Often described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. There is a certain level of strategy that is used by players and has led Kubb fans to nickname the game “Viking Chess”. 

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A Nordic lawn game suitable for almost any age* and all abilities. Two regulation maple Kubb sets will be available for play. Bring your own team or join with others to form a team. Volunteers will be present to teach the game and organize teams.  Kubb is played between two teams, which consists of one to six players per team. Game time can be as short as five minutes to more than one hour. Grab a beverage from Broder Söder while you play and enjoy! 

 

The object of the game is to knock over the King. This can be attempted only when you have knocked down all of your opponent’s wooden blocks called Kubbs using the throwing batons (kastpinnar). But be wary, knock over the King before all of the Kubbs and you have lost the game. Game pieces consist of set of ten wooden kubbs, one king, six batons and six field marking pins. 

 

Kubb’s origin is steeped in mystery. An ancient Scandinavian game, thought to have originated over 1,000 years ago. Legend has it the Vikings used to while away hours on end playing the game during the long light evenings of the northern summers. But the most likely story is woodsman in Sweden created it to keep their kids entertained.   

 

The earliest mention of a Kubb-like game comes from the second edition of the Swedish Encyclopedia “Nordisk Familjebok” (the Nordic familybook) in 1911, where it was called “Kägelkrig: (Skittles war). By the 1930s the game is widely played through Sweden with an explosion of popularity in the 1980s. Kubb translates to “block of wood” in Swedish. Annual World Championship has been held since 1995 on Gotland, a Swedish island. The version we know today started gaining in popularity win the late 1980s when commercial Kubb sets were first manufactured.  It is not until the early 2000s before its popularity begins to grow in the United States. Since 2007 the U.S. National Kubb tournament takes place annually in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Now the game is bigger than ever with large tournaments taking place all over the world.   

Kubb activities are organize by a dedicated group of volunteers.   

Dave Alford, Chair 

Kristi Gustafson, Vice Chair 

Jacin Harter, Portland/PDX Liaison 

Greg Jacob, Board Member 

Karin Lahti, Member 

Dirk Schulbach, Board Member 

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*Kubb is suitable for any one five years of age and older. Children should be supervised by an adult.