Saturday, June 02, 2007

Rock, paper, scissors

Right, so we've all played the game growing up, but would you believe that there is a Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) World Championship? Yup - takes place in Toronto on 13th October of this year. In fact, there is a RPS society that sanctions tournaments all over the world.
For those of you who don't know what RPS is, or how it is played, Wikipedia has an article explaining all you will need to know.
The reason I'm so interested in sharing this little piece of trivia with you, is that once a year, we tend to have an RPS stand-off. It takes place on our golf tour when trying to decide who gets the main bedroom with en-suite bathroom in the place that we have rented for the duration of the tour. The beauty about it is that it can be played on the spot, no equipment needed, and is probably the fairest way of deciding on an outcome.
Quick overview of how it is played:
- It is played using one's hands - closed fist represents "Rock", open hand represents "Paper" and extended index and middle finger represent "Scissors"
- Hand is placed behind one's back or head, and on the count of three, it is pulled out with one of the gestures made.
Game is resolved according to the following rules:
- Rock breaks scissors, result is that rock wins
- Paper covers rock, result is that paper wins
- Scissors cut paper, result is that scissors wins
- Same gesture results in a re-match

Gotta love the simplicity in it.

2 comments:

eishman said...

.. but wait there's more. South Africa has it's own championships, the winner of which has the option of attending the World Champs. Eish!! Ching Chong Cha

gtc said...

Didn't realise Ching Chong Cha was the "South African" name - but now that you mention it, yes - that makes sense. Thanks.