For years debate has raged over whether darts is really a sport. But there is no doubt in the Government’s mind that it is, at least, a branch of applied mathematics.

As one of the sport’s two world championships comes to an end at Alexandra Palace, North London, and another is being contested at Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey, this week, ministers are taking the opportunity to urge Britons to step up to the oche to help them to brush up on their arithmetic.

Darts players may be better known for their waistlines and drinking habits than their maths skills. No one, however, can reach the top echelons of the game without being able to work out — as they prepare to throw — that with 73 points on the chalkboard a treble 19 and a double eight will see them home.

“You can’t play darts without maths,” Sion Simon, the Minister for Further Education, told The Times. “We’re using the example of darts where mathematical competence is really important to success and hopefully inspire adults who don’t have the maths skills.”

He said that 6.8 million adults struggled with basic maths, and that seeing how integral it was to activities such as darts would encourage them to take one of the Government’s free adult numeracy courses.

Darts-themed scratchcards and teaching aids are being distributed to adult education colleges and yesterday were given to 6,000 fans at Frimley Green, where the British Darts Organisation’s premier tournament was concluding its second round.

Bobby George, the flamboyant former darts champion who now commentates for the BBC, agrees. “The game of darts is 33 per cent maths. If you cannot count you cannot win,” he said.

In most darts tournaments players start on 501 points and count down. They must finish with a double that takes them to zero. Top darts players memorise their favoured finishes, and on 59 may aim for the single 19 to end with double 20.

As Mr George pointed out, though: “If you go wrong, that’s where the skills come in.” If you hit the double seven, you won’t have long to work out that single 13 and double 16 will do the trick. He believes that darts is an ideal way get to grips with maths. “I’ve been going into schools for 20 years and they love it. They pick it up so fast. On a blackboard they don’t pick it up so quick.”

He said that he was not particularly gifted at maths when a child — “we didn’t have dartboards in school” — but could now rattle off strategies to enable him to finish with a double on exactly 501.

Apparently there are 3,944 sequences for finishing in the minimum nine darts. It’s not just arithmetic — players must also master geometry, physics and algebra, according to research commissioned by the Government from Ken Bray, of the University of Bath.

Dr Bray said: “The amount of complicated maths that is involved in darts is incredibly impressive. Whether the players know it or not, they are working out complicated geometry and physics while choosing from hundreds of possible shot combinations.”

Players need to keep completely still while controlling the speed, angle and spin of the dart. Dr Bray said that an error of just one tenth of a degree would cause a dart to miss a treble.

Mr George said players did that instinctively, but he agrees that they must understand the physical principles to guide their arrows effectively. “When you throw a dart you’re throwing against gravity. If you learn to throw it at the same power you hit the target every time.”

The campaign is also backed by the television presenter Johnny Ball, who said: “I think that the partnership is a great idea. So often people don’t realise how much maths is part of their day-to-day life but, as the research shows, by brushing up on your maths skills, like mental arithmetic, you are far more likely to hit the magic 180!”

The Government estimates that people who lack GCSE-standard maths will earn £50,000 less over a lifetime than those with better mathematical skills. There are greater rewards on offer, of course, if those skills are combined with a steely eye and a steady hand under pressure — this Sunday the winner at Frimley Green will take home £95,000.

Figure it out...

80 to finish
You aim for treble 20 to finish with an easy double 10 but your first dart misses and you hit treble 5 — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: treble 15, double 10)

54 to finish
You aim for single 14 to finish with double 20 but you hit single 11 — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: single 3, double 20)

96 to finish
You aim for treble 20 to finish on double 18 but you miss it and hit the single 1 — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: treble 19, double 19)

66 to finish
You aim for treble 10 to finish with double 18 but you miss and hit single 15 instead — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: single 11, double 20)

13 to finish
You aim for single 11 to finish with a double 1, but hit single 8 — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: single 1, double 2)

49 to finish
You aim for single 9 to finish with a double 20, but hit the double 12 — how do you finish in two?
(Answer: single 17, double 4)

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