Isolo (Sukuma boys)
From Wikimanqala
Isolo
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| Isumbi, boys' game |
| Played in: Usukuma (Tanzania) |
| Two cycles |
| Multiple lap |
| Captures are reintroduced |
| 8 holes per row |
| Four rows |
Isolo (according to Kalumbete also called isumbi) is the name given to three related mancala games played by the Sukuma, in Tanzania. This is the middle (according to difficulty) one, the "boys' game".
Contents |
Rules
The game begins with a special position:
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On the first game the beginning player is chosen at random. On the following games, it alternates.
Each player controls the two rows closer to him.
General rules
General rules are as those of women's game.
Moves are multiple lap.
On his turn the player takes all the seeds from a hole on his side and sows them one by one on the following holes on his side, on a counterclockwise sense.
If the last seed of a lap is sown in an empty hole the move ends.
If the last seed of a lap is sown in a hole not allowing a capture he takes all the seeds on this hole and keeps on sowing another lap.
If the last seed of a lap is sown in a hole of the inner row and in the opponent's facing holes there are any seeds he captures them and sows them in another lap starting on the same hole the capturing lap started.
If on his turn a player can not move (he has no seeds, or all of them are singletons) he has lost the game.
Overture
At the beginning of the game some special rules apply.
Both pits containing 17 seeds are called ng'hana (privileged pits).
During the player's overture (each player overture can last differently) seeds are sowed only on his 14 left most holes, and the contents of the ng'hana can not be captured.
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| On black, South player's circuit. On white, North's one. |
Once a player decides to (or must, as all other pits are empty or singletons) play the ng'hana his overture is over, he sows the seeds on the full board and all his seeds can be captured, from any pit. However, he can not capture the opponent's ng'hana as far as the opponent is still playing his own overture.
Preparing the initial position
There is a traditional method to prepare the initial position. Here we will show South player's way. North's one is symmetrical.
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| Two seeds are put in each pit |
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| All seeds from the outer row are put in the rightmost hole |
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| One seed from each inner pit is put in the corresponding outer pit |
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| The player sows in multiple laps from the rightmost pit in the inner row till he reaches the ng'hana |
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| One seed is taken frorm the ng'hana and put in the second pit from the right on the inner row |
References
- Kalumbete, Bela B.
- (2001) ISOLO, or Bao played by the Sukuma [Online], available at http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=0003aj [13 Oct 2006].
- Popova, Assia
- (1979) 'Isolo, jeu royal des Sukuma', in Cahiers d'études africaines, 73-76, XIX-1-4.
See also
External links
- Sukuma people on wikipedia
