Games, rules & organisation
A quick summary of the main events, rules of the tournament and the organisation structure.
The British and World championships are organised by the British Marbles Board of Control (BMBC). There are five main events in these championships:
The main tracks
- Main tournament (British & World championship team event, from 1932)
- Individual Championship (from 1936)
- Best Lady player (from 1987)
- Golden Oldies (from 2002, Gardner's Golden Oldies trophy from 2017)
- Sam McCarthy-Fox (SMcF) Award for Highest Break
One off tracks
- 2011: Royal Wedding (The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge)
- 2023: Greyhound coronation challenge (King Charles III)
Main Tournament (team event)
This is a knockout competition with teams of six players. The fixture is prepared in advance with the previous year (four) semi-finalists starting in different pools. Each game is played between two teams; sitting at opposite end of the ring. 49 target marbles are placed in the centre of the ring. The first team to knock 25 marbles wins. In the preliminary games, only 4 rounds are played; with the highest scoring team proceeding to the next round. The quarter-final (QF), semi-final (SF) and final games are played to 25 marbles. The referee will invite the captains to set the order of player for their respective teams and the match starts with a nose drop. Players will take turn (alternating from one team to another) to shoot.
Individual Championship
The contestant of this competition are made up each team's highest scorer of the first game played. The ten players with the highest scores automatically qualify (and the current holder). A play-off between the remaining players to select the best 2 to join the first group for the final. A number of marbles are placed in the centre of the ring (4 marbles per player +1); and all players start with a nose drop to determine the order of play. At the end of each round, a check is made to establish which players can proceed to the next round (have a chance of winning) - any player whose score plus the number of marbles left on the ring is less than the current leading score is excluded; The winner is the player who knocks the highest number of marbles.
Best Lady player
The competitors are made up of the highest scoring lady player in each team in the first match. A number of marbles are placed in the centre of the ring (4 marbles per player +1); and all players start with a nose drop to determine the order of play. The winner is the player who knocks the highest number of marbles.
Gardner's Golden Oldies
This is a single knockout competition between two players at a time. This competition is available for the over-50s. A special template (cross format with 13 marbles; 6 on each side and one in the middle) is used to lay the marbles. After a nose drop, players take turn for the first to knock 7 marbles. The final has up to three 3 games.
Greyhound coronation challenge
This is an individual competition made up of the six players with the highest break (up to the semi-finals) from any team. 22 marbles are placed in the centre of the ring set in the shape of a crown (using a template). For each player; the ring is set with the 22 marbles; this game is a 90-second speed challenge to knock as many marbles as possible (of the 22) either from the existing position or the edge of the ring. This is a new game/trophy set in commemoration of this year’s King Charles III coronation.
Sam McCarthy-Fox (SMcF) Award
This trophy ia awarded to the player with the highest number of marbles scored in a single break during the main team tournament.
The British Marbles Board of Control
This BMBC organising committee is made up of all the captains (of the teams), referees and officials. Over the past few years, the secretary of BMBC has been the main organiser of the event; Sam McCarthy-Fox 1977-2018 and Julia McCarthy-Fox from 2019.
