Very Important stuff....Marble solitaire
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
I have been thinking a great deal about which subject i should choose for my first guide entry.Having spent a great deal of time travelling in and around the world,as well as some out of it,i am completely spoilt for choice with any number of places, people,and experiences to choose from,that i could write about.
As i sat on my couch pondering this problem my eyes settled on the marble solitaire sitting on the side table.I started thinking about all the hours i had spent trying to crack this thing over a period of several years.At one stage it became an obsession almost,if i went into someones house and saw one,i would have to try it in case theirs was easier than mine,which of course is ridiculous.
You do know what i am talking about don't you?.They come on little dishes ,mostly round, sometimes square,with little marbles or ballbearings,small wooden balls,even plastic balls on some of them,each sitting in a little hole or groove.Three deep, in the shape of a cross with the centre one missing.The idea is that by moving one marble at a time,you jump it over another marble removing the one that has been jumped over as you go along.The object is to have only one marble left on the board that sits in the middle hole when you have finished,that is the hole that was the only empty one when you started.
In all my time trying to accomplish this i never once came across anyone else who could do it,many said they had done it once or twice but didn't know how they had done it,but noone could show me,and even though i looked i could never find a printed solution.To be honest there were times when ,quite frankly it pissed me off.Times when i could of been socialising,conversing,drinking,dancing,travelling you name it ,thats not to say that it didn't provide me with entertainment,but all too often it was very unsociable of me.Well, the point is,that finally i sussed it.Now today i can do it when i have had a drink or in forty seconds sober,i have even won money doing it.
Murphys law of course,soon after i had cracked it i happened to show my way to a an old chinaman who promptly showed me a differant way.
So i am sitting here wondering just how many other h2g2 people have spent far too much time trying to work this thing out.Time that could be better spent writing more interesting guides than this or chatting or even just having a good time.For that reason and for those people i decided that i would try to explain, in writing just how easy the damn thing really is.
For the purpose of explanation i am going to split the marbles up into differant sections,then name and number each one.Five sections in fact,which i will name North,south,east,west and central.The central section,although it has nine holes only has eight marbles due to the centre hole being empty.The other four sections will have six marbles each.
Place the cross of marbles so that one section is pointing directly toward you,this section will be called south,the others will now be apparent according to the compass.For those that don't know,west will be on your left hand and east on your right,north on top and pointing towards you ,south.
For numbering ,we will not be turning the board around at all it will be as you are looking at it now.Always working from left to right and from north to south.I repeat,do not move or turn the board at all.
Starting with the six marbles in the north section,number 1) will be the marble on the far left of the top line,number 2) to its right,and number 3) to the right again.For number 4)start on the left again so Number 4) is the marble under number 1),number 5) will be under 2) and number 6) under 3).We will call these marbles n1,n2,n3,n4,n5.n6...n=north.Repeat this numbering procedure with the south section,left to right and north to south,only these will be called s1,s2,s3,s4,s5,s6...s=south.
West and East are differant in that instead of two lines of three they have three lines of two.Follow the same procedure,left to right and north to south.So number three will be under number one,and number five will be under number three.The west numbers will be prefixed by the letter w,and the east numbers by the letter e.
The central section will numbered in the same way,from left to right and north to south,these numbers will be prefixed by the letter c .So the top line will be numbered c1,c2,and c3.the middle line will have c4 and c5,c4 under c1 and c5 under c3.The bottom line will have c6,c7 and c8.
At this stage without wishing to confuse you,you must realise that we have in fact numbered the holes and not the marbles.The reason for this is because the marbles obviously move and not the holes.The centre hole which we have not numbered will be called the centre.Just remember not to move the board and keep to the follwing sequence.
OK,so now we start with;
e3 over c5 and remove c5.
n6 over c3 and remove c3.
e2 over e1 and remove e1.
e6 over e4 and remove e4.
c2 over c3 and remove c3.
e2 over e1 and remove e1
e2 over c1 and remove c1
w2 over ci and remove c1
n1 over n4 and remove n4
n3 over n2 and remove n2
c4 over c1 and remove c1
n1 over n4 and remove n4
si over c6 and remove c6
w5 over w6 and remove w6
w1 over w3 and remove w3
c7 over c6 and remove c6
w5 over w6 and remove w6
e5 over c8 and remove c8
s6 over s3 and remove s3
s4 over s5 and remove s5
c5 over c8 and remove c8
s6 over s3 and remove s3
OK,at this stage the shape of marbles that you have left should be looking a bit like what i call a rocket facing to the west.If you can't see that then there is probably something wrong,or my sad little mind has a funny idea about the shape of rockets.
c4 over c6 and remove c6
s1 over s2 and remove s2
s3 over c8 and remove c8
c5 over c3 and remove c3
n6 over n5 and remove n5
n4 over c1 and remove c1
Now you should be left with a "T" on its side,if not we definately have a problem.
The centre up over c2 and remove c2
w4 over c4 and remove c4
c7 over the centre and remove the centre
n5 over c2 and remove c2
So now you have it,a party piece,a money earner and a way to be the smartest person in the room.No more frustration,peace of mind and a lot more time to do those not so important things in life.
Furthermore i have got it off my chest,accomplished my first entry without the fear of having my creativity rejected,because there is none to reject.
I promise to make my second guide entry far more sensible and responsible such as reviewing my first couple of weeks here at h2g2 for example.After that i may review books or chess moves,discuss the weather or the political situation in the outer hebrides.Who knows,i may even talk about the times i have come face to face with a leopard and a croc in Africa,chased by elephants ,some of the wierd and wacky people i have come across,not to mention moi.Even the strange creature i came across in Singapore.Hmmm,on second thoughts,i think i will have to know you all a lot better before i share that one.
As i sat on my couch pondering this problem my eyes settled on the marble solitaire sitting on the side table.I started thinking about all the hours i had spent trying to crack this thing over a period of several years.At one stage it became an obsession almost,if i went into someones house and saw one,i would have to try it in case theirs was easier than mine,which of course is ridiculous.
You do know what i am talking about don't you?.They come on little dishes ,mostly round, sometimes square,with little marbles or ballbearings,small wooden balls,even plastic balls on some of them,each sitting in a little hole or groove.Three deep, in the shape of a cross with the centre one missing.The idea is that by moving one marble at a time,you jump it over another marble removing the one that has been jumped over as you go along.The object is to have only one marble left on the board that sits in the middle hole when you have finished,that is the hole that was the only empty one when you started.
In all my time trying to accomplish this i never once came across anyone else who could do it,many said they had done it once or twice but didn't know how they had done it,but noone could show me,and even though i looked i could never find a printed solution.To be honest there were times when ,quite frankly it pissed me off.Times when i could of been socialising,conversing,drinking,dancing,travelling you name it ,thats not to say that it didn't provide me with entertainment,but all too often it was very unsociable of me.Well, the point is,that finally i sussed it.Now today i can do it when i have had a drink or in forty seconds sober,i have even won money doing it.
Murphys law of course,soon after i had cracked it i happened to show my way to a an old chinaman who promptly showed me a differant way.
So i am sitting here wondering just how many other h2g2 people have spent far too much time trying to work this thing out.Time that could be better spent writing more interesting guides than this or chatting or even just having a good time.For that reason and for those people i decided that i would try to explain, in writing just how easy the damn thing really is.
For the purpose of explanation i am going to split the marbles up into differant sections,then name and number each one.Five sections in fact,which i will name North,south,east,west and central.The central section,although it has nine holes only has eight marbles due to the centre hole being empty.The other four sections will have six marbles each.
Place the cross of marbles so that one section is pointing directly toward you,this section will be called south,the others will now be apparent according to the compass.For those that don't know,west will be on your left hand and east on your right,north on top and pointing towards you ,south.
For numbering ,we will not be turning the board around at all it will be as you are looking at it now.Always working from left to right and from north to south.I repeat,do not move or turn the board at all.
Starting with the six marbles in the north section,number 1) will be the marble on the far left of the top line,number 2) to its right,and number 3) to the right again.For number 4)start on the left again so Number 4) is the marble under number 1),number 5) will be under 2) and number 6) under 3).We will call these marbles n1,n2,n3,n4,n5.n6...n=north.Repeat this numbering procedure with the south section,left to right and north to south,only these will be called s1,s2,s3,s4,s5,s6...s=south.
West and East are differant in that instead of two lines of three they have three lines of two.Follow the same procedure,left to right and north to south.So number three will be under number one,and number five will be under number three.The west numbers will be prefixed by the letter w,and the east numbers by the letter e.
The central section will numbered in the same way,from left to right and north to south,these numbers will be prefixed by the letter c .So the top line will be numbered c1,c2,and c3.the middle line will have c4 and c5,c4 under c1 and c5 under c3.The bottom line will have c6,c7 and c8.
At this stage without wishing to confuse you,you must realise that we have in fact numbered the holes and not the marbles.The reason for this is because the marbles obviously move and not the holes.The centre hole which we have not numbered will be called the centre.Just remember not to move the board and keep to the follwing sequence.
OK,so now we start with;
e3 over c5 and remove c5.
n6 over c3 and remove c3.
e2 over e1 and remove e1.
e6 over e4 and remove e4.
c2 over c3 and remove c3.
e2 over e1 and remove e1
e2 over c1 and remove c1
w2 over ci and remove c1
n1 over n4 and remove n4
n3 over n2 and remove n2
c4 over c1 and remove c1
n1 over n4 and remove n4
si over c6 and remove c6
w5 over w6 and remove w6
w1 over w3 and remove w3
c7 over c6 and remove c6
w5 over w6 and remove w6
e5 over c8 and remove c8
s6 over s3 and remove s3
s4 over s5 and remove s5
c5 over c8 and remove c8
s6 over s3 and remove s3
OK,at this stage the shape of marbles that you have left should be looking a bit like what i call a rocket facing to the west.If you can't see that then there is probably something wrong,or my sad little mind has a funny idea about the shape of rockets.
c4 over c6 and remove c6
s1 over s2 and remove s2
s3 over c8 and remove c8
c5 over c3 and remove c3
n6 over n5 and remove n5
n4 over c1 and remove c1
Now you should be left with a "T" on its side,if not we definately have a problem.
The centre up over c2 and remove c2
w4 over c4 and remove c4
c7 over the centre and remove the centre
n5 over c2 and remove c2
So now you have it,a party piece,a money earner and a way to be the smartest person in the room.No more frustration,peace of mind and a lot more time to do those not so important things in life.
Furthermore i have got it off my chest,accomplished my first entry without the fear of having my creativity rejected,because there is none to reject.
I promise to make my second guide entry far more sensible and responsible such as reviewing my first couple of weeks here at h2g2 for example.After that i may review books or chess moves,discuss the weather or the political situation in the outer hebrides.Who knows,i may even talk about the times i have come face to face with a leopard and a croc in Africa,chased by elephants ,some of the wierd and wacky people i have come across,not to mention moi.Even the strange creature i came across in Singapore.Hmmm,on second thoughts,i think i will have to know you all a lot better before i share that one.
