Why is the Winter Olympics Sport Curling Called “Chess on Ice”?
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Very few people actually understand the winter sport Curling. For the majority, it’s just scratching their head in amusement at what is happening. The complexities of Curling are half the reason it is called “Chess on Ice”, the other half is the strategy involved in the sport. It’s a unique sport that requires a lot of concentration and precision.
via Reuters
2022 Beijing Olympics – Curling – Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 3 – United States v Norway – National Aquatics Center, Beijing, China – February 3, 2022. Magnus Nedregotten of Norway and Kristin Skaslien of Norway in action. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
The Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing will kick start with the Curling competition. In the games, the American Curlers Chris Plys and Vicky Persinger will go against the Australian pair, Tahli Gill and Dean Hewett.
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What is Curling?
In curling, the players slide granite stones on an ice sheet towards a target area, similar to bowling. The circular target on the ice is known as ‘house’ and the points are scored based on how close your stones are to the center of the ‘house’, when you slide them. Each team comprising 4 players (two in mixed doubles) takes alternative turns and there are usually eight or ten ends in a game.
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The starting block from which the players slide the stone is called a ‘Hack’. Although it’s quite tricky to hold on to the stones on the targeted path that is what makes curling so interesting.
The magic sweeping
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Sweeping is the other half of curling. The prominent part in curling is the friction created by water droplets on the ice sheet. When the players slide the stones, the ‘pebbled ice’ hinders the stone from sliding because of the friction. To tackle that, players use brushes to reduce the friction and to get the desired trajectory of the stones.
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History of curling
The earliest recorded history of curling is from the 16th century, in Scotland. It’s an ancient game that got popular across the world with Scottish travelers. Earlier the sport was played on frozen lakes, but nowadays those conditions can be controlled pretty easily in a confined space.
However, the first appearance of curling in Winter Olympics was in 1924 and it was just a demonstration sport until the late twentieth century. The sport was added as a competition in Winter Olympics in 1998 at the Nagano games.
In visual terms, it’s hard to identify it as something like chess, but if you look profoundly into the whole mechanics of the game, you would realize it’s as complex and as mind-riveting a game like chess.
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