During September/October, as autumn starts to set in, the leaves on the trees turn golden brown, and the seeds start falling down, and that means conkers!
Conkers is a traditional game, played by British children and adults every autumn. The game is played by two players, each with a conker threaded onto a piece of string: they take turns striking each other’s conker until one breaks.
Watch the video to find out where to find conkers and how to play the game.
Conkers are actually seeds of the Horse Chestnut tree. The trees didn’t exist in Britain until they were introduced from Turkey in the late 16th Century.
The seeds fall to the ground in a spiky green shell, which split open to reveal the conker.
Once you’ve found the perfect conker you need to drill a small hole through it, using a skewer or small screwdriver. Then feed a lace or piece of string through the hole, and knot it at one end.
You’re now ready to battle!
World Conker Championships
Every year the World Conker Championships are held on the second Sunday of October in the village of Southwick, Northamptonshire, in the UK.
Thousands of people come from all over the world to compete, sometimes dressed up, and raise a lot of money for charity. Since the championships started in 1965, over £415,000 has been raised.
The two winners are crowned the King Conker and Queen Conker of the world.
In order to take the conker throne, you need to follow the official rules:
RULE 1
The game will commence with a toss of a coin.
The winner of the toss may elect to strike or receive.
RULE 2
A distance of no less than 8 inches or 20cm of lace must be between knuckle and nut.
RULE 3
In turn, each player takes 3 strikes at the opponent’s conker.
RULE 4
Each attempted strike must be clearly aimed at the nut, with no deliberate misses.
RULE 5
The game will be decided once one of the conkers is smashed. If any conker remains on the lace, it will be judged play-worthy or not, by the stewards.
RULE 6
If both nuts smash at the same time then the match shall be replayed.
RULE 7
Any nut being knocked from the lace but not smashing may be re-threaded and the game continued.
RULE 8
A player causing a knotting of the laces (a snag) will be noted. 3 snags will lead to disqualification.
RULE 9
If a game lasts for more than 5 minutes then the “5 minute rule” will be applied. Each player will take up to 9 further strikes at their opponent’s nut, alternating with 3 strikes each. If neither conker has been smashed at the end of the 9 strikes, then the player who strikes the nut the most times during this period will be judged the winner.
Extra rules:
There are some extra rules that some people play. Players will need to agree to them before starting a round.
- If the strings become entangled, the first player to shout “strings” or “stringsies” has an extra turn.
- If one player drops their conker, the other can shout “stamps” or “stampsies” entitling them to try and break the conker on the ground by stamping on it. Shouting “no stamps” before the other player can shout “stamps” prevents any stamping.
Scoring
When a fresh conker is made ready for battle, it is known as a ‘noner’. Once it has beaten another conker, it has one added to its score, so a ‘none-er’ becomes a ‘one-er’, a ‘one-er’ becomes a ‘two-er’, a ‘two-er’ becomes a ‘three-er’, etc.
If you’ve been out hunting for conkers tell us about it in the comments below, and show us your best pictures.
