A conker is the fruit of the chestnut tree. Traditionally, a conker match is played with a conker drilled with a hole threaded with a lace about 12 inches long. Opponents take it in turns to hit each others conker until one of the conkers is smashed. The winner moves on to the next round. Although the first recorded game of conkers is believed to have taken place in the Isle of Wight in 1848, the World Conker Championships have been running in Northamptonshire since 1965.