Conkers Rules: Scoring, Hardening And The Championship Rules

Autumn, a horse chestnut, a bootlace and a very specific kind of bruised knuckle. Conkers is the most British game there is.

Here are the rules, the scoring, and the honest answer on hardening them.

Preparing a conker

• Pick a conker with no cracks and a good round shape. The biggest is not the best - the densest is.
• The float test: drop it in water. A conker that floats is hollow or old. A sinker is what you want.
• Drill a hole straight through the middle with a skewer or a drill bit, through the pale spot where it attached.
• Thread a bootlace or strong string through and knot it thickly underneath.
• About 25cm of lace is right - long enough to swing, short enough to aim.

The rules of a match

• Two players. One holds their conker still, hanging from the lace, at whatever height their opponent asks.
• The striker wraps their lace round their hand, takes aim and strikes downwards.
• Three strikes per turn, then swap.
• If the laces tangle, the first player to shout 'strings' or 'snags' gets an extra shot.
• If a conker is dropped or knocked from the hand, the first to shout 'stamps' may stamp on it - unless the owner shouts 'no stamps' first.
• The game ends when one conker is destroyed. A conker is destroyed when nothing is left on the string.

Scoring

• A new conker is a 'none-er'. Beat another none-er and it becomes a one-er.
• Your conker also inherits the score of the conker it beats. A one-er beating a five-er becomes a seven-er - its own one, the five it took, plus the win.
• This is why a legendary conker in a playground could be a sixty-er without ever seeming to play much.
• Agree the inheritance rule before you start. Some played simple counting, one point per win.
• Write the score on it in biro. Everybody did.

Hardening - and whether it's allowed

• Soaking in vinegar, baking in a low oven, or coating in clear nail varnish are the three classic methods.
• Leaving a conker in a dry drawer for a year is the most effective and the least suspicious - it simply dries out and hardens.
• Every method is cheating in a formal match and all of them were used in every playground in the country.
• The World Conker Championship supplies the conkers and the laces on the day precisely because of this.
• Baking cracks them more often than it hardens them. The drawer is genuinely the best method.

Championship rules

• The World Conker Championships have run in Northamptonshire since 1965, raising money for charity.
• Conkers and laces are supplied by the organisers, drawn at random.
• Matches are timed - five minutes, and if neither conker has broken, the winner is decided on number of clean strikes landed.
• Three strikes per turn, and a maximum of three tangles before a strike is forfeited.
• Players wear eye protection, which is sensible rather than soft.

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How to write it so it lands

• Float test every conker before you drill it.
• A dry drawer for a year beats vinegar and the oven.
• Write the score on it in biro.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the rules of conkers?

Two players take turns. One holds their conker still on its string while the other takes three downward strikes at it, then they swap. The game ends when one conker is knocked off its string entirely.

How does conkers scoring work?

A new conker is a none-er. Each win adds one, and your conker also inherits the score of the conker it beats - so a one-er beating a five-er becomes a seven-er.

How do you harden a conker?

Soaking in vinegar, a short bake in a low oven or a coat of clear nail varnish are the classic methods, though all count as cheating. Simply leaving a conker in a dry drawer for a year works better than any of them.

How do you pick a good conker?

Look for no cracks and a dense, round shape, then drop it in water - if it floats it's hollow or old, and if it sinks it's worth stringing. The biggest conker is rarely the best.

What does 'strings' mean in conkers?

If the two laces tangle, the first player to shout 'strings' or 'snags' earns an extra strike. Shouting 'stamps' when a conker is dropped lets you stamp on it, unless the owner shouts 'no stamps' first.

Do you sell games or play equipment?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here needs a wall, a ball, a piece of chalk or nothing at all, and the only products on this page are our own cards.