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World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

theguardian.com

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Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#181

Post by JoachimS »

praptak wrote: post #159
JoachimS wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are also able to swing their wings quite rapidly while charging you. In this way they can throw a surprisingly hard punch. But not break bones in healthy humans - kids included. https://outdoorswimmer.com/coach/myth-busting-can-a-swan-bre... The beak is probably more dangerous, or at least give you a nasty pinch or nibbing.

The smell test here is that swans are flying birds and a human is large(-ish) land mammal. Nature just cannot make a flying bird's bones strong enough because they have to be much lighter. If we play conkers with each other's bones the swan will lose.

Upvote for the subtle reference to the conkers story (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41844545).

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#182

Post by zeristor »

I developed a strange fascination with Horse Chestnut trees.

I remember in the nineties when I noticed Horse Chestnuts laying on the pavement, and felt a tinge of sadness kids would normally by scouting areas to pick up all the chestnuts like competitive squirrels.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#184

Post by dageshi »

riffraff wrote: post #106
Nursie wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's more or less it. You make a hole through your 'conker' (horse chestnut, not the edible type) and thread a string or a bootlace through it. Then you take turns. One holds their string still and lets the conker hang down, the other gets a swing at it with their conker. Whoever's conker lasts the longest is the winner. There were all sorts of rumours about baking them, or soaking in vinegar or what have you to ha…

Ho do you drill the hole? I'm having trouble imagining kids with needles in their pockets, do you do it with a pencil or toothpick? We've got a ton of horse chestnuts in my neighborhood but I've never heard of this game and I'm eager to introduce it to my kids. Also, doesn't the conker spiral around your hand hitting it and hurting you?

We randomly had something like this in our kitchen draw...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SpitJack-Trussing-Butchers-Roasting...

Attach string, push through, detach string and remove.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#185

Post by Symbiote »

butterfly42069 wrote: post #127
seanhunter wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea why you think safety laws prevent people from playing conkers in spite of the very thread you are commenting on being evidence that people play conkers and it is perfectly legal.

Well it is banned in schools. I'm not sure how many adults you believe actually play conkers, beyond a few nutters (sic), but its mainly been banned for the people that used to actually enjoy it, kids. I do wonder if by banning it in schools it will get less and less common till it disappears. I suppose you predictably think that's nonsense. But pedantry aside, its banned for the people who used to play it most and e…

You're downvoted because you're repeating unfounded tabloid rage-bait, hours after someone else posted a reliable source showing the opposite.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#186

Post by vidarh »

JoachimS wrote: post #125
defrost wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not going to hold you down and break it with a tire iron .. but I'll bet for certain that Swans are responsible for arms being broken. They've got a pretty savage and scary charge to them, it's highly likely they've startled more than one person in a park who've turned to run, tripped and fallen across steps or rockery edges and come out badly injured.

They are also able to swing their wings quite rapidly while charging you. In this way they can throw a surprisingly hard punch. But not break bones in healthy humans - kids included. https://outdoorswimmer.com/coach/myth-busting-can-a-swan-bre... The beak is probably more dangerous, or at least give you a nasty pinch or nibbing.

Was bitten by a swan as a child. Painful by all accounts, but not enough for me to remember the pain, though I recall being more careful around swans afterward Probably more scary for my parents.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#187

Post by zeristor »

thebruce87m wrote: post #132
mikeodds wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Innate knowledge to Brits, similar to knowing a swan might break your arm

Don’t draw on your hand with a pen or you’ll get ink poisoning

How holding a feather and you’ll get a “red ring of fungus” in your hair.

I thought that was stupid then as well.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#188

Post by Someone »

k7sune wrote: post #33
nealmueller wrote: post #10

The World Conker Championships is an annual event held in England, where competitors from around the world play the traditional game of conkers using chestnuts. Each player threads a chestnut, known as a conker, onto a string and takes turns striking their opponent’s conker, aiming to break it. The tournament follows a knockout format, with players advancing until a world champion is declared. The event has been runn…

Considering that it's called a world championship, someone should study the sport in-depth! Are the players allowed to swing the chestnut in a circle like a sling? Can they use carbon fiber strings, or maybe some sort of elastic string to build up more energy? Or can the player use a heavy string so it can crack like a whip? Fancy arm/wrist/fingers movements to accelerate the chestnut in the last moment? What's the o…

I’m do not think you always want to hit them hard. If our understanding of physics is right, it doesn’t matter whether you hit them or they hit you.

the two conkers hitting each other harder likely will lead to an earlier result, but it will also favor the conker that can withstand few hard blows over one that can withstand many softer ones.

So, assuming you can somehow judge how well your and your opponent’s conker do in this regard, you may want to go either for brute impact or for many rounds.

> What's the optimum strike angle to crack a chestnut along its natural cleavages?

I think that’s more important. Even idealized conkers are fairly asymmetrical, so possibly, the ‘bottom’ of one hitting the side of another is a winning or losing strategy. If so, it’s more a matter of timing than of being brutal, at least for hypothetical perfect players. Whether humans can do much here, I wouldn’t know.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#189

Post by dagw »

beAbU wrote: post #175
echoangle wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the game skill-based? How can you influence which chestnut breaks? Is the challenge chestnut selection? Or a specific swing method?

I find it highly suspicious that the reigning champion gets to drill the holes in the conkers. You can intentionally make some of them weaker by drilling closer to the edge or something. I assume the conkers are provided by the organizers, and the participants must select their conker from the collection or given one at random. Prevents tampering I guess.

I assume the conkers are provided by the organizers

Going around the conker trees in your area and finding the perfect conker is a huge part of the game. There is also a certain amount of pre-game 'modification' that are generally allowed, like soaking them in various solutions, or baking them in an oven.

Having to use a provided conker would be like showing up to the Tour de France and being assigned a bike by the organisers.

Re: World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

#190

Post by butterfly42069 »

Symbiote wrote: post #180
butterfly42069 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is banned in schools. As I said in another comment, that outlaws it for the vast majority of players at the place they used to play it. Believe it or not adults playing conkers or people playing conkers outside of schools isn't a common pass time. It is pretty much RNG, though you can massively nerf a conkers structural integrity by making the hole through the middle poorly, so there are some techniques. People al…

It's not banned, but the Daily Mail would like you to think the EU banned another British tradition.

I don't read the daily mail. Try again. Maybe be less partisan.
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