The Death Of Chalk

Health and safety rules are changing all aspects of modern life and are now starting to have a bigger and bigger impact on the world of pub darts. Quite some years ago there was a move to do away with the metal points in darts on the grounds that someone could be hurt by them. The powers that be said that many other countries use soft tip darts and their associated electronic score boards quite successfully, so there was no reason why we shouldn’t adopt them. After much publicity for a few weeks the idea was quickly dropped, but a ban on pub smoking was enforced and drinking alcohol on stage is banned in many major competitions on the grounds of promoting a better, healthier image for darts. Chalk boards for marking pub matches seem to be the next target for the health and safety brigade, although I don’t think that there is an official policy yet.

For many years the use of chalk in schools has been gradually fazed out for other healthier options that include white boards. Some pubs have tried to adopt these for darts matches, but they are totally unsuitable for the free and easy atmosphere of pub darts. When the tops are carelessly left off the marking pens they dry out very quickly and have to be replaced at no small expense. They have such a short life that even using them during the one and a half hours of a typical match dries them out and then there is often a frantic hunt for a new pen in the middle of a darts match.

Yes chalk, the old soft sort, is very dusty, producing a white carpet around the dart board if a dry cloth is used to wipe the scoreboard, but a damp cloth will reduce much of the effect. Dustless chalk was supposed to be the answer and is still available in some shops, (as is the old soft sort) but the scoreboard has to be well maintained with a good surface painted with the proper, slightly granulated, chalk board paint, otherwise it is next to impossible to write with it. On a poor surface you end up with almost invisible scoring, that annoys and frustrates everybody, including the marker. If you can’t get the proper paint you could try adding some fine sand mixed into a tin of ordinary black matt paint and even dampening the chalk very slightly, (or the board) sometimes has a magical softening effect and improves its marking ability.

Another option for keeping the score is to use an electronic score board and although they seem to be becoming more popular their use is beset with problems. (See old article.)

Having said all this, I fear that the traditional use of chalk in marking darts matches, is still quietly on the way out. It is getting more and more difficult to obtain boxes of chalk as in the past I am sure that many fathers persuaded their offspring to swipe a regular supply from their schools. A few craft and hobby shops sometimes sell small packets/boxes of a dozen sticks at an exorbitant price and players are usually grateful to buy it at any price, but more and more of the “Pound” type of bargain shops can often be found to have irregular supplies of very cheap packets imported from countries like China. So, even though most English darts players, are probably not great fans of China, perhaps we should be grateful to the Chinese for helping us keep the great traditional way of playing pub darts with chalk marking, alive and well.