Mancala Games

Playing Mancala

Ever heard about Mancala games. I’m sure the lovers of traditional board games would be aware of Mancala. Mancala also called “sowing” games, or “count-and-capture” games is no one game but a type, or designation, of game. It is a family/class of board games. The word mancala comes from the Arabic word Naqala meaning literally “to move.” Mancala games are the oldest form of board games still famous in many parts of the world especially in many African and some Asian societies.

The game begins with the players placing an equal number of seeds, as per the variation in use, in each of the pits on the game board. A turn consists of removing all seeds from a pit, placing one in each of the following pits in sequence, and capturing based on the shape of board. This is the general game play sequence that applies to all games, although the details of each game may differ greatly. The object of mancala games is usually to capture more stones than the opponent.

According to wiki the most widely played games are probably:

Bao is a complex strategy game of Kenya and Zanzibar, played on an 8×4 board and is a “multi-lap” game with several sowings on each turn. This game is played in Zambia, Ethiopia and Kenya. It is very popular in Malawi, where it is often called Bawo.

Kalah is the ruleset usually included with commercially available boards; however, the game is heavily biased towards the first player, and it is often considered a children’s game. The board is 2×6 with stores, with one sowing only per move. Computerised versions are also available on the Net.

Oware, the national game of Ghana, is also known by Warri, Ayo, Awele, Awari, Ouril, and other names. It has relatively simple rules but considerable strategic depth. The board is 2×6 with stores, with only one sowing per turn. It is a “single-lap” game.

Omweso

Omweso (also known as coro) is a strategic game of Uganda, played on an 8×4 board. It is a “multi-lap” game with the possibility of several sowings on each move. The board has rectangular holes , does not fold, and has a handle for hanging up when not in use.

Pallanguzhi is played in Southern India with 2 x 7 stores. Two varieties of this game are popular, Kaashi and Bank.

There are more than 200 different names of mancala games. Many modern versions of mancala have been introduced in last few decades Few are Glass Bead Game , Mini Mancala ,Oh-Wah-Ree. Lets see if these new variants can be as famous as the oldest board games; Bao and Oware are till today.

If you are interested in any one type of traditional board game.. do let me know as I am doing an indepth research on the same, I may be able to help you…

Ever heard about Mancala games

The game begins with the players placing an equal number of seeds, as per the variation in use, in each of the pits on the game board. A turn consists of removing all seeds from a pit, placing one in each of the following pits in sequence, and capturing based on the shape of board. This is the general game play sequence that applies to all games, although the details of each game may differ greatly. The object of mancala games is usually to capture more stones than the opponent.

According to wiki; the most widely played games are probably:

Bao is a complex strategy game of Kenya and Zanzibar, played on an 8×4 board and is a “multi-lap” game with several sowings on each turn. This game is played in Zambia, Ethiopia and Kenya. It is very popular in Malawi, where it is often called Bawo.

Kalah is the ruleset usually included with commercially available boards; however, the game is heavily biased towards the first player, and it is often considered a children’s game. The board is 2×6 with stores, with one sowing only per move. Computerised versions are also available on the Net.

Oware, the national game of Ghana, is also known by Warri, Ayo, Awele, Awari, Ouril, and other names. It has relatively simple rules but considerable strategic depth. The board is 2×6 with stores, with only one sowing per turn. It is a “single-lap” game.

Omweso (also known as coro) is a strategic game of Uganda, played on an 8×4 board. It is a “multi-lap” game with the possibility of several sowings on each move. The board has rectangular holes , does not fold, and has a handle for hanging up when not in use.

Pallanguzhi is played in Southern India with 2 x 7 stores. Two varieties of this game are popular, Kaashi and Bank.

There are more than 200 different names of mancala games. Many modern versions of mancala have been introduced in last few decades Few are Glass Bead Game , Mini Mancala ,Oh-Wah-Ree. Lets see if these new variants can be as famous as the oldest board games; Bao and Oware are till today.

Basic Movements of Chess Piece

Basic Movement:

Each chess piece has its own style of moving. Moves are made to vacant squares except when capturing an opponent’s piece. In the chess game except the knight, pieces can’t jump over any other piece. When a piece is captured, the attacking piece replaces the opponent piece on its square, and the captured piece is removed from the game. The King can be checkmate but it cant be captured by any other piece.

1) KING : The king moves one square in any direction, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. There is one special type of move, made by a king and rook simultaneously, called castling.

2) QUEEN : The queen has the combined moves of the rook and the bishop, i.e., the queen may move in any straight line, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.

3) KNIGHT : The knight moves to the nearest square not on the same rank, file, or diagonal. In other words, the knight moves two squares like the rook and then one square perpendicular to that. Its move is not blocked by other pieces, i.e. it leaps to the new square. The knight moves in an “L” or “7” shape (or either shape inverted) with two steps one direction, a 90° turn, and one step in the new direction.

4) BISHOP : The bishop moves any number of vacant squares in any diagonal direction.

5) ROOK : The rook moves any number of vacant squares vertically or horizontally. It can also be moved while castling.

6) PAWNS : Pawns has the most complex rules of movement. A pawn can move forward one square only if that square is unoccupied. If it has not yet moved, the pawn has the option of moving two squares forward provided both squares in front of the pawn are unoccupied. A pawn cannot move backward. Pawns are the only pieces that capture differently from how they move. They can capture an enemy piece on either of the two spaces adjacent to the space in front of them (i.e., the two squares diagonally in front of them) but cannot move to these spaces if they are vacant.

If the pawn reaches to its eighth rank, then it can be promoted or converted to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color, choice being taken as per the player’s wish. There is a possibility of promoting all the 10 pawns to a ten queen, hooks, bishops or knights.

Castling : Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook, then placing the rook on the other side of the king, adjacent to it. It can be permitted when it satisfies all the following rules:

1) King and rook which will be involved in castling must not have moved previously.

2) There must be no piece in between the rook and the king.

3) The king may not currently be in check, nor may the king pass through or end up in a square that is under attack by an enemy piece.

4) King and the rook must be in the same rank.