User:SMcCandlish/Incubator/Russian pyramid

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Russian pyramid game setup, with the object balls in a triangle rack at the foot of the table, and the cue ball behind (up-table of) the head string

Russian pyramid (Russian: ру́сский билья́рд, russky bilyard, 'Russian billiards'), often known simply as pyramid (пирами́да, piramida) and sometimes called Russian billiards in English (although there are at least two unrelated other games by this name in this language), is a cue sport that has several differences from Western pool, although game play is still dominated by attempts to pocket (pot) balls. It is played in countries of the former Soviet Union and Finland, beside of it Finland has "national" billiard game, played with quite similar equipment.

Differences from other billiard games[edit]

  • Table: even though sizes vary – including: 3.5 × 7 feet (198 × 99 cm); 4 × 8 ft (224 × 112 cm); 4.5 × 9 ft (254 × 127 cm); up to 6 × 12 ft (356 × 178 cm) [1] – the official tournament size is the 12 ft model, the same size preferred for snooker, but much larger than a pool table (7 ft and 9 ft being the most common sizes for that style of game).
  • Balls: there are sixteen balls, as in pool, but fifteen are white and numbered, and the cue ball is usually red[1] (or rarely yellow[citation needed]). They are larger and heavier than Western billiard balls; the official tournament sizes[citation needed] (depending upon table size) are 68 mm (211⁄16 in) or 72 mm (24⁄5 in).[1] Smaller 60.3 (22⁄5 in) balls are available for the smaller table sizes, for amateur play.[citation needed]
  • Pockets: the corner pockets are only 4–5 mm wider than the diameter of the ball. The central pockets 14–18 mm wider than the diameter of the ball. This makes the game's mechanics like an oversized version of snooker, and much more difficult than pool, requiring greater precision to pocket a ball.

Rules[edit]

Russian pyramid ball at a corner pocket. The relative size of the ball and the pocket makes the game very challenging.

There are several variations of Russian billiards, but the three most common are free (or "American") pyramid, combined (or Moscow) pyramid and dynamic (or Petersburg) pyramid. All games start with fifteen numbered white balls racked in a pyramid, as in straight pool. The first player breaks the rack with the cue ball from the baulk line. The object of the games is to pocket eight balls to win the frame. In free pyramid at all times any ball may be used as a cue ball. In combined and dynamic pyramid only one ball is a cue ball. After pocketing the cue ball, the scorer must choose a white ball to be taken off the table. In combined pyramid, then the player places the cue ball in the baulk area. Balls can be pocketed in side and far corner pockets only. In dynamic pyramid, the player places the cue ball at any area of the table, but may not pocket the cue ball.

Competition[edit]

Since 2000, World Championships have been held for Russian pyramid. The world governing body for pyramid, establishing published rules and equipment standards, is the International Committee of Pyramid[2] (ICP, sometimes translated International Pyramid Committee),[clarification needed] with its largest affiliate being the European Pyramid Committee.

In popular culture[edit]

The so-called "American" version, free pyramid, adapts well to use in fiction because of its simple rules (i.e., the plot does not have to side-track into complicated gameplay explanation), and has featured prominently in notable Russian films such as The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979) and The New Adventures of the Elusive Avengers (1968).

Variants[edit]

Finnish kaisa[edit]

Kaisa or karoliina is a Finnish "national" billiard game, that is a close cousin to Russian pyramid, as it is played with similar equipment (i.e. large balls and tight pockets). However, it is played with two white cueballs, one for each player, two red balls and a yellow ball, or kaisa. A player must pocket a nominated ball, scoring points. Extra points are given from hitting other balls in addition to the target ball. All balls are spotted and the game is played to 60 points.

Russian pool[edit]

Comparison of 68 mm (211⁄16 in) Russian and 57 mm (21⁄4 in) American-style pool balls.

American-style pocket billiards (pool) balls have been adapted for use on Russian billiards tables, for playing eight-ball, nine-ball and other pool games. The balls are 68 mm (211⁄16 in) in diameter, like those for pyramid, and thus much larger than the American-style balls they are patterned after (as illustrated to the right).

Other games[edit]

  • Russian billiards (obsolete) – A now rare game dating to at least the World War I era and probably earlier, and believed to be of genuinely Russian origin, it is played, on an English billiards table, with five coloured balls on a pocketed table, and points may be scored with caroms and winning hazards, or lost via losing hazards. The game was introduced into the US in 1916 by billiard promoter Bill Dolye, and enjoyed notable popularity in New York.

Game setup: The red ball is placed on the foot spot,

Object balls have point values from 1–9. Hazards can only be played with the red ball (and are worth one point). [3]

  • "Russian" billiards – a game invented (in 1993 by a party known only as "Ryk") in the games room of the University Club of Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and spreading (to an extent) memetically through the Internet, uses standard snooker equipment, but has a very complex and frequently revised ruleset (last changed in 2006, as of August 2008). The game is designed to be open-ended, and like poker is suited for multiple parties who may enter and leave as they will, making the game unusual in billiards. It requires six "or more" colour balls and a cue ball, and the setup of the game is based on snooker, though it makes no use of the pyramid of red balls found in snooker. Specific balls (though under certain circumstances they may be "declared" as different balls) are associated with specific pockets, and the scoring system is complicated, being based both on the balls and the specific types of shots performed.[4] The popularity of the game outside of Kingston (or even Queen's University) is quite indeterminate, but its rules can be found on multiple billiards webboards, university websites, and blogs (mostly in Canada). Why it has "Russian" in its name is also unknown.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c editors (2007). "Russian Billiards". Retrieved 2008-08-14. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  2. ^ editors (2008). "Russian Pyramid Rules". BilliardsForum.com. Retrieved 2008-08-14. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)[unreliable source?]
  3. ^ staff writers (1916-09-01). "Russian Game Popular: New Billiard Version Is Gaining Favor Among Manhattan Cuemen". New York Times. New York, NY: New York Times Company: p. 11. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Ryk, and Sellens, Rick (who may be the same person) (2008). "Russian Billiards Rules". BilliardsForum.com. Retrieved 2008-08-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) This is just one of many near-identical copies, but one of the few up-to-date with the 2006 changes. While the game is unlikely to ever be internationally notable, it is documented here to avoid confusion with older games known by the same name.

External links[edit]


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