Pit ownership
From Wikimanqala
Owning pits is a characteristic of (most) mancala games that distinguish them from most other board games.
In many mancala games the board is not shared by both players, but each player owns a part of it. A move can only begin in the player's own pits. Also, in some games, capturing depends on the pits' owner.
Usually in two-row boards one row belongs to each player, in three-row boards a player owns one and a half row, and in four-row boards each player controls two rows.
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| Typical pits ownership in two-row games |
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| Typical pits ownership in three-row games |
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| Typical pits ownership in four-row games |
However, there are a few games (aside of solitaires) with shared pits, that is, the board is shared by both players (ie. eson korgool).
In most games the pits belonging to each player are fixed. However, in some games it is possible to lose (or sometimes win) pits.
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Sowing and capturing
In most one-cycle games the move must begin from a hole belonging to the player, but the sowing keeps on on all the board. I many of these games capturing is only allowed on the opponent's pits.
In two-cycle games the move begins from a hole belonging to the player, and the sowing happens only on his holes, not on the opponent ones. In all these games capturing is made only on the opponent's side of the board.
Names
There's no standard way to call the set of pits belonging to one player. In many Latin languages the equivalent of "field" is quite widespread. In English the more usual special word is "side", but it doesn't really fit when both "sides" are not simetrical, as it can happen in games allowing the capture of holes. "Row" or "rows", or "own row" are also very widespread, but don't fit when a hole can change ownership. Eagle, in an article, used the word "sector".
See also
References
- Eagle, V. A.
- (1995) 'On Some Newly Described Mancala Games from Yunnan Province, China, and the Definition of a Genus in the Family of Mancala Games', in Voogt, A. J. de (Ed.) New Approaches to Board Games Research: Asian Origins and Future Perspectives, Working Paper Serie 3, Leiden: 48-62.
