter) a castle with the same ball in the same turn.
- 6. Ball in hand; boundaries and obstacles You may not touch a ball with your hands except to move a ball that is near an obstacle (other than a stake or wicket or another ball) or has gone out of bounds, or in order to place a ball for a croquet. ...
- 7. Marking balls On your turn, you may mark an opponent’s ball (remove the ball and put a coin or flat marker in its place) if that ball is in the wrong territory and may interfere with your shot. ...
- 8. Hitting a stake Your Guard should never hit an opponent’s stake (see “Penalties”). Your Knight may hit each opponent’s stake only once, taking an extra stroke after doing so. ...
(E1) PENALTIES
In all instances not specifically covered by these rules, the standard rules for croquet apply. The penalty, unless otherwise indicated below, is for all balls to remain where they came to rest, and for the faulting player’s turn (on both balls) to end; therefore, if the penalty is incurred while striking the Guard, the player (or team) loses a chance to strike the Knight. ...
Penalties that cause your move to end on the striker only:
- 1. Striking the wicket or stake:...
Penalties that cause your turn to end (if the penalty is on the Guard, your Knight does not get to move):
- 2. Hitting out of bounds:...
- 3. Hitting an opponent’s stake:...
Penalties that cause your move to end on the striker only, and all balls to be returned to place:
- 4. Striking a ball and wicket or stake:...
- 5. Double tapping/pushing balls: ...
- 6. Touching a ball: ...
- 7. Striking an opponent’s ball: ...
- 8. Striking or croqueting balls that cause chain reactions into different territories--an indirect hit: ...
Penalties that cause your turn to end, and balls to be returned to place:
- 9. Going through gates in the wrong direction: ...
- 10. Hitting dead balls: ...
- 11. Hitting balls in different territories--a direct hit: ...
The penalty that causes you to lose the game:
- 12. Hitting your home stake too soon: If you have visited all the other castles and you hit your Knight into your tower before your off-duty Guard has returned to duty, you lose the game! (Being hit into the stake by another player doesn’t count.)
(F1) REMINDERS...
(F2) ALLIANCES...
(F3) ETIQUETTE
Before the game begins, players should decide how much “court talk” will be allowed during the game, including whether players may offer strategy hints or reminders to other players (beyond the etiquette called for below), or whether players may openly form alliances and may openly discuss helping or hindering one another. ...
...players should shout out the result of their shot if their ball hits another ball or passes through a wicket. When your ball hits another ball, shout the outcome, such as, “Orange Knight hits Red Guard,” which means that the Orange Knight is now dead on the Red Guard...
When your turn is over, shout your color, and “Done,” such as “Orange done,” so the next player knows to start. ...
(G1) DEAD BOARD
To help remember what balls are “dead” to which player, a magnetic board, peg board, or erasable Dead Board is used...
(G2) CLIPS OR LOCATOR BOARD
Players should use clips or a magnetic board, peg board, or erasable Locator Board to indicate where each Knight and Guard is located. ...
(G3) VISITATION BOARD
To help remember what castles have been visited by each Knight, players should use a Visitation Board. ...
RULES FOR TWO OR THREE PLAYERS, and RULES FOR FIVE TO EIGHT PLAYERS...
SUMMARY...
SOME STRATEGIES...
------------------------------------------------
For a computer-printed set of complete rules, along with instructions for other than four players, a summary, and list of strategies, send $12 and a 9" x 12" self-addressed envelope to Bruce Whitehill, Castle Croquet Rules, 11 So. Angell St. #116C, Providence, RI 02906.
| |
|
|
|
|
|