The game of billiards is several centuries old. Unfortunately, history has not preserved information about who invented this entertainment, it is only known that this game came first to Europe, and then to America from Asia, according to one version from China, according to the other - from India.
The first mention of a billiard table dates back to 1469, when it appeared in France. Noble nobles perceived rolling with balls with a cue solely as home entertainment, moreover, the rules were not distinguished by either rigidity or orderliness. The game quickly gained popularity and spread throughout European countries. During the reforms of Peter I, it also appeared in Russia, where it quickly gained great popularity, and such that, by the decree of Catherine II, training in billiards was included in the compulsory program for the development of noble children.
The game became a sport only in 1870, causing a lot of misunderstandings, because adherents of strength and athletic disciplines could not put up with the fact that from now on the physical data of the competitors turned out to be unimportant in sports. These disputes still do not subside.
In the early Soviet times, sports committees were formed, which were supposed to popularize the game, it was thanks to them that numerous billiard rooms were opened in clubs. They say that Joseph Stalin himself was very fond of playing billiards.
N. Khrushchev did not recognize billiards as a sport, and therefore did not see any sense in popularizing it, moreover, he believed that such a pastime discouraged the working people: the game does not add physical strength, but how to count - the school should teach, they said at that time.
Billiards was revived in Russia only after 1990, at first only as a hobby, but thanks to the efforts of the International League - and as a sport, elite and intellectual. Today they play several types of billiards.
Russian billiards
Russian billiards got its name from the territory of the Russian Empire, where it was very common since the 1700s. The game is played on tables of 3, 65 meters in size with 16 balls, the diameter of which is 68 mm. Fifteen balls are game balls, one cue ball, that is, a breakable ball. In Russian billiards, it is very welcome if the cue ball was pocketed. This type of game is considered sports, it is in Russian billiards that competitions are held, including international ones, and the whole point is that the game requires skill, logic, and sports excitement.
American
American billiards gets its name from the continent in which it was spread. Its main difference from the Russian is in the size of the table, which has a size of 2, 8 meters. The pockets of the "American" are large, and the balls are 57.2 mm in diameter. The game of such billiards is pretty fast.
English
Snooker is a purely English variety of billiards and is widely spread in Great Britain and its former colonies. The table has dimensions of 3.85 meters, and 22 colored balls with a diameter of 52.4 mm are used for the game. In England, it is perceived exclusively as a sporting event.
Cannon
Another of the main features of billiards is carom, a game that is widespread in Japan, Indonesia, and South America. The main difference of this game from the above versions is that there are no pockets in the billiard tables of 3, 5 meters, and the game is played with three balls.
Based on these four main types of billiards, there are also many varieties of this game, such as:
- a large Russian pyramid;
- eight;
- alager;
- packets;
- batiphon;
- screw;
- Moscow pyramid;
- nine.
