Dominoes Tries to become an Olympic Sport
In Jamaica the game of dominoes is loved by one and all. It is so popular that people in the island nation want it to become part of the Olympics. The game is a very interesting one to play and involves a lot of skill and ingenuity. It is an easy game to learn and play and this gives rise to its popularity. It may become an Olympic sport sometime in the future but for the moment it is very interesting to see how it came to be developed and how it is played.
There are many different types of domino games played all over the world. The different types are like different versions of poker that have been developed. Domino games that are played have some very odd names like Mexican Train, Chickenfoot and Blind Hughie. Dominoes are also played in China with the Chinese version being slightly different to the versions played in Europe and America. The game is played in other countries as well like in Cuba and in England. It is even played for money in places like Las Vegas in the States.
The origins of the game are a bit cloudy because some say it was invented in China centuries ago, while others say it was born in India and then brought to China and then from there it spread all over the world. The game is said to have been invented in India in 1120 AD, probably played by the royalty of the Subcontinent at the time. It is so popular these days that people invent their own games all the time. Friends can be seen sitting around tables playing domino games that they have invented in their spare time.
It seems to be that the game is so popular because of its simplicity; it is played with small rectangular tiles placed in a sequence on a table. The tiles have little dots etched into them and the object of the game is to place a tile on the table which matches another tile already on the board. So if there is a tile on the board with six dots on its side then the next player has to put down a six dotted tile next to it. The object of the game is for a person to finish all the tiles they have in their hand. In some versions of the game there is a pile of the tiles that a person can pick up tiles from whenever they put a tile on the table.
The tiles in a game are sometimes called bones and the pile of tiles that a person can pick up tiles from is called a boneyard. The tiles are called bones because apparently they used to be made out of ivory and sometimes other animal bones but thankfully they aren't made from bones nowadays; they are made from plastic.
The game of dominoes is so popular in Jamaica that the country is trying to get the game introduced into the Olympics. They want to see dominoes played at the Olympic Games. The country has set up a Federation of International Dominoes (Fid) to promote the sport around the world and now this same federation is trying to get the game approved by the International Olympic Committee. Will it become an Olympic Game is a question for the future, but a question to be asked right now is should it become an Olympic Game? It will ultimately be up to the Committee to decide whether they want the game to become part of the Olympics. Another aspect of it will be in fact that, will people want it to become a part of the Games. If it is allowed to be a part of them, then the next game that should be introduced as an Olympic Game will be Poker then Backgammon and finally Chess.
If dominoes ever makes it to the Olympics a lot of people will be ecstatic that it did. Others will think it isn't a real sport while others may not even care. It comes down to the fact that whether the Olympic Committee decides it is worthy to become an Olympic sport or not. It seems other sports are also in line to become part of the Olympics, one of them is Ball Room Dancing. Whether it becomes an Olympic sport or not, dominoes will continue to remain a very popular game played all over the world.
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