BILLIARDS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 11, 17 March 1909, Page 46

BILLIARDS.

By

trHE unexpected, vet the inevitable, in billiards is happening this I week,’’ says a writer in the “London Daily Telegraph” reCt iv< d by the last mail. “Stevenson, the greatest player of this or any other time, is being badly beaten, and unable to raise a break worthy of his talents to aid his cause. From tin- middle of last Septeinb< r up to the beginning of the present week lie had enjoyed a period of unparalleled success in *eriously-foi ght tournainent games. In this respect his exertions day by day aie without- precedent in the history of the game. The ordinary exhibition match, often labelled in another form, is arm-chair work compared to the tense strain imposed by tournament heats and the necessity of upholding bin’s title. So it has come to pass that >t< vrnson. the ‘Apostle of the Touch,' as the Australians call him. has fallen across one of those lapses of form which the average amateur cueman knows only too wi 11, lie has temporarily lost the facility of juggling with the balls through long and quickly-recurring breaks. The champion is out of tone. “A billiard-player is a nice study in temperamental variations. If he studies the nicer points l the game he is bound, in course of time, to come to study himself. And I am not at all sure but that T ? h iman factor in the play is not the most interesting of any. You do know to a certain extent when the balls, table, light, etc., arc to your liking. But you never know of a surety that you are in the mood to do justice, to good playing conditions. Even the most dependable o players, one who never soa.s after effect, but just keeps to what is easiest and usually suits him best, cannot be relied upon to give of the best that is in him at will. Your feelings before you commence your game arc no criterion of what they may be while it is in progress. I am speaking now of purely competitive, billiards, such as handicap heats or keenly-contested matches, with something, even if it be only personal pride, attaching to the suit. The vicissitudes of the play will, at times, a fleet the most steady-going of us. Personal equation has to be taken careful note of at the fascinating game. “If one is unable to settle down, to view the outlook calmly, and to play his game as he is ordinarily accustomed to do, he is beyond hope. For billiardplaying. with '1 its many-degrees of skill, is dependent upon will power, which is, 1 take it, the equivalent of nervepower. The most trying games of a club handicap are those nearing the end. The men who generally figure successfully in them will be found to have the faculty of

HLe continuous lines - show the run Of the cue-ball. anil the dotted lines the movement of the object ball#.

AN EXPERT.

keeping to a pretty level line in their display A billiard-player can be knocked off his game more readily and more <‘flectually than, probably, the competitor in any other trial of skill. With your eyes keenly intent upon all that your opponent does, it is not a. matter tor wonder that a kind of telepathic influence communicates itself to the weaker, more impressionable quantity. The slow player may frequently be seen hurrying around the table and taking snap shots; the usually quick, unhesitating player degenerates in* a vacillating, deliberate striker. Then their game is lost. They have played into the hands of their rivals. “Perhaps the most remarkable feature of a billiard-player labouring in the throes of a class of game that is foreign to his nature and habits is the dashing shots that he will make now and again. A sudden impetuosity will overcome his indecision, and some sparkling hazard or cannon ensues. But as one swallow does not make a summer, one taking stroke does not make a billiard break. The most In. ilde of shots at the closest possible range count as effectively on the marking-board as the most spectacular and intricate will ever do. But those who look on at billiards are always smitten with the enarms of a big shot. They w ill remeiaber it long after a nicelyarranged but simple break has been forgotten. And it is frequently the knowledge that this is so which prompts the searcher after effect, no matter how easily attained, to depart from his customary methods. The truth is. lie is unstrung. and unable to play his normal game when opposed to a more resolute temperament.” “With all his marvellous ability the professional billiardist is but the counterpart of the amateur in many respects. We r?e Stevenson afflicted with the staleness which all who have played much and regularly will know of. His cue-arm is blunted: his ideas on the subject of position do not flow freely: he does not see the game in the same light that he does when in the vein: what was a pleasure is now hard work: and all these deficiencies are accentuated by the fact of his opponent, the phlegmatic Harverson, who lias played like a winner since 'the first day’s play was entered upon, being obviously conscious of what is proceeding. 'Die billiard professional has this advantage over the amateur —experience reads him the signs of the times'correctly. He can measure*the capacity, the will, and inclination of a rival. He can feel, too, the tension of a hard fight, but the more reasoned professional does not lose himself in the fog of the struggle. He is clear-eyed to all around him. and wary and watchful of the man he is playing. At no time is ho so dangerous when lighting a losing battle as in the closing scenes. There are more big breaks made on the last day of a match by the losing player than are seen throughout its previous course. It may well bo that, in keeping with this tradition. Stevenson will achieve something big during the closing scenes of his tournament. "There is no doubt that Stevenson’s impending defeat is in the best interests of first-class billiards. He had become such an outstanding figure that he appeared likely to run through the seat-on in simply triumphal fashion. He promised to not only take the first prize in the provincial tournament, which, competition has witnessed his best performances, but al-o to secure similar distinction in connection with the London tournament and the snooker’s pool tourney run in conjunction with it. But Harvemon’s success will open out the situation. There will now be four players—Stevenson. Reece, Inman, and Harverson—on a level footing. with throe wins and one loss apiece. A victory in this competition is the chief honour that the professional expert may expect to gain until the open championship enjoys its promised revival in the pands of the Billiard Control Club. Now that Sdevent-on has given proof that he, like others, is not infallible, even in the art at which he so greatly excels, the remaining games that the tournament holds will be invested with a fresh interest.” Reece, the clohe CAnn-Ofl exponent, accomplished a very notable feat in the course of a match with Aiken

in London recently. With that light, feathery touch which is the chief characteristic of his billiards, he steered the balls, stage by .stage, along the top cushion. Reaching the right top pocket he was apparently in difficulties, but a well-judged r«>t from a pocket “shoulder" turned the balls on to the right topcushion. Tapping them light, stroke by stroke, till they reached the vicinity of the right middle pocket, Reece here played for, and succeeded in doing, what, probably no other- English bii’ardist would attempt—to steer the balls past the centre-pocket, in the hope of con-

tinning hie sequence of close-cannons. Ha did so successfully, however, and the balls were moved, by degrees,' to the baulk-line. : when this truly clever performance, which produced a run of 102 consecutive! cannons, led to more open scoring. ■ 1 ■ Herewith are given two diagrams of strokes played by Stevenson during his disastrous game with Harverson, referred to above. Theer is a brilliant top-aide

cannon overcoming a very awkward placing of the balls, and an equally sparkling, if unsuccessful, essay for a double erosseaimon. The top T side cannon from the top and right top-cushions, which carries the cue-ball back in eccentric fashion, is partly due to the curly topping of the cue ball, and partly to the left "side"’ it carries. The top prevents the ball from leaving the top-cushion too readily, and the side-cushion uses the left “side” to throw it baek and over to the top cushion. Jf played at a good pace, a nice gathering shot is possible with the return of the red ball from its journey through baulk. The second stroke, the doublc-cross-eannon, is only played when, all other reasonable mediums of scoring are closed. In the ease under notice the three balls were in line, presenting no run-through shot. After a comparatively lengthy survey of the situation, Stevenson played the forcible double-cross, the cue-ball crossing the table twice, and barfly failing to make contact on the red for a cannon.