Interesting facts about billiards

Where, when and how a game of billiards has arisen, is still unknown to this day. The first find, related to billiards, dates back to 3300 BC and is a set of nine chips, four balls and three sticks. This discovery was discovered in Egypt, during the excavation of a children's grave. As for the location of the billiards, everything here is also ambiguous. Some researchers believe that this is Asia, others say - India, and in the opinion of the third - China. The only thing you can say for sure is that billiards are an interesting, adventurous, and as well as chess, a very ancient game .

However, what is a billiard in general? This is an exciting intellectual game, for which mind and logic are required. Perhaps that's why billiards was and remains interesting to many famous people. In addition, it promotes the development of mindfulness, concentration, the ability to properly assess the situation. Billiards - the game is not for the quick-tempered, you need to have such qualities as self-control and consistency, and the key to a successful game is tactics and strategy. That is why many generals were proud of their victories in billiards, almost as much as on the battlefield.

Strong> Billiards is not by chance considered a "game of kings." After all, it was the royal people who at one time had a great influence on the development of the game , sometimes banning it (like the King of England George II), and sometimes, by personal example, encouraging the enthusiasm of billiards by his subjects, contributed to its development (Peter I, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles IX) . Indeed, billiards was loved by many monarchs, so, the Queen of Scotland, Mary Stewart, was so attracted to this game that even on her day of execution she petitioned for the preservation of her billiard table, as evidenced by her letter to the archbishop of Glasgow.

Some vassals, using their gentlemen's weakness for billiards, managed to reach career heights. For example, Michel Shamillar, who served at the court of King Louis XIV, from the clerk grew up to the French military minister. And all this is due to his ingenuity, since being the best player in the country, he became a constant partner of the king in billiards and, succumbing to him in the game, grasped his vanity, thereby contributing to his career.

Not only this became famous for billiards . Some enterprising persons, such as Mikhail Radziwill and Karol Radziwill, princes of the Commonwealth, were able to get a good profit from their hobby billiards. They opened the first manufactory for the production of billiard cues and set up their sale to Europe, mainly to France, where the dynasty of Louis was very revered by billiards. In addition, Karol Radziwill, nicknamed Pan-Kohanku, was known as a billiard-type shuffler, since he equiped his billiard hall with a "surprise", which consisted of sex. As soon as his opponent was ready to strike, the floor began to move hardly noticeable, and when he beat Pane-Kokhanka - came back to normal. And in this he was helped by specially trained servants, who with their movements around the hall achieved such an effect.

As for the appearance of billiards in Russia, it is, like much else, the merit of Peter I. Billiard made such a strong impression on him that after returning from Holland (it was there that he met with this game). He ordered to install in his reception a pool table. That all who expected his audience, idly not sit, and practiced in the overseas wonder. With considerable enthusiasm, the courtiers of the tsar, especially the officers, people of gambling , began to learn a new, foreign game.

It's safe to say that billiards has won the hearts of many not only in Europe but also in Russia. Even Catherine II, for all her employment in public affairs, found time to play . And it was during her reign that the name of our first game, the Russian pyramid, was born. Already later the second pyramid appeared - Moscow. Gradually billiards began to go beyond the boundaries of the royal palace. His popularity among the population slowly but surely increased, especially under Anna Ioannovna.

Somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century, billiards became not just a game, but a sport, the further development of which took place according to international rules brought from France. Just at this time we started to appear the first champions in this sport - General I.N. Skobelev, the grandfather of the outstanding Russian commander, and also General DG. Bibikov, the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 and General Osterman-Tolstoy. All of them were amazing players, with individual, unique technique.

The popularity of billiards among officers continued even after the revolution. For example, the first red officer, Klim Voroshilov, was an outstanding, interesting, in one word a great player. However, he not only played himself, but also did so that playing billiards became possible for many Soviet people. After all, it was he who facilitated the resumption of the work of the famous Karl Schulz factory, on which one of the best billiard tables in pre-revolutionary Russia was made.

In general, we should say that with the development of billiards in Russia there are many interesting stories involving participation in them of no less interesting people. This game was not alien to some Soviet leaders. Thus, the "leader of the peoples" Joseph Stalin played well in billiards. It was rumored that he was a supporter of fair play and did not like to be played by partners. And during the Great Patriotic War in 1944, it was Stalin who organized a billiards tournament, the proceeds from which (and there were not many of them) went to the needs of the front. In addition, it is worth noting the following are not little-known players in billiards: the marshals Malinovsky and Konev, and among the junior officers to distinguish Efimov Nikolai Ivanovich named Zaika, by the way, an unsurpassed master of billiards.

Certainly, in the history of billiards in the great Russian expanses, ups and downs were observed. However, Russia has always been, is and will be rich in virtuosic masters of this wonderful game.