Tchouba

From Wikinfo

Tchouba

First Description: Elísio Romariz Santos Silva, 1995

Cycles: Two

Ranks: Four

Sowing: Multiple laps

Region: Mozambique

Tchouba is a mancala game played by the Tonga in Inhambane and by the Chopi in Zavala, Mozambique. It is the largest mancala game so far described, larger than Mefuvha and Nsolo. The game is played with the seeds of the marula tree (Scelocarya caffra) or nickernuts.

Rules

Tchouba is played on a four-row board, each having 16-40 holes called godi. There are two seeds in each hole. The largest variant is played with 320 seeds in 160 holes.

Each player controls the two rows on his side.

Initial Position (Most Challenging Board)

On his turn, a player empties one of his holes, which contains at least two seeds (known as gula), and distributes them, one by one, counterclockwise into the following holes of his rows.

If the last seed is dropped into an occupied hole, its contents are distributed in another lap.

The move ends when the last seed falls into an empty hole.

Singletons (called tchonga) may only be moved, if the player has no gula. A singleton must be dropped into an empty hole. If the following hole is not vacant, it is not permitted to start a turn with a tchonga.

If the last seed is dropped into an empty hole of the player's inner row, and the hole of his opponent straight opposite is occupied, the player captures (cubá) the its contents.

In addition, he captures the contents of the enemy hole in the outer row just behind and the contents of any two other holes of his opponent.

The captures are removed from the board.

The game ends, when, at his turn, a player can't move because there are no seeds left in his holes.

References

Santos Silva, E. R.

Jogos de Quadricula do Tipo Mancala com Especial Incidência Nos Practicados em Angola. Instituto de Investigação Cientifíca Tropical, Lisbon (Portugal) 1995, 140.