Pitchnut

Pitchnut is a wooden tabletop game of French-Canadian origins, similar to carrom and pichenotte, with mechanics that lie somewhere between pocket billiards and air hockey. There are no records of the game being massed produced. All existing boards are handmade and frequently handed down from generation to generation.

Origins

through which the players had to shoot their pieces, according to Mr. Kelly. Pitchnut historian, Lee Larcheveque recently traveled to the villag of St. Edwidge, Quebec where almost every household has a pitchnut board- many of which were built by Achile Scalabrini. The game is usually played around Christmas time.

Equipment

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The object of the game is to finger-flick a comparatively heavy disk, called a striker, shooter or pitch, such that it contacts lighter object disks and propels them into one of four corner pockets. The pieces come in two sets, usually white and black, denoting the two players (or, in doubles play, teams). An additional piece is colored (red and green are common) and called the "poison", which is the puck equivalent of the eight ball in pool games.

Rules

The goal is to sink all of one's object pieces and the "poison" or "dame" before one's opponent does.

Play begins with alternating ten or eleven differently colore pieces in a ring, in the center of the board. Five or six pieces fit between each peg. A piece of a third colored piece (poison) is placed in the center of the board.

There are two main variations in rules- Canadian and American, though rules may also vary among families. In all variations, object pieces must be struck with a larger shooter. The shooter must remain either entirely or half way behind each player’s home line. The shooter must be returned to the home line after each shot. In American pitchnut the shooter may be placed in the side gutters, in Canadian pitchnut, it may not.

The shooter is usually shot with the index or middle finger and thumb in a flicking action ("pichenette" in French). The shooter may be pushed briefly with a finger, in a shoving motion, without the use of the thumb, but may not be pushed or dragged with the finger ("carried") across the player's home line.

American pitchnut is played with rules that are very similar to pool. A player must pocket all of his/her pieces and then the poison. If the poison is sunk before all of a player's pieces are pocketed, that player loses. Games usually last around five minutes.

Canadian pitchnut uses the same rules as pichenotte, a similar game that does not have pegs or recessed gutters. The object is to score 50 points before your opponent does. A player earns five points for each of his opponents pieces that remain on the board. The odd-colored piece (dame) is worth fifteen points and can be shot in at any time (some rules require that a player "cover" the dame by immediately sinking one of his/her own pieces. Some families/regions play with two odd-colored pieces in the center. A game can consist of several rounds of play, and a game can last 20 minutes or more.

ee also

*Pichenotte
*Carrom
*Chapayev
*Crokinole
*Novuss

References

External links

* [http://www.pitchnut.com/ Pitchnut website] — with rules, events of the Amherst Regional High School Pitchnut Club, news, gallery
* [http://people.alfred.edu/~pitchnut/ Alfred University's Pitchnut League]