{"id":1767,"date":"2011-01-20T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=1767"},"modified":"2014-07-17T14:26:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T14:26:21","slug":"playing-board-games-in-russian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/playing-board-games-in-russian\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing Board Games… In Russian"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Do you like playing \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [board games]? Let me tell you, board game \u00ab<\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0431\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [fans] in the US are absolutely \u00ab<\/strong>\u0438\u0437\u0431\u0430\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [spoiled]. There\u2019s such a variety of board games here \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043b\u044f <\/strong>\u0432\u0441\u0435\u0445 <\/strong>\u0432\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> [for all ages] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u043b\u044e\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0432\u043a\u0443\u0441\u00bb<\/strong> [for every taste].<\/p>\n

Growing up, I remember playing just a few board games – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0448\u0430<\/span>\u0445\u043c\u0430\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [chess], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0448\u0430<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [checkers] and all its derivatives such as \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0434\u0434\u0430\u0432\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [giveaway checkers], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0443\u0433\u043e\u043b\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [corner swap] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0427\u0430\u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0432\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [the Chapayev, a flick-the-checkers game named after the legendary Civil War hero]. Then there was \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0435\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Reversy] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [dominos], but they really seemed boring to us, kids.<\/p>\n

A much more fun strategy game was \u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0439 <\/strong>\u0431\u043e\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [The Battle Ships], although most of the time we made do with hand-drawn \u201cboards\u201d in the backs of our \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u0442\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043a\u0438 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043a\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [grid notebooks].<\/p>\n

As things started to change in the 90ies, we got a taste of such games as \u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u043e\u043d\u043e\u043f\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Monopoly], \u00ab<\/strong>\u0422\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u043b <\/strong>\u041f\u0435\u0440\u0441\u044c\u044e<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Trivial Pursuit] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u042d\u0440\u0443\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [Scrabble]. All those games were fully translated into Russian. But that seemed to be the extent of it.<\/p>\n

So it came as a surprise that there was quite a variety of board games<\/a> in the Soviet Union, including \u00ab<\/strong>\u0414\u0430\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043c <\/strong>\u0441\u044b\u0440\u044c\u0451<\/span> <\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [Deliver raw materials to factories], \u00ab<\/strong>\u041b\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u043d <\/strong>\u0438\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u0442 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u0421\u043c\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Lenin is walking to Smolny], and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0425\u0438\u043c\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u0432\u043e\u0439\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Chemical Warfare]. I have to mention that all these games were \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438<\/span><\/strong>\u0433\u0440\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [games for children].<\/p>\n

Apart from chess, checkers and dominos, board games were not really \u00ab<\/strong>\u0434\u043b\u044f <\/strong>\u0432\u0437\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [for adults]. \u00ab<\/strong>\u0412\u0437\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [adults] were \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0448\u043a\u043e\u043c <\/strong>\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044f\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [too busy]. Besides, game playing by adults seemed such a frivolous \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u043e\u0441\u0443<\/span>\u0433\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [spending one\u2019s leisure time].<\/p>\n

Things are changing now and there is a lot more interesting board games in the Russian stores and online. There are also online communities<\/a> that review games and discuss rules and strategy. \u00a0The games can be categorized as<\/p>\n