C a r o m news november-december

USBA United States Billiard Association 1 9 9 9

Inside Billiards
INSTRUCTION FROM THE PROS with Robert Byrne

22
0 20 40 0 20 40
• level cue
• light speed
• short stroke

In figure 2, the cueball is not close to

the origin rail, so a mental trial run or two
may be needed to find the correct cueball
origin to use in the formula. In the diagram,
12 is the desired contact point on the third
rail, so 18 (12 plus half of 12) is the number
.
that must be subtracted from the cueball
origin number. If 40 (the corner) is the origin
as shown, then 40 minus 18 gives the aiming
point of 22.
The system also works off a ball, as
. shown in the third diagram, though it is
harder to hit the third rail at precisely the
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40 right point and without sidespin.
35 12
10
figure 1 figure 2 0 20 40

point of aim (20) = 35 - (10 + 10/2) point of aim (22) = 40 - (12 + 12/2)

A Good Deadball System

One of three-cushion’s big supporters is Alpagut Gultekin, a Turk who now lives in
Montreal, Quebec. He is trying to generate interest in the game in Canada by teaching,
organizing tournaments, and distributing a four-page newsletter six times a year. In the
fourth issue of his newsletter, dated March 1999, Gultekin described an end-rail deadball
system devised by one of Turkey’s top players, Murat Tuzul. The two men have given their
permission to explain it in the pages of the USBA Newsletter.
The Tuzul system is accurate for long-angle diagonal shots similar to those in the
accompanying diagrams. Use no sidespin whatsoever and soft speed. Note the numbering: .
0 to 40 on the short rail covers both the cueball origin and the third rail arrival. The far short
rail is numbered 0 to 40 from the corner to the middle. In familiar diamond system arithmetic,
the player first picks a cueball origin number and finds a first-rail aiming point based on
subtracting a number based on the desired third-rail contact point.
In figure 1, the cueball origin is 35 and the third-rail number is 10. From 35, subtract 0 10 20 30 40
10 and half of 10 (10 plus 5) or 15, giving an aiming point of 20. In other words, subtract figure 3
1.5 of the third rail number from the cueball origin number to get the aiming point. point of aim (10) = 40 - (20 + 20/2)