It is similar to the board game Ludo and is based on the same principles: getting four pieces around the board before the opposition. The goal of Uckers is to get all player pieces home before the opponent does. Even greater glory is attached to achieving all pieces home without the opponent getting any home at all—this is known as an 8 piecer. The ultimate win is when the player gets all their pieces home and the opponent has all their pieces still in the base—this is called an 8 piece in harbour,[citation needed] or an eight-piece dicking[1] and merits the unfortunate player's name to be recorded on the reverse of the board.
History
Although its first official print reference does not appear until 1946, Uckers is believed to derive from the Indian game Pachisi in the 18th or 19th century.[2] A newspaper article from 1934, describing recreation on the ship HMS Sussex, refers to uckers as a "form of gigantic ludo, played with huge dice, with buckets for cups".[3] A newspaper photo from 1937 shows sailors playing the giant-sized version on HMS Cardiff, with the caption describing the dice as a six-inch cube, shaken in a bucket, and claims that it's "a game popular in the Navy for generations."[4] It is mentioned in a diary of EJF Records (served 1928–1950) in 1937 as Huckers.[5]
Uckers is generally played using the rules stated below, but these will vary from one branch of the Royal Navy to another, most famously with the WAFU Rules of the Fleet Air Arm. Where those branches of the RN have worked with the other Armed Forces usually has dictated what rules the new playing Service use; why fellow aviators tend to play under WAFU Rules for example.[5]
It is also played in units of the Army Air Corps (United Kingdom) where it was introduced by aircraft technicians on loan from the Fleet Air Arm in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Uckers was also played by units in the Royal Artillery, particularly meteorologists and LifeFlight Toowoomba Rescue Helicopter crews.
Rules
Six-sided Uckers board
Although Uckers is often played on a Ludo board a true Uckers board is a mirror image so the red and green squares are presented to the player facing them in the correct Naval manner, i.e. red to port and green to starboard.[6]
The game is played by either two or four people, if there are two people playing then each player takes two opposite colours, yellow and red vs green and blue. If there are four players then the players opposite each other become partners, so Yellow partners with Red, and Green partners with Blue.
To travel around the board two dice are thrown, players moving the amount shown on the dice, a six permitting an extra turn. To see who goes first each player throws the dice and whoever throws the highest starts.
Some rules have evolved for the throwing of dice including no rolling of the dice from an open palm (Waterfall Technique), only tossing using the fingers. However, these are not used universally. If the dice leave the board, the IPS (International Playing Surface), accompanied by the call of "off the IPS" three times within the game this can be punished by losing the go up to all pieces home depending on which rules are being played. Unless the opponents deem it to have been done on purpose (for example to avoided moving a blob or mixing) then they may permit a re-roll.
No dice rigging (no setting both sides to sixes and picking them up. Dice must be picked up as they landed during the previous throw).
In order to exit the player's base it is necessary for a six to be thrown, which results in putting a piece on the coloured square joining the base known as the doorstep. However, if on the very first throw snake eyes (two ones) is thrown then all player (possibly partner's depending on which rules) pieces come out of the base onto the doorsteps—known as out all bits. Play then continues with the next player. If on rolling snake eyes on the first throw a player again throws snake eyes on their second throw all of their pieces return to the base. Under WAFU Rules, a player must call "snake eyes" prior to his first roll to benefit from rolling two "ones". He cannot do this retrospectively. If playing with a partner, then only his pieces come out not his partners.
A throw can be split up into the two separate numbers so it is possible to move two different pieces as in backgammon. However, unlike backgammon if a player is moving only a single piece, then they must move it the sum of the two dice rather than moving the value of the first die and then moving the value of the second die.
If a player's piece lands on a square with an opponent's piece, then, as in Ludo, that piece is sent back to the opponent's base.
If a piece lands on a square with a playing piece of the same colour then this is known as a blob[6][7] and is basically a barrier. An opposing piece is not allowed to jump over them, but friendly pieces can. The two ways an opposing piece can get by a blob is to destroy it, or by using an adjacent friendly blob to jump over it. A player can destroy the barrier by landing on an opponent's blob with a blob of their own or to six the blob off. To do this they will need to have a playing piece adjacent to the blob and then on their turn throw X + 1 six where X = the number of playing pieces forming the blob. Note that if the blob is on its own colour doorstep, then an additional six (i.e. X + 2 sixes) must be thrown to remove the blob and exit the homebase.
If one succeeds in knocking the blob off, then the single playing piece used to attack the blob is moved to the square that the blob was on and the pieces forming the blob are returned to the base. Play then continues to the next player.
If a player's piece lands on a square with a playing piece that belongs to their partner or is their other colour, then this is called a mixi blob (or a mixed barrier). Unlike blobs, a mixi blob is equivalent to a single playing piece so the opponent can land on the square and send all the playing bits back to their relevant bases. The opponent can pass over a friendly mixi blob as it provides no barrier to movement; a blob may not be attacked by a piece from an adjacent opposing mixi blob.
As in Ludo, one does need to roll the exact number of spaces left to get home, and if a player's pieces are in the tube (or pipe, though the Navy uses blunter terminology) then they cannot be attacked unless they are playing WAFU rules by invoking the "suckback" or "blowback" procedure.[7] If playing with a partner and all their pieces get home first, then they can continue rolling in the hopes of getting a six. If they do roll a six, then, on their next turn, they can then roll for and move their partner's pieces as well. However, remaining pieces cannot be moved by the partner once they are in the tube. WAFU rules also require an exact out, not just a number in excess of that required to take the piece home.
A player can either move normally or attack (or six) a blob. A piece cannot be moved next to a blob and then, on the same go, attack it.
If only one die value is able to be played, the higher value must always take preference.
If a player(team) has all his pieces sent home as following the loss of an 8 piece mixi blob he has been subject to an "8-piece dicking".[6]
Advanced rules
"WAFU rules"
The inclusion of certain extra rules is known in the Royal Navy as "WAFU rules" as they are most commonly played within Fleet Air Arm.
If a player gets one or more pieces into the pipe, an opposing player that lands on the end of that pipe can, on their next go, declare suckback. The player then rolls the dice and if one of the numbers on the dice, or the sum of both, is the same as the number of spaces the other piece is up the pipe, it is returned to its base. If the number is missed then he moves one square preventing multiple attempts at a suckback.
In addition a blowback is the reverse of this, when the player of the piece in the pipe/tube risks it remaining vulnerable to a suckback by attempting to roll the exact number of spaces between his piece and that of his opponent. If thrown, the opponent's piece is removed to the start. Recently, these rules have spread into the RAF and AAC as the three services now train together.
Mixi blobs can also be formed, where the blob consists of more than one colour. This is often done when two players have paired up as the blob can no longer be moved. To move the blob the top piece must be moved, and so on until the blob becomes all one colour.
Other rules
Although not strictly required by the rules, there are several other traditions. A player purely throwing and moving his pieces to end the game without entering into the spirit of the game can be politely censured for being a "Ludo player" or heckled and embarrassed by the surrounding throng that can gather around heated games.
Cheating is not cheating unless caught, whereupon a charge of "timber shifting" (the pieces usually having been made from a cut up broom handle) can be issued, returning a piece to its rightful place. Any timber shifting call should only come from those playing. Hints from the crowd should be restricted to overly complex discussions of tactics or superfluous detail that serves only to distract.
If an 8-piece dicking is threatened, a player may resort to "upboarding" (depositing all pieces onto the floor) but he will be punished for such an action, inline with an 8-piecing, by having his name added to the reverse side of the board.
A "stand up" finish is for the more debonair player who wishes to finish in style. When requiring a number to finish that is possible from one dice throw, the player can state "stand up finish", throw his dice, and stand up and walk away from the game without looking at the resulting throw in the hope that the correct number has appeared and he has won. Failing to do so results in the player slinking back to the board to continue, accompanied by polite banter from those present.
In the event of an extended dispute over any specialised local rules one of the players can request to see the rules. Legend has it that the rules are printed on the underside of the board. The game is over as soon as the board is flipped to check the rules.
In some rulesets, throwing a double on the dice allows the player to move a blob backwards, and if he reaches the square immediately before the bottom of the chute by this method, he can then enter the chute with these pieces instead of having to travel around the board.
Championships
The World Uckers Governing body, The Royal Naval Association held the 2021 World Championships in the HMS Victory arena in the Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth. The event was sponsored by Pussers Rum and all championship boards were supplied by Uckers ya uckers. The event was a great spectacle of skill and strategy and following a tense final the new World Champions, Sara and Bob Field known as 'The Ludo Two' were crowned.
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Persia. The earliest record of backgammon itself dates to 17th-century England, being descended from the 16th-century game of Irish.
Ludo is a strategy board game for two to four players, in which the players race their four tokens from start to finish according to the rolls of a single die. Like other cross and circle games, Ludo is derived from the Indian game Pachisi. The game and its variations are popular in many countries and under various names.
Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in Ancient India. It is described in the ancient text Mahabharata under the name of "Pasha". It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross. A player's pieces move around the board based upon a throw of six or seven cowrie shells, with the number of shells resting with the aperture upward indicating the number of spaces to move.
Trouble is a board game in which players compete to be the first to send four pieces all the way around a board. It is based on a traditional game called "Frustration" played on a wooden board with indentations for marble playing pieces and rules similar to Parcheesi. Pieces are moved according to the roll of a die using a contained device called a "Pop-O-Matic".
Parqués is the Colombian version of a board game in the cross and circle family. The game is described as a "random thinking" game: the moves depend on the roll of the dice but players must consider possible strategies before executing their move. The objective of the game is to advance all the pieces to the end. Once in the safety zone player can use 2 dice until they are one space away from home, where they will then just use one die.
Parcheesi is a brand-name American adaptation of the Indian cross and circle board game Pachisi, published by Selchow & Righter and Winning Moves Games USA.
Parchís is a Spanish board game of the original from the Cross and Circle family. It is an adaptation of the Indian game Pachisi. Parchís was a very popular game in Spain at one point as well as in Europe and north Morocco - specifically Tangiers and Tetouan, and it is still popular especially among adults and seniors. Since it uses dice, Parchís is not usually regarded as an abstract strategy game like checkers or chess. It does not depend entirely on luck either, since the four pawns under a player's command demand some sort of strategy.
Chaupar, chopad or chaupad is a cross and circle board game very similar to pachisi, played in India. The board is made of wool or cloth, with wooden pawns and seven cowry shells to be used to determine each player's move, although others distinguish chaupur from pachisi by the use of three four-sided long dice. Variations are played throughout India. It is similar in some ways to Pachisi, Parcheesi and Ludo. In most of the villages of India, this game is played by old people.
Ashta-kashte is a race board game from Bengal akin to the Cross and Circle family for two to four players originating in India. Although there is no evidence for that, it is considered by some as the direct ancestor of Pachisi. It is played on a board with a 7-by-7 grid on it. It is similar to Chowka bhara, or to Ashtam changam pe where there is a 5-by-5 grid on the board.
Mensch ärgere Dich nicht is a German board game, developed by Josef Friedrich Schmidt in 1907/1908. Some 70 million copies have been sold since its introduction in 1914 and it is played in many European countries.
Chaturaji is a four-player chess-like game. It was first described in detail c. 1030 by Al-Biruni in his book India. Originally, this was a game of chance: the pieces to be moved were decided by rolling two dice. A diceless variant of the game was still played in India at the close of the 19th century.
Plakoto (Πλακωτό) is a tables game for two players that is popular in Greece. The object is for the player to bring all 15 pieces around to his or her own home board and then bear them off. The player who bears off all 15 pieces first wins the game. This game is usually played along with two other variants, Févga and Pórtes. Together these three games are called Távli, and are played in sequence usually one after the other. Game is three, five or seven points. A Middle Eastern version of this game is Mahbusa, and the Bulgarian version of Plakoto is known as Tapa and also as Tsillitón (Τσιλλιτόν), in Cyprus. Parlett places Plakoto in the same group as the popular mediaeval game of English, as well as the French games of Tieste and Impérial, the Italian game of Testa and Spanish Emperador.
Chowka Bara or Ashta Chamma is a two- or four-player board game from India. This game is an example of a “fully observable” system that has an element of chance introduced by the roll of special dice and an element of strategy. While traditionally played with 4 or 6 cowry shells, dice can also be used.
Tâb is the name of a running-fight board game played in several Muslim countries, and a family of similar board games played in North Africa and West Asia, from Iran to West Africa and from Turkey to Somalia, where a variant called deleb is played. The rules and boards can vary widely across the region though almost all consist of boards with three or four rows. A reference to "al-tâb wa-l-dukk" occurs in a poem of 1310.
Tock is a board game, similar to Ludo, Aggravation or Sorry!, in which players race their four tokens around the game board from start to finish—the objective being to be the first to take all of one's tokens "home". Like Sorry!, it is played with playing cards rather than dice.
Aeroplane chess is a Chinese cross-and-circle board game similar to the Western game of Ludo and the Indian game of Pachisi. Developed in the 20th century, aeroplane chess features airplanes as pieces instead of the more abstract pawns and beehive-shaped pieces found in the games from which it is derived. Aeroplane chess has spread around the world, especially in Africa.
This glossary of board games explains commonly used terms in board games, in alphabetical order. For a list of board games, see List of board games; for terms specific to chess, see Glossary of chess; for terms specific to chess problems, see Glossary of chess problems.
The following is a glossary of terms used in tables games, essentially games played on a Backgammon-type board. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, but applicable to a range of tables games.
Long Nardy, also just Nardy, is a Russian tables game for two players. It is also played in Armenia as Long Nardi or Nardi. It probably originated in the historical Persian game of Nard. It requires a tables board, 15 men apiece and two dice.
References
↑ Rick Jolly (2000). Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang & Usage. FoSAMMA. ISBN0-9514305-2-1.
↑ Irving, John James Cawdell, Royal Navalese:A Glossary of Forecastle and Quarterdeck Words and Phrases 1946
↑ "PLENTY OF SPORT". The Daily News. Vol.LIV, no.18, 566. Western Australia. 18 September 1934. p.2 (LATE CITY). Retrieved 22 May 2023– via National Library of Australia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
