Freeball part of snooker after play

Green is snookered by an interposed black.
Blue is nominated and played.
Green remains snookered behind black but the blue comes to rest close to the green so that, if the black was not there, both sides of the green would be unavailable.
Has the player of the freeball blue made a foul shot?

Andre? Aces?

I would say no foul. I think you have to be fully snookered on the green by the blue for a foul to be called.
Happy to be corrected if wrong.

It's a good question

Prop wrote:I think the rule is something along the lines of the black (closest to the cue ball) being deemed the primary obstacle. The blue being effectively behind the black means that the snookering ball is the black, which wasn’t nominated, so it’s no foul.

Might be completely wrong there!

I happened to check in though I expect all you blokes to be in bed by now.

Prop is exactly correct here, there is no foul. When a ball appears to be snookered behind several balls in a "line of snooker" as it were, then we default to the ball nearest the cue ball in that line as being what is termed the "effective snookering ball". Other snookering balls are irrelevant as far as the Rules are concerned.

Someone mentioned something about the "intent" to snooker behind the free ball. Just as with a fluke, the "intent" of the stroke is completely irrelevant. The only thing that is relevant for the Rules is the factual outcome of the stroke.

So in a nutshell, if a player commits a foul leaving the incoming player with a free ball, then the incoming player, whether by accident or design, leaves either the ball on or all balls on to be effectively snookered behind the nominated free ball, then it is a foul stroke with whatever options will be dictated by the situation.

One of the questions in my own training was a bit of a trick question. It's easy enough to describe: the last two Reds are on the table, both on the Baulk line. One Red is outside the Green spot on the line, the other Red is sitting on the Yellow spot. Both Green and Brown are on their respective spots and a foul is committed leaving the White also on the Baulk line exactly between the Green and Brown. Free Ball is called as both Reds are snookered with respect to White. The incoming player nominates Green and plays a perfect roll up to it leaving both Reds fully snookered. What is the call? I will kill some time, don't read below yet until after you answer...













There is no call as this is a perfectly fair stroke. The incoming player left one of the Reds fully snookered behind the Free Ball, but the other Red is fully snookered behind the Brown, which was not a Free Ball, therefore, no foul. We don't actually need to speak of an "effective snookering ball" because in each case, there is only ONE snookering ball, and not the same for both.

So in the OP's original situation, it is necessary to determine which exactly is the "effective snookering ball" (Black in that case, not the Free Ball Blue) and that could potentially be a little tricky if there are two balls (the Free Ball and some other ball) that are seemingly about equidistant from the White and both creating snookers on one side of the Ball On. If the Free Ball is just a fraction closer to White, it's a foul. If the Free Ball is just a fraction further from White, no foul.

New member.