‘Russian pyramid’ is a highly popular variation of the famous game that is notoriously difficult to master to perfection.
‘Russian pyramid’ appeared as a separate variety of the billiard game approximately in the 18th century in Russia. It gained substantial popularity in the Russian Empire and remained a popular game years later, mostly in post-Soviet states, Finland, Poland, Mongolia and Greece, but also in other countries around the globe.
The Russian version has a few unique features that distinguish it from other popular variations of the game, like American pool or snooker. The game is played on tables measuring 12 by six feet or 370 cm by 180 cm. Balls in this version of the game are larger in size, measuring to approximately 68 mm or 2.67 inch in diameter in contrast to standard American pool balls measuring only 57 mm or 2 1/4-inch.
The weight of the balls differs as well. 280-285 gram or 10 oz-balls are used to play the Russian pyramid version of the game while American pool players use 160-170 gram or 6 oz-balls. There are 15 numbered balls and one unnumbered ball in total. Standard balls come in white while the cue ball is the only one to differ in color in this version of the game.
Yet, what truly puts ‘Russian pyramid’ apart from other variations of the game is the size of the pockets, especially in proportion to the size of the balls.
The 12-foot table has six pockets that are only a few millimeters wider than the balls. Consequently, the game requires players to have better skill, extreme precision and a very high accuracy of impact to compete.
The Russian pyramid is sometimes referred to as “billiard chess” because of the degree of strategic thinking required to navigate the distinctive scoring system.
To win in the game of the ‘Russian pyramid’, a player must score a total of 71 points. However, in this version of the game a player counts points in accordance with the numbers written on the balls and not the overall quantity of the balls that fall into the pockets. On top of that, players are only allowed to use the colored ball as the cue ball and not the rest of them.
‘Russian pyramid’ is the most popular variation of Russian billiards, but not the only one. The two other most popular variations of this type of billiard include the ‘Moscow pyramid’ and ‘American’ (‘Amerikanka’ in Russian) that are somewhat easier to play, due to modified rules.
In the game of ‘Moscow pyramid’, the goal is to be the first to pocket eight balls – regardless of their relative scoring-weight – only using the cue ball to hit. In the so-called American version of the Russian billiard, a player strives to pocket any eight balls regardless of their scoring-weight but is allowed to use any ball he likes as a cue ball.
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