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1 When was snooker invented
and by whom?
In 1875 Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain
was a young subaltern with the Devonshire regiment stationed at Jubbulpore.
During the raiuny season the officers' long afternoons were spent at
the mess billiards table where the parent game (billiards) was less
popular than various round games which were better suited to more than
two players and to which it was easier to add a modest gambling element.
'Pyramids', perhaps snookers most obvious forerunner, was a game played
with fifteen reds, initially placed in a triangle, with the apex red
on what is now the pink spot but which was then known as the pyramid
spot. Each time a player potted a red, all his opponents paid across
the agreed stake money per ball.
In 'life pool', each player was given a cue-ball and an object-ball
(e.g. white on red, red on yellow), the second players object ball being
the first players cue-ball and so on. The object was to pot ones specified
object-ball three times. Each time a player's ball was potted, he lost
a life and had to pay an agreed stake. When he had lost three 'lives'
he paid an extra sum for a 'star' (or extra life) and when that was
gone he was 'dead'. When only one player remained he scooped the kitty.
'Black pool' was a development of pool in that a black ball was added.
When a player had potted his allocated ball, he could attempt the black.
If he was successful, each of his opponents paid across an additional
sum and he could then attempt the nearest ball. Joe davis spent many
of his youthful hours playing a similar game, 'pink pool'.
Black pool was the preferred game among the Devonshire officers but
it was Chamberlain's inspiration gradually to add other coloured balls
so that snooker came to be played with fifteen reds, yellow, green,
pink and black. Blue and brown were added some years later.
These new colours produced a game whose variety (and variety of monetary
forfeits) immediately caught on. the concept of break-building was much
in the future and even the point values of the balls were not established
until a little later; but it was in these casual and almost chance beginnings
that the game undoubtedly had its origin.
When interviewed in 1938, Chamberlain recalled that the Devons one afternoon
received a visit from a young subaltern who had been trained at the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. In the course of conversation, the
later happened to remark that a first year cadet at Woolwich was referred
to as a 'snooker' with the implication that this was the status of the
lowest of the low. The original word for cadet had been the French 'neux'
which had been corrupted to 'snooker'.
Chamberlain said, "The term was a new one to me but I soon had
the opportunity of exploiting it when one of our party failed to hole
a coloured ball which was close to a corner pocket. I called out to
him: "Why, you're a regular snooker!"
"I had to explain to the company the definition of the word and
to soothe the feelings of the culprit I added that we were all, so to
speak, snookers at the game so it would be very appropriate to call
the game snooker." The suggestion was adopted with enthusiasm and
the game has been called snooker ever since.
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