DOMINOES
The domino game originated in Mesopotamia, the present Iraq, and is about four thousand years old. It is so popular in Spain that you would think it had Spanish origins. But the pieces are actually from midieval China.
The rules are extremely simple. There are two to four players with eleven pieces each, and the player who has the highest double piece starts (two sixes being the highest). The other players then proceed to put their pieces at the end which has the same value as theirs. If they cannot match a piece they have to take another one from the pile of left-over pieces, or miss their turn if there are no more pieces. The player who uses all his pieces first finishes and wins the game. The others make a note of the value of the pieces they have left.
As a rule dominoes is not very difficult, but this is not the reason for its popularity. Apart from the previously mentioned rules you need a good measure of attention, memory, and concentration and to be proficient in strategy and arithmetics. Do you really need that many talents to play a four thousand-year-old game? The answer is yes. The players take their hobby very seriously, and like most things the Spanish do there is a lot of passion involved, so the above talents come in handy. You can guess what pieces your opponents have by counting the pieces that have already been played, and which ones each opponent has played (it is important to get rid of the high pieces first). You can also play sudden death when your remaining pieces have the same value (there are seven pieces with each number). So if, for example, you have the last three pieces with two in both ends, you can end the game immediately and leave the other players with many points. Normally there is a bit of money at stake, or sometimes it is a question of who pays for the coffee.
Most people play in pairs and use various code words and facial expressions, and experienced players, who have been with the same partner for years, start to look more and more as a domino married couple, where both easily read the other’s movements and expressions. Something which is of utmost importance when you play with strategy.
The game often starts with a cup of coffee and a brandy on the table, and after a while the temperature rises and the pieces are put down harder and harder. Suddenly somebody shouts ‘NO NO NO’, often followed by words that are unsuitable for print, and the discussion takes off. The level of noise seems like that of a war zone to everybody except those who are used to it. If you ask what they are fighting about you can be sure to receive a surprised ‘Fighting? We’re just talking, it’s only a game.’ in reply. The worst thing for domino players is on-lookers who cannot keep their mouth shut. It is said that dominoes were invented by a mute person. It is very important to be quiet and not disturb the game with stupid comments.
A great place to observe dominoes is at the Hogar de Jubilados, the local club for pensioners. Here you are not allowed to play for money although the occasional 10 cent coin finds its way onto the table. The pensioners pass most of their free time playing dominoes which to many of them is the high point of the day. Normally the game starts after lunch and goes on until late in the afternoon, or sometimes even until dinner time. The fact that the players are of advanced years does not make the game any less fascinating, on the contrary, the many years’ experience makes the game extra interesting to watch. This experience is evident in that the smallest mistake is spotted right away, and then the discussion starts. As a spectator you will hear exchanges such as ‘I blinked to make you finish the game immediately’ – ‘No you didn’t, you touched your hair to say I could play it my way’. Sometimes the discussion gets so loud that the staff intervene and calm down everybody. But all in all dominoes brings people together, and those that normally struggle to socialise soon become members of the domino gang.
Some players have taken their hobby one step further and establish societies and clubs. Attempts have been made to standardize the rules internationally, but the fact that there are no specific rules makes dominoes so charming. Each little place where domino games are played has its own variation of the game and the most important is for friends and acquaintances to get together to hae a good time together.
There are, however, some unwritten rules, i.e. that the losing pair mix the pieces for the next game, and that the winners get to pick up their pieces first.
But the number one rule is never to ask ‘Is it my turn?’ because that shows that you are not following the game and not taking it seriously. And that is the biggest sin in dominoes.