Kubb

All Music Guide:

Essentially a vehicle for frontman Harry Collier's songwriting talents, four-piece pop/rock band Kubb instantly drew comparisons to Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, and Muse with the release of their debut album, Mother, in 2005. Born in Liverpool, Collier emigrated to his mother's native Tobago with his family when he was four years old. Developing a passion for music, he soon learned to play various instruments, including the clarinet and classical guitar. After moving back to England, namely Cornwall, at the age of 17, Collier played in various bands and eventually moved to London just as One Little Indian was attempting to sign his then current group. While working as a waiter in a North London organic cafe, he was asked to sing "Happy Birthday" to Rollo Armstrong, brother of Dido and member of Faithless, who was so impressed by his vocal talents that he invited him to his Highbury studio. There he met an old school friend of Rollo's, Ben Langmaid, who had a studio at the same complex, and Jeff Patterson.

The threesome began writing songs together that would form the basis of Mother, but both Langmaid and Patterson expressed no interest in being part of a band. Instead, Collier recruited former Reef drummer Dominic Greensmith (through an old touring contact, guitarist Adj Buffone, via an advertisement in {

Wikipedia:

Kubb (pronounced [kɵb] in Swedish or [kub] in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Today's version originated on the island of Gotland, Sweden.

Rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate object of the game is to knock the "king" over, before the opponent does. This, combined with the fact that there is a certain level of strategy that can be used by players, has led some players and kubb fans to nickname the game "Viking chess." However, unlike chess, if a player or team knocks over the king before achieving their objectives, that player/team immediately loses the game. Some games have been known to last for hours. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as sand, concrete, grass, or even ice. Kubb is a good game for children (under supervision), although in such cases, the 8-metre pitch length (specified in some instructions), is often shortened.

History

Although it is often claimed that the game dates back to the Viking Age and has survived on Gotland, there doesn't appear to be any firm evidence of this. The Föreningen Gutnisk Idrott ("Society of Gotland Games"), formed in 1912, does not list kubb as one of the traditional games from Gotland. There is anecdotal evidence of games called kubb being played in various places in Sweden in the early 20th century, but how similar those rules were to the ones used today, is unknown.

The game in its modern conception became popular in the 1990s when commercial kubb sets were first manufactured. The key feature of the game (opposing teams throwing) is shared by the games kyykkä and bunnock, both of which come from Karelia or neighbouring areas. The game has now gained international interest, and an annual World Championship has been held since 1995 on Gotland. Large kubb tournaments are now located throughout Europe and the U.S. On December 13th, 2011, Eau Claire, WI became The Kubb Capital of North America.

Game pieces

There are typically twenty-three game pieces used in kubb:

There is considerable variation in the design of these pieces. In some sets, every piece apart from the King has a circular cross-section, whereas in others, every piece has a square cross-section.

In Nordic countries the game is widely available, but elsewhere it is not well known, so most purchases are via the Web.

Setup

According to the U.S Nationals Rules and World Championship Rules, kubb is played on a rectangular pitch 5 m by 8 m. Corner stakes are placed so that a rectangle is formed. The center stakes are placed in the middle of the sidelines (long edges of the rectangle), which divides the pitch into two halves. No other markers are required to demarcate the field's boundaries, although markings that do not interfere with game play are allowed (such as chalk lines). The king is placed upright in the center of the pitch, and the kubbs are placed on the baselines (short edges of the rectangle), 5 kubbs on each side equidistant from each other. Kubbs starting the game on the baseline are referred to as base kubbs. The baseline should run through the center of the kubbs.

While there are official rules as to the size of the field, the dimensions can be altered for younger players or to accommodate faster games. Typically the pitch is grass, but kubb can also be played on sand, snow, or indoors on carpet. The pitch should always be level, with no more than a 3 inch drop from one end, or one side, to the other.

Rules

Kubb is played between two teams, which may consist of only one person per team.

There are two phases for each team's turn:

If a kubb is thrown out of play, i.e. outside the boundary markers or not beyond the middle line (Note: all the kubb must be out to count as being out of play), then one more attempt is given. If this also goes out, the kubb can be placed anywhere in the target half by the opposing team as long as it is at least one pinnar length from a corner marker or the King. If a thrown kubb knocks over an existing baseline or field kubb, or hits a field kubb that was also just thrown, then the kubbs are stacked upright at the location of where they hit.

Play then changes hands, and Team B throws the sticks at Team A's kubbs, but must first knock down any standing field kubbs. If a baseline kubb is knocked down before the remaining field kubbs, the baseline kubb is returned to its upright position. (Field kubbs that right themselves due to the momentum of the impact are considered knocked down. Also kubbs are considered knocked down if they end up tilting and relying on a thrown pinnar for support). Again, baseline kubbs that are knocked down are thrown back over onto the opposite half of the field and then stood. Some players prefer to remove field kubbs that have been knocked down, while others leave them lying in the field of play. At this point markers (e.g. coins) can be placed on the remaining baseline kubbs so they are not confused with nearby field kubbs. In New Zealand, knocking down a baseline kubb before all field kubbs are down would result in the throwing team forfeiting the rest of their turn.

If either team does not knock down all field kubbs before their turn is over, the kubb closest to the centerline now represents the opposite team's baseline, and throwers may step up to that line to throw at their opponent's kubbs. This rule applies only to throwing the pinnar at the opposite team's field and baseline kubbs; fallen kubbs are thrown from the original baseline, as are attempts to knock over the king.

Play continues in this fashion until a team is able to knock down all kubbs on one side, from both the field and the baseline. If that team still has sticks left to throw, they now attempt to knock over the king. If a thrower successfully topples the king, they have won the game.

If at any time during the game the king is knocked down by accident, unless by a newly thrown kubb, the offending team immediately loses the game.

Victors are typically determined by playing best out of three.

For informal play between players of widely differing abilities, such as an adult and a child it is permissible to shorten the width of the arena on the child's opponent's side, making it easier for the child to hit the kubbs, and it is also permissible to move the king closer to, but not behind, the child's line. Also, one team may get more sticks than the other.

Tournaments

The Kubb World Championship is held annually on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The U.S. Championship is held annually in Eau Claire, WI. There are also numerous other tournaments throughout Europe (Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy and more. Most countries have their own national championship tournament.

Some of these other kubb tournaments in Europe include:

Tournaments in the U.S. have exploded since 2007, especially in the Midwest. In 2012, the Midwest tournament list includes Eau Claire, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Rockford, IL; Decorah, IA; Appleton, WI; Des Moines, IA; Dallas, WI; Madison, WI, and Spring Grove, MN.

Links to some of these tournaments in the United States include:

The Australian Championships are held in Geelong every November.