User:DVQuebec/Draft:Pichenotte 003

December 28, 2008 Backup Copy of Pichenotte Page ..................

Top view of a Pichenotte board.

Pichenotte is a French noun translated into English as 'flick'. In French Canadian vernacular, the generic term pichenotte often refers to several disk-flicking games. These games include, but not limited to carrom, crokinole, knips-brat(German for flicking-board), pitchnut, chapayev, pichenotte hockey, and pichenotte football. The Quebec Museum of Civlization, exhibits the two basic forms of pichenotte, a round game and a square game which they say appeared in the mid 1800's. Pichenotte is not a patented game, therefore it does not refer to any one particular game and there are many variations in size, shape and rules. Pichenotte is a registered U.S. Trademark. Carrom and Crokinole are also played as cue sports. Novuss is generally only played as a cue sport, not a disk-flicking game.

According to Quebecoise Pitchnut maker Lee Larcheveque, "Crokinole is also called “Pichenotte” by French Canadians" The manufacturers of the German disk flicking game called Knips-Brat describe how the words Crokinole, Pichenotte and Knips-Brat are used interchangeably The Tavistock Gazette in Ontario, Canada printed their news story about the round game of pichenotte on August 26, 2020. Many other French Canadians consider Pichenotte and Crokinole to be the same game, such as The Casa Rodena Winery venue,and gameboard collector Ed Marcelle .

There are many variants of the games which often include the addition of bumpers or metal wickets or similar obstacles on the board to make the game more challenging. For French Canadians, a pichenotte may also refer to a flick on the head or a flick on the nose, a nickname for pets, and a type of delicious nut candy.

The square boards pictured on this Wikipedia page seem to be handmade, vintage games, and there are no known current manufacturers of square pichenotte boards.

There are many manufacturers of round pichenotte boards aka 'crokinole' including The Crokinole Depot, Crokinole Canada, Crokinole Gameboards, Mr. Crokinole, and Pichenotte Games.

Origins

While the specifics are uncertain, all forms of pichenotte may have originated from the Indian game carrom. In the mid-19th century, carrom was likely brought to Canada by Indian or British immigrants, or soldiers returning from India, Nepal or Tibet, where the game has a large following and is played both socially and on a professional level.

Equipment For Square Boards

A pichenotte board from Sainte-Edwidge-de-Clifton, Quebec

The game is played on a board of lacquered plywood, normally 28 inches (710 mm) square. The edges of the playing surface are bounded by raised wooden sides. The object of the game is to strike a wooden disc such that it contacts lighter discs and propels them into one of four corner pockets. These pockets are usually larger than those on Indian carrom boards. The playing pieces come in two colours denoting the two players (or teams, in doubles play). An additional piece is coloured red (or other unique colour) and called the "queen" or "king".

Rules for Square Boards

The aim of the game is to sink one's eleven pieces before the opponent sinks theirs. However before sinking one's final piece, the queen must be pocketed and "covered" by pocketing one of one's own pieces on the same or a subsequent shot. Fouls, such as crossing the diagonal lines on the board with any part of one's body, or scratching (pocketing the striker or sending it off the board), lead to one of one's pieces being returned to the board.

Equipment for Round Boards

The game has a round surface about 24 inches in diameter, elevated from the deck or ditch, usually from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch. The rails may be octagonal or round. Each player has 12 round pucks about 1-1/4 inch diameter by about 1/2 inch tall. There are 3 scoring zones of 5, 10 and 15 points, deliniated by concentric circles about 7 inches apart. The center hole is worth 20 points. A scorecard helps the players keeps score, which is typically played to 500 points, but players sometimes choose to play best of 5 or best of 7 games.

The round version of pichenotte aka crokinole

Rules for the Round Game

There are easy beginner rules and advanced tournament rules. Begin with board and ditch cleared of pucks and each player having the same number of pucks “in hand”. Typically 12 pucks each for singles and 6 pucks each for doubles. Each player or doubles team uses one color of puck. Each player or team takes a turn shooting one puck from the outer most ring, called the baseline. The puck is to lie flat on the gameboard and the legal shot is a flicking motion with the hand remaining in place. It is not legal to push or shove the puck. The first player tries to land in the center for 20 points. If they do, they score 20 points, which cannot be taken away. If they miss, their opponent will flick a puck from their quadrant and try to knock their opponent into the ditch. Once a puck is in the ditch, it is not played again, and counts for zero points. Play alternates back and forth, one shot each, until each player has shot 12 times. The score total is based on how many 20's were scored during the round and where the remaining pucks are on the board, according to the scoring zones. If a puck lands directly on a scoring line, it counts for the lesser score.

Variations

A pichenotte board from St. Andre, Kamouraska, Quebec

Another variant of the game called pitchnut has four screws or pegs 4 inches (10 cm) from the centre of the board, and two screws or pegs in front of each pocket. It also has 2-inch (5-cm) recessed alleys along each side.

See also

• Chapayev
• Novuss
• Pitchnut
• Carrom
• Crokinole

External links

• Quebec Pichenotte Players Association, archived
• Pichenotte Games - Dave Lagasse
• Pitchnut - Lee Larcheveque
• Carrom. org
• The Crokinole Depot - The Beierling Brothers
• KnipsBrat
• Mister Crokinole - Caleb Kelly
• Crokinole Canada - Ted Fuller
• Crokinole Gameboards - Jeremy Tracey
• World Crokinole Championship
• Chapayev
• Novuss