Mornington Crescent

"Causing chaos and delay on the underground" - Carter USM

If you don't know what I'm talking about, then escape now while you still have a chance. If your already indoctrinated with MC then you will know everything I have to say.

Still reading? Nevermind we all make mistakes.

What is MC?

MC is a cross between a game, an art and a science. It combines the naked calculation of chess with the gentle craft of feather farkeling. It will provide an adrenalin rush greater than any roller coaster, but will frustrate your mind more than Microsoft online documentation. It is a mixture of heaven and hell that will forever be in limbo.

What are the rules?

The rules to the basic game are simple. Each player, in turn, plays a station on the London underground. The first person to play MC wins. Most people, however, play some sort of variation. The most popular one is Browning's 2nd amendment which allows a player to shunt an opponent without a predeclared farkle, this can lead to more complex situations in the middle game when the result of a spoon can be come undefined.

The Finsbury Park option is popular in internet games, since this allows players to play out of turn without destabilizing the game.

Who plays it?

Intelligent, wonderful, attractive, witty people with nothing better to do.

When did it start?

Mornington Crescent can trace it's history back to Ancient Greece . It is widely speculated that Greek mathematics came about as a result of the desire for higher levels of play during the regular MC matches that were played at that time. Of course the Greeks didn't have the station Mornington Crescent, but they did have Athens International Airport which served the same purpose.

Today we would see the Greek game as weak and susceptible to attack through reverse knip, but for the level of mathematics known at the time their play was very high.

Some believe that MC can be found even further back in time. The Babylonians had a game called Babylon Central. The rules of this game are unclear, but it is possible that Babylon Central was a train terminus and the object was to reach BC.

I want a go

The best place to start is by joining a local club, there are many around, ask at the local library. You may also find that your friends and family are closet-MCers. I would advise that you get a book on the subject before leaping in too deeply. Alternativly there are several MC servers on the web. Here are some of the best: NotYork, MC in Outer Space and PantsMC.

For more sophisticated play you could try Mornington Nomic. This is an attempt to produce the definitive Ruleset for the game.