Another major relative of Bao is Omweso played in Uganda , which employs an equipment similar to Bao, and has some similar rules.
As with most traditional mancalas, precise historical information on the origins and diffusion of Bao is missing. Early accounts and archaeological findings are arguable as there are many games that are similar to Bao in both equipment and rules.
Nevertheless, as traditional boards are made of wood, ancient evidence of the game of Bao is unlikely to be found. As of today, the oldest Bao board is supposed to be one from Malawi, exposed at the British Museum , and dating back to no earlier than Due to its strong relationship with Swahili culture, and despite the lack of historical evidences, it is reasonable to assume that Bao originally spread from the Swahili coast i.
It is also notable that "Bao la kiswahili" means "swahili board game" as opposed to, for example, "Bao la kiarabu" the related "arab board game", also known as Hawalis.
As with most traditional games, the rules of Bao were only preserved by oral tradition , and as a consequence, they are subject to local variations.
The most influential transcription of the rules is due to board game scholar Alex de Voogt , who wrote it between and based on the teachings of Zanzibari Bao masters.
Bao is based on a mancala board comprising four rows of eight pits each—in Swahili, pits are termed mashimo singular: Each player owns a half of the board comprising two adjacent rows.
Some pits that play a special role in the game have specific names. The fourth rightmost pit in the "inner" row of each half board is called nyumba "house" or kuu "main" ; in most traditional boards, it is visually distinguished by a square shape.
The first and last pit of the inner row are called kichwa "head" , while the name kimbi applies to both the kichwa and the pits adjacent to them i.
Every player has 32 undifferentiated counters or "seeds" according to the standard mancala terminology that are termed kete "shells". Note that a similar equipment a 4x8 board and 64 seeds is shared by a number of other African mancalas, including Omweso Uganda and Isolo Tanzania.
The initial setup of seeds is one of the elements that distinguish different versions of the game. In Bao la kiswahili, each player initially places 6 seeds in the nyumba, and two more seeds in the two pits immediately to the right of the nyumba.
All the remaining seeds are kept "in hand". In Malawi, 8 seeds are placed in the nyumba. Thus each player has respectively 22 or 20 seeds in hand at the beginning of the game.
These seeds are introduced into the game in a first phase of play called the namua phase. In Bao la kujifunza, all seeds are placed at startup, two per pit.
Players thus have no seeds in hand, and thus there is no namua phase. In the namua phase, each player begins his or her move by introducing one of the seeds he or she has in hand into the board.
Otherwise, the turn will be called a takata turn. A player must capture if he or she can do that. In a mtaji turn, other captures may occur as a consequence of sowing see below ; in a takata turn, on the other hand, captures are not allowed.
The first seed must be sown in a kichwa; if it is sown in the right kichwa, sowing will proceed counterclockwise, while if it is sown in the left kichwa, sowing will be clockwise.
For this reason, the right kichwa is also called "counterclockwise kichwa" and the left one "clockwise kichwa".
The choice of the kichwa to sow from is initially left to the player, with a few exception. If capture has occurred in any kimbi, sowing must start from the closest kichwa.
While the player is relay-sowing, if the last seed in any individual sowing is placed in a marker, a new capture occurs. Sowing of the captured seeds will start again from a kichwa.
In this case, it is never up to the player to choose which kichwa to sow from, that is: That is, if a capture occurs at the end of a clockwise sowing, the newly captured seeds will have to be sown starting from the clockwise kichwa, and vice versa.
In Chess or Checkers the opposing pieces are removed from play; in Bao the captured pieces seeds are brought back into play immediately.
Put the captured seed in the extreme left or right hole of your front row. Let us reconsider diagram 3. If we enter the captured seed in the extreme left hole, the situation in diagram 4 arises:.
Suppose we capture a hole with more than one seed, what will happen? Take all the seeds en sow them in your front row, beginning in the left or right kichwa.
Sowing means that one seed is put in the hole that lies next to the hole that received the previous seed. Always sow one seed a time and never skip a hole.
If you capture by placing a seed in the hole and taking the opposite seeds, then the situation in diagram 6 will occur:.
The last seed falls in the third hole from the left. The move then ends, because the last seed fell in an empty hole. It is also possible to enter the seeds from the right side.
In that case, we end up with the siuation in diagram Until now I presented situations were you could choose whether to enter the seeds from the left or the right.
But there are situations in which you can not choose. You cannot choose if you capture seeds from the two holes on either end of the board.
In that case, you must enter the captured seeds on the same side where you captured them. These two holes on the extreme left and right have special names.
The outer ones we already know as kichwa. The second holes from left and right we call kimbi. If you capture by placing the seed from your stock in the hole with one seed, you capture four seeds.
These four seeds have to be sown from the left; you are not allowed to sow them from the right. If you capture the three seeds opposing your two, you also must sow them beginning in hole one.
If you capture the five seeds opposing your three, you must start sowing from hole eight the kichwa from the right. If you capture the six seeds opposing your four, you also must enter them starting from the right side.
The result of these capture possibilities I present in diagrams 10, 11, 12 and For convenience, only the front rows are shown, because there are no seeds in the back rows.
Yes, the above title is true: In diagrams 10 through 13, the last seed ends in an empty hole, ending the move. In some situations the last seed to be sown falls in a hole already containing seeds.
If this happens you can capture the seeds in the opposing hole. Of course, this can only happen if there are seeds in the opposing hole. If there are none, then take all the seeds from this last hole and sow them again, sowing in the same direction.
If you captured a kichwa or kimbi, the direction of sowing can change according to the kichwa and kimbi rule presented above. Remember that you always keep on sowing or capturing.
Your turn can only end when your last seed falls in an empty hole. By capturing with captured seeds, multiple captures are possible. To explain this multiple capturing, see diagram Enter a seed in the hole that contains two seeds and capture the opposing three.
You capture the three opposing seeds. Because it is a left sided kimbi hole, you start sowing on the left side.
The last of the three seeds ends in the third hole. This hole already contains one seed, so you capture the four seeds of your opponent.
Take these then and start sowing from the left. You have to start on the left, because you were already sowing in that direction.
The last of those seeds falls in the fourth hole. Because the fourth was empty, the move ends. Now, go back to diagram 14 and capture the right side kichwa.
After completing all sowing you will get the postion in diagram 16 as a result. Take a look at diagram You capture the seven seeds from your opponent.
If you start sowing from the left, you will end with your last seed in the seventh hole. In that case take all of the seeds from that hole there are now six and start sowing again, not changing direction and starting with the very next hole.
In this case you will end up in the back row, the fourth hole from the left. You can see this result in diagram In the situations above there were more seeds to sow than there were holes.
In that case, you keep on sowing in the back row. It is even possible to return to the front row, again, if you have enough seeds!
In some situations, you can not start a move by capturing opposing seeds. Take a look at the starting positions diagram 2 and you will know what I mean.
Keep on sowing until your last seed encounters an empty hole. During the move, no captures are allowed! This is always the fifth hole from the left on the front row.
The nyumba ceases to be a nyumba as soon as the seeds it contains are sown. After that it is an ordinary hole just as all other holes. The nyumba has some special rules that add flavor to the game.
These rules concern, amongst others, keeping on sowing and emptying the nyumba in takasa situations. These special rules do not apply if you have fewer than six seeds in your nyumba.
The nyumba is an exception to this rules. If the last seed falls in the nyumba and the opposing hole is empty, the player may end his turn if he wishes.
The opponent then starts his move. You take the four seeds opposing your nyumba the nyumba is underlined and start sowing from the right. Now your last seed falls in the nyumba.
According to the rules, you may either start sowing the seeds or you may stop. If you continue sowing, you will end up capturing no other seeds.
So, in this case, you decide to stop and wait for better chances in later turns. As I already said, sometimes it is advantageous to wait for better times.
If you sow the seeds from your nyumba at the right time, the result can be devestating. Your opponent has no choice:
Wacker, welche nГ¶tige WГ¶rter..., der bemerkenswerte Gedanke
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