Note:The officially sanctioned tiddlywinks rules provided below correspond to the currently approved rules that are available online at http://www.etwa.org/rules/rules2016.pdf.
These rules are approved by the English Tiddlywinks Association and are also sanctioned for use by the North American Tiddlywinks Association and the International Federation of Tiddlywinks Associations.
These rules are © Copyright the English Tiddlywinks Association. The English Tiddlywinks Association permits copying of the rules provided that (1) this copyright notice is retained together with attribution to the English Tiddlywinks Association; (2) copying is only for non-commercial purposes; (3) no derivative works are based on these rules.
Information on the English Tiddlywinks Association can be found on the web site www.etwa.org. This version of rules was approved at the ETwA Rules Meeting in April 2016.
Introduction
1. Tiddlywinks is a game for 2-4 people involving playing pieces of four different colours.
1.1 When four people play, it is a partnership game with each person controlling one of the four colours. The person playing blue partners the person playing red, while the person playing green partners the person playing yellow. This version of the game is called pairs.
1.2 When two people play, each person controls both colours of a partnership. One player controls blue and red, while the other player controls green and yellow. This version of the game is called singles.
1.3 When three people play, one person controls both colours of a partnership (i.e. plays singles), while the other two people each control one colour (i.e. play pairs).
Equipment
2. The following equipment is used in a game of tiddlywinks.
2.1 Winks: the coloured plastic discs that are used as playing pieces.
2.1.1 Four colours of winks are used: blue, green, red and yellow. There are six winks of each colour, two being 22 mm in diameter and four being 16 mm in diameter. All winks should be approximately 1.5 mm in thickness.
2.2 Squidgers: the discs that are used to play the winks.
2.2.1 A squidger must be between 25 mm and 51 mm in diameter, and no thicker than 5 mm at any point.
2.2.2 A squidger is permitted to have variable thickness: for instance, it may be thicker in the middle than at the edge.
2.2.3 A squidger is permitted to contain one or more holes provided that no hole is large enough for any wink to pass through it.
2.2.4 A squidger is permitted to bend while playing a shot due to the pressure applied against a wink, but must return to its original shape on its own once the shot has been completed.
2.2.5 A squidger must not damage winks when used.
2.2.6 In a game, though not for a single shot, a player may use more than one squidger.
2.3 The mat: the playing surface on which the game takes place.
2.3.1 Games should be played on rectangular mats measuring 6 feet by 3 feet. Mats should be made of a felt-like non-pile material. At each corner of the mat there should be straight lines termed baselines drawn at right angles tothe mat’s diagonals at points 3 feet from the centre of the mat. The mat should be placed on a hard smooth horizontal surface so that the whole of the mat’s surface is itself horizontal. If there is no such surface available, the players mayagree to play on a less satisfactory surface (See Note A).
2.4 The pot: the container into which winks may be played.
2.4.1 The pot should be a concave-sided cup 38 mm high with an external diameter of 50 mm at the top and 35 mm at the base.
2.5 Winks, mats and pots approved by National Associations should be used wherever possible.
3. The field of play is the playable surface, namely that part of the mat vertically above the underlying surface, excluding the area behind the baselines.
4. The playing volume is the volume vertically above the field of play. The playing volume includes the pot and its contents, but does not include the ceiling or other structural features of a room if the game is being played indoors.
The Squidge-Off
5. The squidge-off takes place as follows:
5.1 The pot is placed in the centre of the mat.
5.2 The winks are placed behind the baselines so that each corner of the mat contains winks of only one colour. The arrangement of colours in a clockwise direction should correspond to their alphabetical order in the English language (i.e. blue–green–red–yellow).
5.3 It is then decided who is playing which colour(s).
5.3.1 This may be by mutual agreement, by allocating the colours randomly, or by obeying the tournament organiser; bear in mind that blue always partners red and green always partners yellow.
5.4 One wink of each colour is played from behind the baseline towards the pot. The colour of the wink that ends up nearest the pot is deemed to have won the squidge-off.
5.4.1 Nearness is measured from the nearest edge of the wink. For the purposes of this rule, all winks that end up in the pot are deemed equally near the pot and nearer than any unpotted wink. Any winks that leave the playing volume are deemed to be equally far from the pot, and further from it than any wink that has not left the playing volume.
5.4.2 If two or more winks are equally near to the pot and nearer than any other wink, replace all winks behind the baselines. Repeat the process described in Rule 5.4 to determine which colour wins the squidge-off, but using only those colours that were closest to the pot.
The Game
6. Play begins starting with the colour that won the squidge-off.
6.1 A record should be kept of the time elapsing from the moment when the first wink is played (e.g. by use of a stopwatch or count-down timer).
7. Play proceeds with the colours having turns in sequence. The sequence should correspond to alphabetical order of the colours in the English language.
7.1 This means that green’s turn starts immediately after blue’s turn comes to an end; red’s turn starts immediately after green’s turn comes to an end; yellow’s turn starts immediately after red’s turn comes to an end; blue’s turn starts immediately after yellow’s turn comes to an end.
8. During the course of a game, winks fall into the following categories.
8.1 A wink may come to rest inside the pot. Such a wink is referred to as a potted wink.
8.1.1 Potted winks may not subsequently be played.
8.1.2 Any wink coming to rest on the top rim of the pot is treated as a potted wink and is immediately moved manually to a position inside the pot.
8.1.3 If a potted wink is knocked out of the pot by the action of another wink, it is immediately replaced inside the pot. Any unpottted winks disturbed by it are manually restored to their positions prior to the disturbance.
8.2. An unpotted wink may come to rest in a position where it is vertically above all or part of another unpotted wink. In this situation, the upper wink is referred to as a squopping wink and the lower wink as a squopped wink.
8.2.1 A wink may be squopping another even if they are not touching.
8.2.2 A pile consists of a collection of two or more winks connected either directly or indirectly to each other. For the purposes of this rule, two winks are considered to be directly connected if either one is squopping the other. Two winks are considered to be indirectly connected if they are linked to each other via a chain of direct connections. For instance, if wink A is squopping wink B, and wink B is squopping wink C, then winks A and C are indirectly connected, and the three winks are part of the same pile.
8.2.3 In a pile, it is possible for a wink to be both squopping (above one or more winks) and squopped (below one or more winks) at the same time.
8.3. A wink that is neither potted nor squopped is referred to as a free wink
9. A shot consists of a player exerting downward pressure of squidger on wink.
9.1 In order for a shot to be played, either the squidger must cause irreversible movement of at least one wink or the player must be attempting to cause irreversible movement of at least one wink.
9.1.1 For the purposes of this rule, a movement is irreversible if, when the squidger ceases contact with the wink, any wink does not return to the position it occupied before contact with the squidger began.
9.1.2 Touching a wink with a squidger is not a shot if the wink does not move irreversibly and there was no intention for the wink to move.
9.1.3 If winks are moved without the player exerting downward pressure of squidger on wink, then this does not constitute a shot but is deemed to be interference with winks (Rule 24). For instance, this applies when a person drops a squidger onto a wink or moves a wink with his or her finger while pointing to it.
9.2 A shot ends when contact between squidger and winks ceases and all winks have come to rest.
9.3 If an attempt to play a wink from behind a baseline does not propel it completely over the baseline, then this does not constitute a shot. The same wink must be replaced behind the baseline and played again.
10. For a shot to be a legal shot, the following criteria must be met.
10.1 The squidger must first touch the upper surface of a free wink of the colour to be played. For the purposes of this rule, the upper surface of a wink is that part of the wink that is visible from directly above.
10.1.1 The colour to be played is that whose turn it is, except for the special case of a free shot with a nominated colour described in Rule 22.6.1.
10.1.2 The player can choose which one of the free winks of the appropriate colour to play. For instance, the person controlling blue may choose to play separate blue winks from behind the baseline on successive blue turns.
Alternatively the person may choose to play the same blue wink on successive blue turns even if there are unplayed blue winks behind the baseline.
10.2 From the moment when a wink starts to move irreversibly, the movement of the squidger must be quick and continuous until contact between squidger and winks ceases.
10.3 If the first wink touched by the squidger is part of a pile, during the shot the squidger must not touch any other winks in the same pile that were not vertically below some part of the first wink played at the start of the shot.
10.4 During the act of causing wink or winks to move, the player must not touch the wink played with hand, body or clothing, nor may the player touch with hand, body or clothing any other winks that are part of the same pile as the first wink contacted by squidger.
10.5 At the start of the downward motion of squidger immediately before contact with a wink ismade, the lowest point of the player’s squidger must not be more than 5 cm above the highestpoint of the first wink to be touched.
10.6 Winks behind baselines must be played one at a time, and from a position where they rest only on the mat.
11. A player may choose to pass rather than to play a shot. If this is done, the pass constitutes a shot and the opponents must be informed.
11.1 In some cases a player may be unable to play a shot because there are no free winks of the colour to be played, or because that colour is forfeiting a shot according to Rule 14. In these cases, the player is deemed to pass with immediate effect.
12. If a player pots one of the winks of the colour being played in a particular shot, then the player gets an extra shot as part of the same turn.
12.1 A turn therefore consists of a sequence of separate shots if winks of the correct colour are potted. For instance, if one blue wink becomes potted by a legal shot played by blue, then blue gets an extra shot as part of the same turn.
12.2 The number of extra shots awarded is equal to the number of winks of the colour being played that become potted as a result of that shot. For instance, if two blue winks become potted in a single legal shot played by blue, then blue gets two extra shots as part of the same turn.
12.3 A player does not get an extra shot for causing a wink that is not the colour being played to become potted (unless a wink of the colour being played also becomes potted by that shot). For instance, if a green wink (but no blue wink) becomes potted by a legal shot played by blue, then neither blue nor green gets an extra shot.
13. Any wink wholly or partially leaving the playing volume is placed on the field of play before the start of the next shot.
13.1 The wink should be placed flat on the mat in a position as near as possible to the point at which it left the playing volume subject to: (i) its nearest edge should be 22 mm in from the boundary to the field of play; (ii) its nearest edge should not be closer than 10 cm to the edge of any other wink; (iii) its nearest edge should not be closer than 10 cm to any baseline with an unplayed wink behind it.
13.2 If a wink both leaves and returns to the playing volume during the course of the same shot (e.g. by bouncing off a spectator back onto the mat), then any winks disturbed by its motion after it returned to the playing volume are restored manually to their positions prior to the disturbance.
14. If a player’s shot causes one or more winks of the colour being played wholly or partially to leavethe playing volume, then the next shot to be played with that colour is forfeited.
14.1 For instance, if two blue winks are sent off the mat as a result of a legal shot played by blue, then blue forfeits his or her next shot with blue.
14.2 For instance, if one green wink and one red wink are sent off the mat as a result of a legal shot played by blue, then no colour forfeits a shot.
14.3 For instance, if one blue wink becomes potted and one blue wink is sent off the mat as a result of a legal shot played by blue, then the shot that is forfeited is the extra shot awarded for potting (Rule 12).
14.4 If a colour has no free winks when it is due to forfeit a shot, then this does count as a forfeiture even though no shot could be legally played.
14.5 Forfeiture of a shot does constitute a shot that may be all or part of a turn. It is deemed to be a pass with immediate effect (Rule 11.1).
The End of the Game
15. If all six winks of one colour become potted, whether by the person controlling them or not, that colour is said to have potted out.
16. The game ends in one of three ways:
(i) after a timed period followed by a round limit period;
(ii) after a colour has potted out, followed by a period in which other colours pot out;
(iii) if no wink can be played because all the unpotted winks are squopped.
End of Game Way (i)
17. The timed period of a game starts from the first shot played after the squidge-off and normally lasts 25 minutes for pairs games, 20 minutes for singles games, and 22½ minutes for games involving three players.
17.1 The timed period may be modified by the tournament organiser or by any agreement between the players before the start of the game. The timed period may be extended if the umpire considers that time has been deliberately wasted.
17.2 If the time spent on the game between accepted shots exceeds 30 seconds, then the opponents of the person due to play the next shot may require that any additional time taken before it is played be not counted as part of the game. Accepted shots are either legal shots or foul shots that are accepted according to Rule 23.2(ii) or 23.3(ii).
17.3 The following instances are not counted as part of the game: time elapsing while a wink or winks are lost; time taken to correct the outcome of a foul shot; time taken for an umpire to arrive if one is called for; time taken over a judgement determining the status of winks (e.g. squopped or unsquopped); time taken over discussions concerning the interpretation of a rule; time taken for discussions with the umpire.
17.4 If a player is called away from the game, time elapsing is not counted as part of the game if the player’sabsence has an effect on the game. This may be because the player is due to play next, because the partner is due to play next but wishes to consult the player called away, or because one of the opponents is due to play next and a wish is expressed for the shot to be viewed by the player who has been called away.
18. After the timed period has ended, a round limit period is played. Play continues up to and including the turn of the colour that won the squidge-off, after which five further rounds of the colours are played, each round ending after the turn of the colour that won the squidge-off.
18.1 For the purposes of this rule, a turn is deemed to begin at the moment when the first shot in it is played. If the timed period expires between two shots of the same turn, it is deemed to have expired at the end of that turn.
18.2 If a colour cannot play a wink during a particular turn (owing to having no free winks or the forfeiture of a shot according to Rule 14), then this does constitute a turn when determining when the start of the five further rounds occurs and when counting how many rounds have been played.
19. If no colour has potted out during either the timed period or the round limit period, the game is declared ended and the winner is decided by counting tiddlies.
19.1 Three tiddlies are awarded for each wink in the pot, and one tiddly is awarded for each free wink that has been played from behind the baseline. The tiddlies for each colour are counted separately.
19.2 The game score is calculated in the following manner. The colour with the greatest number of tiddlies is awarded 4 points, the colour with the second greatest number of tiddlies is awarded 2 points, the colours with the third greatest number is awarded 1 point, and the colour with the fewest tiddlies is not awarded any points. Should more than one colour have the same number of tiddlies, the appropriate number of points are aggregated and shared equally between them.Partners’ points are then added together to give the game score.
End of Game Way (ii)
20. If a colour has potted out, the game continues until both colours of one partnership have potted out. The timed period and round limit period do not apply in any game in which a colour is potted out, regardless of the stage at which the pot-out occurs.
20.1 After a colour has potted out, for the rest of the game any squopped winks should be immediately unsquopped by manually moving the winks that are squopping them. This should be done in such a way that the distance of each wink from the pot is not altered. Further, the unpotted winks should be arranged manually so that they are no closer than 2 mm to each other if this is possible. The position of any wink moved under this rule must be agreed between the players or decided by an umpire.
20.2 The first colour to be potted out is awarded 4 points, the second to be potted out is awarded 2 points, the third is awarded 1 point, and the remaining colour is not awarded any points. Should more than one colour be potted out in a single shot, the points for these colours are aggregated and shared equally between them. Partners’ points are added together, and one point is then transferred from the losing partnership to the winning partnership to give the game score.
End of Game Way (iii)
21. If no wink can be played because all the unpotted winks are squopped, then the game is declared ended.
21.1 The game score is calculated in the same manner that is used if the timed period and round limit have been completed.
Other Rules
22. Squop-Up Turns
22.1 If, at the end of a turn, a partnership has no free winks (owing to all its unpotted winks being squopped), that partnership is said to be squopped up. The opposing partnership is then entitled to a number of squop-up turns.
22.1.1 A turn may consist of more than one shot when a wink is potted (Rule 12). Whether a partnership is squopped up or not is determined at the end of each turn, and not at the end of each shot.
22.2 The number of squop-up turns is normally equal to one more than the number of winks on the field of play that are not part of piles.
22.2.1 The number of squop-up turns is calculated immediately after the turn that caused the squop-up to occur.
22.2.2 Winks that have not been played from behind the baseline, and winks that have been potted, are not on the field of play (Rule 3) and so are not counted when calculating the number of squop-up turns. Winks that are squopped or squopping are part of a pile (Rule 8.2.2), and so are not counted when calculating the number of squop- up turns.
22.2.3 In the special case that there are no winks on the field of play that are not part of a pile, and the colour of the squopping partnership that is next in colour sequence has no free winks, then an additional squop-up turn is awarded so that the number of squop-up turns becomes two.
22.3 Squop-up turns are turns shared between the two colours of the squopping partnership. The squop-up turns are played using the normal sequence of colours.
22.3.1 If one of the squopping partnership colours cannot play a wink during a particular turn (owing to having no free winks or the forfeiture of a shot according to Rule 14), then this turn is still counted as one of the squop-up turns.
22.3.2 The squopped-up partnership has no free winks with which to play during squop-up turns. If one of the squopped-up partnership colours is due to forfeit a shot by Rule 14, then this forfeiture is deemed to have occurred ifthat colour’s turn takes place during the squop-up turns.
22.3.3 If the timed period of the game (Rule 17) had ended before the squop-up occurred, then the squop-up turns are part of the normal counting of rounds in the round limit period of the game (Rule 18).
22.3.4 If the timed period of the game (Rule 17) ends during squop-up turns, it is deemed to have elapsed immediately before the first turn in which a member of the squopped-up partnership has a free wink of the colour to be played.
22.4 Before the squop-up turns have been completed, the squopping partnership must play a freeing shot.
22.4.1 A freeing shot is a shot that leaves an opponent with a free wink, one that pots the sixth wink of any colour, or one that terminates the game according to Rule 21.
22.4.2 In rare situations, the squopping partnership may be unable to play a freeing shot when required owing to forfeiture of a shot by Rule 14. This does constitute a failure to free.
22.4.3 If the round limit period is completed before a freeing shot is required, then the game ends (as described in Rule 19) and there is no requirement to play a freeing shot.
22.5 Once a freeing shot has been played, squop-up turns come to an end, regardless of whether the full number of squop-up turns were played or not. The squopped-up partnership must be given an opportunity to play a shot once one of its winks is freed.
22.5.1 The turn in which a freeing shot is played should be completed. For instance, if green and yellow are squopped up and blue plays a shot that simultaneously pots a blue wink and frees a green wink, then blue does play another shot in that turn even though squop-up turns have come to an end.
22.5.2 The following apply after a freeing shot until the partnership that had been squopped up starts a turn with a free wink of the colour to be played. Firstly, the squopping partnership must leave at least one opponent wink free at the end of each turn. Secondly, if, at the start of any shot by the squopping partnership, there is a free wink of the opposing colour scheduled to begin a turn next, then at least one wink of that colour must be left free at the end of the current turn.
22.5.3 Having a turn with a free wink constitutes having the opportunity to play a shot, even if no shot can be played owing to forfeiture of a shot by Rule 14.
22.5.4 It is not required that the partnership that had been squopped up have the opportunity to play a shot if the game ends first (by the situation described in Rule 19 or Rule 21). Similarly, it is not required that the freed colour has the opportunity to play a shot if any colour becomes potted out before the freed colour has the opportunity to play.
22.6 If a freeing shot is not played as required by Rule 22.4, or the opponents are not given the opportunity to play a shot once one of their winks is freed as required by Rule 22.5, then the situation is referred to as a failure to free.
22.6.1 For the first shot of the turn following the failure to free the person due to play the next colour is awarded afree shot with a nominated colour. The person shall nominate a colour that has a free wink. For that shot thenominated colour may be played as if it was the person’s normal colour.
22.6.2 If, in the playing of a free shot with a nominated colour, a wink of either the nominated colour or the person’snormal colour is potted, then the person gets another shot as part of the same turn. The person can continue the turn by playing any of his or her normal colour winks freed by the previous shot. Note that at the end of the game, winks in the pot count for their actual colour, regardless of who potted them.
22.6.3 If, in the playing of a free shot with a nominated colour, a wink of either the nominated colour or the person’snormal colour wholly or partially leaves the playing volume during the shot, then the person forfeits the next shot to be played with his or her normal colour.
22.6.4 If the failure to free occurs on the final turn of the fifth round of the round limit period, then the next colour in sequence shall be entitled to one extra turn, starting with a free shot with a nominated colour.
23. Foul Shots
23.1 If a person plays a wink in a way that does not satisfy all the criteria of Rule 10, then this is a foul shot.
23.2 If the person plays the correct wink but in an illegal fashion, or if the person attempts to play the correct wink but hits another wink first, then the opponents have two options.
(i) They may require that all winks disturbed by the foul shot be replaced in their positions prior to the shot and a further shot be played as part of the same turn. The same shot need not be attempted again.
(ii) Alternatively, they may accept the shot in its entirety and the turn comes to an end (even if a wink has been potted). They cannot accept part and have part replayed.
23.2.1 If a person plays three successive foul shots whose outcomes are not accepted (i.e option (i) is invoked three times in succession in a single turn), then the further shot to be played by that person is forfeited.
23.3 If the person forgets which colour is to be played and so plays the wrong colour, or plays when it is another player’s turn, then the opponents have two options.
(i) They may require that all winks be replaced in their positions at the start of the turn, and the correct person then play the correct colour. Note that more than one shot may need to be retracted if a wink was potted during the turn.
(ii) Alternatively, they may accept the shot or shots and the turn comes to an end. If the opponents accept such a turn, the opponents can choose with which of their colours to continue play. If this situation arises during the round limit period of the game (Rule 18), the counting of rounds should be such that no colour that is played in its correct order has more than one turn in any round. If this situation arises during squop-up turns (Rule 22), then the turn should be counted when determining how many squop-up turns have been played.
23.4 If an opponent plays a shot subsequent to a foul shot, this is equivalent to accepting the foul shot in its entirety.
23.4.1 The outcome of the shot played subsequent to the foul shot must stand (unless it itself is a foul shot), and the sequence of colours must be continued from that turn.
24. Interference with Winks
24.1 Players are at all times bound to make every endeavour not to touch winks they are not playing, other than those inevitably hit by the follow-through of the squidger. If, during the act of playing a shot, the player’s squidger,body or clothing disturbs a wink or winks not in the same pile as the first wink played, the disturbed winks are immediately restored to the position they were in before they were disturbed. (Disturbing winks by hand, body or clothing in the same pile as the first wink played is forbidden by Rule 10.4).
24.2 If, at any point in the game, any wink or winks are accidentally interfered with while not in motion, they are immediately replaced where they were before the interference took place.
24.3 If, at any point in the game, any wink or winks are accidentally impeded while in motion, they are placed in a position agreed by all the players or the umpire, or left where they come to rest, at the discretion of the partnership that did not cause the interference
24.4 If, at any point in the game, a player deliberately interferes with winks, the penalty is that the game is declared ended with a game score of 7–0 to the player’s opponents. During their own turn, however, players may manuallyrotate, turn over or clean any of their unpotted winks provided that they are neither squopped nor squopping. Winks so treated must be replaced in their previous position before a shot is played.
25. The Pot
25.1 Nothing is allowed inside the pot except winks.
25.2 The pot may be held in place if it is likely to be moved by a player, by a squidger, or by the action of winks in motion. If the pot is moved it must be replaced immediately at the centre of the mat. Any winks disturbed by the movement of the pot should be immediately restored to the positions they were in before they were disturbed.
25.3 Any wink coming to rest wholly or partly under the base of the pot, or where the pot is to be replaced in accordance with Rule 25.2, is moved the minimum distance necessary for it to be touching the base of the pot but not beneath the base of the pot when the pot is correctly positioned.
25.4 During the course of a game, an unpotted wink may come to rest in a position where it is supported at an angle by the pot. If the wink is neither squopping nor squopped, then it should be manually moved the shortest distance necessary to lie touching the pot but no longer supported by it. It squops any wink within the range of its required movement. If the supported wink is either squopping or squopped, then it is left in its position. If it subsequently becomes neither squopping nor squopped but remains supported by the pot, then it is manually moved as described above.
26. Etiquette Rules
26.1 If the players are unable to agree on any matter concerned with the play of the game, or are in doubt as to the meaning or interpretation of any rule, they must if possible call a competent person to act as an umpire. If any player is doubtful whether a proposed shot will be played legally, an umpire must be called before the shot is played. The umpire may advise on the likely legality of the shot. If the shot is played, the umpire must decide if it has been legally executed. The decision of the umpire is final on all matters.
26.2 No advice on the play of the game may be sought from or given by third parties. However, an umpire is permitted to advise on the likely legality of a shot. (This rule does not preclude discussion with other team members on game points required.)
26.3 Nothing but winks and the pot may be placed on the field of play. This does not preclude a player from resting on the mat in order to play a shot.
26.4 When a person is playing a shot, the other players should not occupy the playing volume without the permission of the person playing the shot. An umpire may, however, occupy the playing volume when judging the legality of a shot.
26.5 During the course of a game, no player may play any wink other than in his or her rightful turns in the game except for the following situation. If for any reason more than 30 seconds elapse between one shot and the next, then the opponents are at liberty to practise on any available nearby mat until the delaying player announces that the shot has been completed. In all other situations, it is not permissible to set up a shot on another mat and practise it.
26.6 If a player deliberately disrupts the course of a game, whether by interfering with winks, pot, mat, or another player, the penalty is that the game is declared ended with a game score of 7–0 to the player’s opponents.
Notes and Guidance
A. Unsatisfactory playing area
A.1 If the playing area is unsatisfactory owing to bumps, ridges, cracks and so on in the underlying surface, then the players should agree before the game commences what action is to be taken to alleviate the effects of thesurface’s irregularities. In these circumstances, it is permissible temporarily to move the mat so that a wink is no longer resting on a flaw in the underlying surface, the mat being replaced in its former position after the shot has been played. Alternatively, the wink itself may be manually moved, while remaining the same distance from the pot, so that it no longer rests on the flaw. Whatever action is taken, the pot should remain at the centre of the mat.
A.2 If the playing area is unsatisfactory because the mat has no baselines marked upon it, or because the underlying surface is less than the size of the mat so that there is insufficient area behind the baselines on the playable surface, then the players should agree before the game commences what action is to be taken when determining the field of play. Insufficient area behind baselines is considered to exist when the nearest point of the baseline is less than 10 cm from the corner of the playable surface. In both these situations, it may be agreed that the entire playable surface be deemed the field of play for those winks that have been played, and that unplayed winks should be brought in from a position no more than 10 cm away from the corner.
B. Matches involving more than one game
B.1 In any match involving more than one game, the result is normally decided on the aggregate number of game points scored, not on the number of individual games won and lost.
C. Suggestions for players
C.1 Players are invited to agree before a game starts that they will endeavour to point out in advance if a person is about to play a shot out of sequence.
C.2 Players are invited to agree before a game starts that they will endeavour not to take longer than two minutes over a single shot. (Such a requirement may be imposed by the tournament organiser.)
D. Suggestions for umpires
D.1 An umpire may be called to judge the situation of particular winks (e.g. to come to a decision over whether a particular wink is squopped or not squopped). In these circumstances, it is recommended that the umpire should view the situation from more than one standing position before coming to a decision. The umpire may find it helpful to use a torch or magnifying glass when coming to a decision.
E. Examples of legal shots
E.1 A shot might consist of attempting to pot a wink, attempting to squop another wink deliberately, or simply moving a wink to another position on the mat.
E.2 A player’s squidger is allowed to hit more than one wink during the act of playing a shot on a pile. However, the first wink played must be unsquopped, and the player’s squidger may then make contact only with those winks thatwere, at the start of the shot, squopped by the first wink played.
E.3 A shot on a pile may consist of tapping a wink so that another moves from beneath it, but it is a foul shot to squeeze a wink from beneath the top wink and then play the top wink if the two movements are distinct.
E.4 A shot on a pile may deliberately attempt to move a squopped wink a large distance without necessarily moving the first wink played a significant distance. Such a shot is legal if the upper surface of the unsquopped wink is hit first by the squidger and the action of the squidger is quick and continuous. It is a foul shot if the movements of the winks in the pile are distinct.
F. Examples of the scoring system
F.1 A game ends after the round limit without a colour having potted out. Blue has 3 winks potted, 1 played wink unsquopped and 2 winks squopped. Thus blue has 10 tiddlies. Green has 1 wink potted, 2 played winks unsquopped and 3 winks squopped. Thus green has 5 tiddlies. Red has 1 wink potted, 2 played winks unsquopped, 2 winks squopped and 1 wink unplayed behind the baseline. Thus red has 5 tiddlies. Yellow has no winks potted, 3 played winks unsquopped and 3 winks squopped. Thus yellow has 3 tiddlies.
Blue is therefore awarded 4 points for greatest number of tiddlies, while green and red are both awarded 1½ points for finishing with the joint second highest number of tiddlies. Yellow is not awarded any points. The resulting game score is a win to the blue-red partnership by the scoreline 5½–1½.
F.2 A game ends with blue having potted out first, green potted out second and red potted out third. Blue isawarded 4 points, green 2 points, and red 1 point. Partner’s points are then aggregated (giving an intermediate scoreline of 5–2 to the blue-red partnership), and then one point transferred from the losing partnership to the winning partnership. The resulting game score is a win to the blue-red partnership by the scoreline 6–1.
F.3 It is traditional for games that involved pot-outs to be marked by asterisks on scoresheets. Thus a scoresheet would show 5½–1½ for the game described in example F.1, but show 6*–1* for the game in example F.2.
G. Examples of the squop-up turns rule
G.1 Blue has a turn that causes all the green and yellow winks to become squopped. One blue wink and one red wink are not involved in piles but have been brought in and are unpotted. There are thus three squop-up turns (Rule 22.2). Green cannot play a wink. Red plays the first squop-up turn and this does not free an opponent wink. Yellow cannot play a wink. Blue plays the second squop-up turn and this does not free an opponent wink. Green cannot play a wink. Red must then ensure that at least one opponent wink (green or yellow) is free at the end of his or her turn (Rule 22.4). If red frees a yellow wink, then yellow will be able to play a wink during his or her turn. If red frees a green wink and no yellow winks, then yellow cannot play a wink, but blue must leave at least one green wink free at the end of blue’s turn (Rule 22.5.2).
G.2 Blue has a turn that causes all the green and yellow winks to become squopped. One blue wink and one red wink are not involved in piles but have been brought in and are unpotted. There are thus three squop-up turns. Green cannot play a wink. Red plays the first squop-up turn and this frees a green wink and no yellow winks. Because a freeing shot was played, squop-up turns are deemed to have come to an end (Rule 22.5). Yellow still has no freewinks and so cannot play a wink. Blue must leave at least one green wink free at the end of blue’s turn.
G.3 Blue has a turn that causes all the green and yellow winks to become squopped. All the free blues are involved in piles, and there are no free red winks. There are thus two squop-up turns because this is the special situation detailed in Rule 22.2.3. Green cannot play a wink. Red cannot play a wink but this counts as the first squop-up turn. Yellow cannot play a wink. Blue must then ensure that at least one opponent wink (green or yellow) is free at the end of his or her next turn.
G.4 Red sends a red wink off the mat. After yellow’s turn, blue has a turn that causes all the green and yellow winksto become squopped. There are free blue and free red winks but they are all involved in piles. There is thus one squop-up turn. Green cannot play a wink. Red is due to play a freeing shot by Rule 22.4. However, red must forfeit a shot for going off the mat (Rule 14), and so cannot play a wink this turn. This therefore constitutes a failure to free (Rule 22.4.2) and yellow is awarded a free shot with a nominated colour (Rule 22.6).
G.5 Green and yellow are squopped up. Blue plays a shot that simultaneously pots a blue wink, frees a green wink and frees a yellow wink. Blue gets another shot in that turn for potting one of his or her winks (Rules 12 and 22.5.1). However, because a green wink became free as a result of the blue shot, blue must ensure that at least one green wink remains free at the end of blue’s turn (Rule 22.5.2). Blue is permitted to squop the yellow wink freed.
H. Glossary of terms defined in the rules
Baselines: see Rule 2.3.1
Failure to free: see Rule 22.6
Field of play: see Rule 3
Foul shot: see Rule 23.1
Free shot with a nominated colour: see Rule 22.6.1
Free wink: see Rule 8.3
Freeing shot: see Rule 22.4.1
Game score: see Rule 19.2, 20.2, 21
Legal shot: see Rule 10
Mat: see Rule 2.3
Pairs: see Rule 1.1
Pile: see Rule 8.2.2
Playing volume: see Rule 4
Pot: see Rule 2
Potted out: see Rule 15
Potted wink: see Rule 8.1
Round limit period: see Rule 18
Shot: see Rule 9
Singles: see Rule 1.2
Squidge-off: see Rule 5
Squidgers: see Rule 2.2
Squopped up: see Rule 22.1
Squopped wink: see Rule 8.2
Squopping wink: see Rule 8.2
Squop-up turns: see Rule 22
Tiddlies: see Rule 19
Timed period: see Rule 17
Winks: see Rule 2.1