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Gorodki: Russian skittles Throwing sticks is one of the earliest skills mastered by humans. They needed it for survival but at later times this activity became an entertainment. In 1923 the rules of this Russian folk sports were established and it was officially called gorodki sport. Gorodki’ peak of popularity was in 1970's when more than half a million people in USSR played the game.
In the second half of 1920's the people of the young Soviet state were weary of revolutions and wars. The game became widespread all over the country. Many of the leaders of USSR played it: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Kalinin and writer Maxim Gorky. There was a gorodki playground in Kremlin. The rules of the game were strictly observed at the heart of the Soviet state, no giveaways were tolerated. It is said that the legendary marshal Kliment Voroshilov was the best in gorodki among the Soviet leadership.
Beyond the walls of Kremlin there were playgrounds in every neighborhood. The only sports newspaper of the times, “Red Sports”, had even written: “It became impossible to pass by a group of gorodki players for the risk of getting a hit by a bat”. Gorodki playgrounds had become indispensable at stadiums jut like football fields and athletic tracks.
«Every manufacture, every organization had its own team and every park in a city had a gorodki club,” - shares his memories the master of gorodki sports Vyacheslav Kuznetsov. “Moscow players dominated the tournaments of USSR. Gorodki players still have a joke about the winner of a tournament being determined in the train that carried the Muscovite players to an encounter with the best players of the land”.
In 1990's many gorodki playgrounds were overrun by extensive construction of parking lots. Currently we are witnessing gorodki’s comeback. Not that long ago a playground was opened at the Palace of Youth and Children Creativity at Vorobievy Gory in Moscow. The Cup of Moscow's Mayor was established to which Yury Luzhkov had attended and even played the game. “Gorodki is a very interesting exercise that trains precision and develops various skills,” - said the mayor. “It is also attractive because its development doesn't require huge investments. A playground can be established at any place without costs. I am promoting various sports, including golf, and let me tell you that I find gorodki much more exciting. We will continue promoting gorodki in Moscow.”
The president of Moscow Gorodki Federation, the prefect of South-Western administrative region of our capital, Alexei Chelyshev, said that in the nearest future the number of gorodki playgrounds will be growing. “We want to establish playgrounds for this wonderful game at recreation areas all over the capital. People should be able to try to play a game of gorodki at any recreation park.”
15 figures
The aim of the game is to knock out groups of skittles arranged in various patterns by throwing a bat at them. The skittles, or pins, are called gorodki (literally little cities or townlets), and the square zone in which they are arranged is called the gorod (city).
The game consists of throwing a bat from a predetermined distance at the gorodki, which are arranged in one of 15 configurations: cannon (pushka), fork (vilka), star (zvezda), arrow (strela), well (kolodets), crankshaft (kolenchatyy val), artillery (artilleriya), raquet (raketka), machine gun installation (pulemyotnoe gnezdo), lobster (rak), watchmen (chasovye), sickle (serp), shooting gallery (tir), airplane (samolet), and letter (pis'mo). A figure is considered demolished when all the pins are thrown out of the delimited area of gorod. Whenever at least one pin is thrown out of a figure, a player can approach it by moving to a half-round line.
Whoever uses the least number of throws wins. The dimensions of gorod are 2X2 meters, the throwing distance is 13 meters (for a long throw) and 6,5 meters (for a short throw).
A throw is considered lost whenever:
• a bat had touched the fault line or the ground before it;
• a player had stepped over or beyond the throwing line;
• a player had stepped over the side bar;
• a player used more than 30 seconds in preparation for his throw.
In this case all the pins are returned to their initial positions and no second attempt is allowed.
The figure called “letter” can be demolished only with a long throw. A pin is considered knocked out whenever it had been moved fully moved out of the square or the “whiskers”. The pins that rolled out beyond the front line of the square or within the limits of the “whiskers” remain in the game. The “stamp” on the “letter” is considered knocked out if neither it nor the bat had touched other pins.
Various densities?
The pins may vary in weight due to the density of the wood they're made of. Such sort of diversity is allowed. The important thing is that all the pins should be of the same size. These subtleties are taken into account at the time of setting up figures. For example, in the “machine-gun nest” figure the bottom pin should be heavier than the topmost. If these pins are equal in weight, demolishing the figure is possible only with a very precise hit. In the “well” figure the topmost and bottom pins should be heavier than the back and middle ones.
Sophisticated bat
The square must be ideally level. The smoother and more elastic it is, the best. In that case the bat doesn't bounce up too high and flat figures are easier to knock out.
In the early times the bats were made of wood but then they started binding them with iron to make them more durable. A bat can be made heavier with ferrules. In 1950's the bat acquired its present shape. It is now made of six pieces of Cornelian cherry tree wood joined together with metallic plugs. The handle is made of textolite and there is a metallic shell at the extreme end of the bat. Such a bat even has some flexibility and doesn't bounce up much on the square. Cornelian cherry tree wood is procured in the southern regions of Russia and is left to dry out for at least five years, which makes the wood very hard.
Gorodki in the neighboring countries and Israel
Russian gorodki are currently played in ten countries, most of which were parts of the USSR: Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, as well as Germany, Israel (where many of our expats live), Sweden and Finland. However, the later two countries play their own variants of townlets.
The future of gorodki in Moscow
- A very interesting idea was voiced by the head of the executive management of the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Veselovsky, when he visited our competitions. He suggested that we build a gorodki playground on the territory of the protected park Kolomenskoe. This is an area of historic importance in the east of Moscow, which is a popular weekend destination for the Muscovites, admired for its beauty. Similar playgrounds could be built at Bitsa park, there is a nice suitable place for gorodki playground in the area of Teply Stan, a small park in Kotlovka. Gorodki playgrounds will be accessible for everyone - says Chelyshev.
- What are you planning to do for the promotion of professional gorodki in Moscow?
- We're constantly expanding the coaching corpus, which will assist those who are willing to raise the level of their mastery in this sports or even spire for participation in serious tournaments. Gorodki professionals are coaching at the Palace of Youth and Children Creativity at Vorobievy Gory, at the Palace of Gaming Sports “Sodruzhestvo”, at sports playgrounds that had already been equipped for the purpose. Masters of gorodki sports are actively coaching kids t schools and on mobile gorodki playgrounds.
How much do gorodki cost?
A set made of birch-wood costs 950 rubles, a set made of beech-wood costs 1750 rubles and a set made of oak costs 2450 rubles.
Gorodki set necessarily includes:
1) 2 cone-shaped bats of 90 cm in length. The diameter of the bat at base is 3.5 cm and 3 cm at top
2) 5 pins (length: 20 cm, diameter: 4.5 cm)
3) a manual
4) a bag
Total weight of a set is 2.6 – 3.5 kg.
Gorodki became an Olympic sports in USSR
Memorable 5 rubles coins were issued in USSR on the eve of 1980 Moscow Olympics with the emblem of the Olympics and inscription “XXII Olympic Games. Moscow 1980” and a gorodki player throwing a bat as well as six gorodki figures. The coin contains not less than 15.55 gm of silver (900 standard), The number of issued coins is 221,640. Most of the coins are found in private collections.
By Igor Zetilov
Photos: RIA-Novosti
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