CONGKAK
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Congkak is a type of traditional board game of Malay origin
played in Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. It is within the
family of mancala games which are games of sow, count and capture. Basically
congkak is played on a wooden boat shaped block with two rows of seven holes on
each row along the body and two large holes at both ends called ‘home’. It is
usually played as an indoor game and encourages fast mental arithmetic.
History
Congkak is believed to be originated from the word ‘congak’
which means count in the old Malay language. The game is also believed to have
originated from the Middle East, where it was known as mancala in Arabia. The
earliest discovery of the board game was made in Jordan, dating between 7000 BC
and 5000 BC. The game was probably brought by Arab or African traders
travelling to China. Introduced first to Indonesia and then to Malay Peninsula,
it took root in Malacca where it was thought to be played in the royal court by
the king and family and palace residents. However, later the game became
popular among the general population in particular among Malays and Peranakans.
As the congkak board is shaped like a boat, it is believed that the game is
based on the legend of a fisherman unable to go to sea during rainy season who
lost his income during the time. To prevent boredom, he created this game which
is similar to his boat.
How To Play
The objective of the game is to gather as many game pieces
(shells, marbles,pebbles or congkak seeds) into the ‘home’ on the player’s
side.
The game begins with seven game pieces in each hole except
‘homes’ which remain empty. Congkak requires two players. Each player controls
the seven holes on his side of the board and owns the ‘home’ to his left.
On a turn, a player removes all pieces from one of the seven
holes from his side. He then placed them clockwise with one in each hole to the
left of this hole in a process called sowing. Sowing skips an opponent’s ‘home’
but not a player’s own ‘home’.
As how the game continues, it depends on where the last
piece is placed.
If the last piece falls into an occupied hole, then all
pieces are removed from that particular hole and are sown in the same way
(clockwise from that hole) in another round. The current player’s turn ends
when the last piece is placed into an empty hole of the opponent’s side.
If the last piece is placed into the player’s own home, the
current player earns another chance which can begin again at any hole from his
side of the board.
If the last piece ended into an empty hole on his own side,
the player grabs all pieces from the hole across from his one on the opponent’s
side and put them into his own ‘home’. If the opposing hole is empty, no pieces
are captured.
After that, the other player chooses which hole he wishes to
start from, removes the pieces and placed them in each hole, clockwise from
that chosen hole. If a player has no pieces on his side of the board when it’s
his turn, then he must pass.
The game finishes when there are no more pieces in any of
the holes on both sides of the board. The player can now count the number of
pieces collected in their own ‘home’ and the result is finalized to see who has
won.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_kw8U25irs
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