Boku (game)
Encyclopedia
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
played by putting marbles on a perforated hexagonal board with 80 spaces and the winner is the first player to get 5 marbles in a row. The game has also been sold under the name Bollox, and later Bolix and won a Mensa Select award in 1999.
Invented by Rob Nelson, the former Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher and creator of Big League Chew
Big League Chew
Big League Chew is a brand of bubble gum that is shredded and packaged in an aluminum foil pouch. It was created by Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher Rob Nelson, and pitched to the Wrigley Company by former New York Yankee All-Star Jim Bouton, a Maverick teammate of Nelson's, as a fun...
bubblegum. The idea for the game came to Nelson in 1991 when he was in London pitching for the Enfield Spartans. Along with good friend and owner of the Spartans Malcolm Needs
Malcolm Needs
Malcolm Richard Needs is an English writer and filmmaker.He is the owner of TheMovieWorks and is an avid Tottenham Hotspur supporter.-Early life:...
they developed and marketed the game. Distributed by the London Games Company in Europe and Cadaco Toys in North America, for a time it enjoyed the position of being the best selling two player strategy games in both Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
and Hamleys
Hamleys
Hamleys is one of the world's largest toy shops. Its flagship store is in Regent Street, London. Major stores worldwide are in Dublin, Dubai, Amman, Glasgow, Mumbai and Chennai....
. The game was awarded a Mensa International Gold Star.
Rules
Bōku belongs to the class of connection games ("n-in-a-row" games) similar to GomokuGomoku
Gomoku is an abstract strategy board game. Also called Gobang or Five in a Row, it is traditionally played with go pieces on a go board ; however, because once placed, pieces are not moved or removed from the board, gomoku may also be played as a paper and pencil game...
or Connect Four
Connect Four
Connect Four is a two-player game in which the players first choose a color and then take turns dropping their colored discs from the top into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid...
. It has two main rules:
- the game is won by putting five marbles into a row
- if a player traps two of his opponent's marbles between two of his own, he may remove one of the sandwiched marbles (and the opponent may not put a marble back into the same place with his next move).
World Championships
The official Boku world championships have been held as part of the Mind Sports Olympiad since 2000 in England and the champion of 2006 was David M. Pearce (England). The 2005 Bōku World Champion was Joey Ho from London, who was aged 17 when he claimed the title after defeating reigning champion David Pearce. The previous champions were David M. Pearce, England (2003 and 2004), Ben PridmoreBen Pridmore
-Achievements:Pridmore is the 2009 World Memory Champion, a title he also won in 2004 and 2008. From Derby in the United Kingdom, Pridmore achieved this by winning a 10-discipline competition, the World Memory Championship, which has taken place every year since 1991.He held the official world...
, England (2002), Jan Palmgren, Sweden (2001) and David Glaude, Belgium (2000).
List of World Champions
- 2000: David Glaude (Belgium)
- 2001: Jan Palmgren (Sweden)
- 2002:
Ben Pridmore (United Kingdom) - 2003: David M. Pearce (United Kingdom)
- 2004: David M. Pearce (United Kingdom)
- 2005: Joey Ho (Hong Kong)
- 2006: David M. Pearce (United Kingdom)
- 2007: James Heppell (United Kingdom)
- 2008: David M. Pearce (United Kingdom)
- 2010: David M. Pearce (United Kingdom)
- 2011: Andres Kuusk (Estonia)