The British and World Marbles Championship: When and where is held? When did it start? Who takes part? Who are the current champions?

It takes place in Crawley every year - not including 2020 and 2021 due to the global pandemic - and marble players across the world travel to Sussex to player in the popular tournament.

Here is all you need to know about the British and World Marbles Championship.

When and where is the British and World Marbles Championship held?

The championships take place at the Greyhound Pub in Tinsley Green on Good Friday every year. This year's event will take place in April 15. The only year it didn't take place at the Greyhound Pub was in 1977 when the tournament was moved to the Crawley Leisure Centre for one single time.

When did the the British and World Marbles Championship start?

Marbles has been played at Tinsley Green for hundreds of years, some say since 1588, when two local lads played for the hand of a young lady. The formal championship dates back to 1932 and was originally held at the old Greyhound before the current pub was built in 1936. It was then that the British Marbles Board of Control was first formed and it continues to run the tournament to this day in spite of frequent changes of owners and landlords at The Greyhound.

Who takes part?

Over the years, players from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Wales and the United States have participated alongside English teams. In 2022, there will be teams from Germany playing, and team members coming from France and the US to join their local team The Black Dog Boozers.

Who are the current champions and who has won it the most times?

On April 9, 2019, German side MC Erzgebirge beat Black Dog Boozers to become world champions. It was the seventh time MC Erzgebirge won the title. Individual winner was Paul Smith and Best Lady was Whitney Lapic. By reaching the final for the 20th time, Black Dog Boozers equalled the achievement by Telcon/Toucon Terribles. The Boozers won the title 14 times, the Terribles win it 18 times. The winners in 1932 were the Black Horse.

What are the rules?

According to Wikipedia, The championships are organized by the British Marbles Board of Control and the version of marbles played is Ring Taw, known in the United States as "Ringer" and in Germany as "Englisches Ringspiel". Forty-nine target marbles are grouped closely together in 6-foot diameter (1.8-metre) raised concrete ring covered with sand, each of the target marbles being a coloured glass or ceramic sphere having a diameter of approximately 12mm (half an inch).

Two teams of six players of any age, gender or skill level,[16] take turns using the tip of the finger to aim and project the "tolley", a larger marble (commonly referred to as the "shooter" or "taw"), which is a glass or ceramic sphere of 18mm diameter (three-quarters of an inch), deploying top spin, back spin and side spin, to drive other marbles out of the ring.

A player's knuckle must be touching the ground when shooting, known as "knuckling down". Moving the tolley closer to the target marbles, known as "cabbaging", is forbidden - as is any other advantageous movement of a players shooting hand during shooting. These would constitute a foul known as "fudging". Any intentional or persistent contact between a player's clothing and a marble or tolley while it is motion would be a foul called "blocking". No score results from a foul shot. A foul shot ends the turn of the offending player, though the score achieved in that turn stands. Any player who makes three foul shots during a game is eliminated from that game. The first team to knock out 25 marbles from the ring is the winner.

Who organises the British and World Marbles Championship?

Organiser Julia McCarthy-Fox is travelling from New Zealand with her wife Kathy, to run the championship, and is looking forward to seeing both new and familiar faces. After running the tournament for over 40 years fellow organiser and recognised marbles expert Sam McCarthy-Fox died last summer, and during the 2022 event, a memorial plaque will be unveiled to mark his dedication to and love of this special event.

Have you seen? Marble-llous! Memories of the World Marbles Championship in Crawley / Looking back at the 2016 Marbles World Championship

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