As the popularity of Curling continues to take the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics by storm, we thought some of you may want a basic guide to the rules for beginners. Lots of the info out there is rather long-winded so here I hope to give you the ins and outs of the sport in an informative but uncomplicated way.

So, the main point of the game is to slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a set of concentric circles. This area is called the house. Two teams of four players take it in turn to push their stones. In the Olympic tournament there are 10 ends in each match. The purpose is to have one of your team’s stones nearest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end.

After each player has had two stones, the team whose stone is nearest the centre of the house scores a point for each stone closer than the opposing team’s nearest stone. If neither team has a stone in the house (concentric circles), no points are scored. If the points are level after 10 ends an extra end is played to decide the winner.

As each stone is pushed down the ice two players (sweepers), use brooms and using their skill, and instructions shouted from other team members, guide their stone as close to the centre of the house as possible. The purpose of the sweeping is to direct the stone and control the speed of it.

The curling stone itself weighs between 38 and 44 pounds (17 and 20 kg), and has a handle with which to launch it down the ice. As the stone is released it can be turned so that it bends (curls) down the ice. The handles are also coloured to easily differentiate the two teams playing. In many tournaments the colours are red and yellow.

The shoes worn for curling are very specific for their job. One shoe is the slider shoe enabling to wearer to skid down the ice. The other shoe has a rough surface to grip the ice. The most observant among you may also have noticed the sweepers wearing stopwatches, usually on their clothing. This is to gauge the speed that the stone is sliding at.

So there you have it, basic rules for beginners. If you want to know even more about the rules and the game go to Wikipedia. To be honest I started watching this Olympics with no interest in the sport of curling, but after watching several matches I’ve become hooked on this increasingly popular activity. Let us know if this guide has helped you, and are you are a new convert to this great sport?