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BAO (LA KISWAHILI)

Bao rules by Jordi Climent [CAT] [ESP]

Bao, Ubao or Mbao is a Mancala game that use a board that has 32 holes, ordered in four rows. It belongs to the family of board games played in East Africa called "ubao michezo", that it means: board games. Is sometimes written with the name Ubao la kiswahili, that is: board of swahili. It is played in Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, DR of Congo, Malawi and Mozambique.
A characteristic of the Bao is that the game starts with few seeds in the board and that new seeds keep being added, little by little. The captured seeds are not withdrawn from the board but they resettle afterwards.
32 seeds are required by player. How it happens with the Oware game, the seeds are not distinguished among them. Each player has 10 seeds at the start. The seeds are called kete. The other 22 seeds are kept off the board and are brought into play one by one.
Let us briefly explain to you this interesting game: click here

[Updated]

Bao board

Bao rules (*)

by Jordi Climent

Frequently in Bao several rules are applied at the same time. In those situations, it is important to apply the rules in the correct order. The hierarchy of the rules is of extreme importance. The rules presented here were collected by Alex de Voogt between 1991 and 1995. He was helped by Bao masters from Zanzibar. These are the rules used during championship tournaments.

The beginning:

8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	b
O	O	O	□	O	O	O	O	a
O	O	O	O	□	O	O	O	A
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	B
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

diagram 1

In diagram 1 you can see a schematic representation of the Bao board. The top two rows belong to opponent player (indicated with small letters). You own the bottom two rows (indicated with capital letters). The rectangular holes called nyumba. The rows "A" and "a" are called front rows. It is the zone of contact between both territories. In the front rows there are more special holes: the holes 1 and 8 (on the extremes) are called kichwa; the holes 2 and 7 are called kimbi.

O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O
O	2	2	6	O	O	O	O
O	O	O	O	6	2	2	O
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O

diagram 2

In diagram 2 the numbers represents the number of seeds in each hole in the starting position.

First stage: Namua

In order to capture seeds from the opponent you must satisfy three conditions:

there must be one or more seeds in your own hole in the front row
there must be one or more seeds in the opposing hole in his front row
you put one seed from your stock into the appropriate hole in your front row

O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O
1	O	1	8	1	2	O	O
O	O	O	O	7	O	2	1
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O

diagram 3

Diagram 3 shows a situation in which you can capture. You can capture by taking a seed from your stock and placing it into the hole with 7 seeds. Now this hole contains 8 seeds. Take the seed from the opposing hole. Now you have captured that seed. In Chess or Checkers the opposing pieces are removed from play; in Bao the captured pieces (seeds) are brought back into play immediately. It is important to know that you have to capture if there is a possibility to do so. The capture that the player executed was the only possible one. Although he had other holes with seeds, none of them had seeds in the opposite holes.

Put the captured seed in the extreme left or right hole of your front row. These holes are called kichwa (literally "head"). Captured seed(s) are always entered in these first holes, never in the second or another hole. Let us reconsider diagram 3. If we enter the captured seed in the extreme left hole, the situation in diagram 4 arises:

O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O
1	O	1	8	1	2	O	O
1	O	O	O	8	O	2	1
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O

diagram 4

The seed is entered in the left kichwa. Because it landed in an empty hole, the move ends here.

We have seen a situation in which we captured one seed and entered it in our front row. Suppose we capture a hole with more than one seed, what will happen? Take all the seeds and 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. See diagram 5. Capture the 3 seeds opposing the hole with 7 seeds.

O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O
1	O	1	8	3	2	O	O
O	O	O	O	7	O	O	O
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O

diagram 5

If you capture by placing a seed in the hole and taking the opposite seeds, then the situation in diagram 6 will occur:

O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O
1	O	1	8	O	2	O	O
O	O	O	O	8	O	O	O
O	O	O	O	O	O	O	O

diagram 6

(*) adapted of the booklet: "Bao. The Mancala Game of Kenya" that Renice Jones gave me.

[Bao Part 2] [Bao Part 3]