Um laarais
From Wikimanqala
Um laarais
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|---|
| Um la-arais |
| Played in: Western Sahara |
| Multiple lap |
| One cycle |
| Holes captured during the game |
| 6 holes per row |
| Two rows |
Um laarais is a mancala game played in Western Sahara. The only available source is what Saharian expatriates living in Catalonia told Víktor Bautista i Roca on the 9th of June, 2001, during the Festa de la Diversitat, an intercultural festival held by SOS Racisme, an antiracist organization. Unfortunately he just took some notes, not enough to reconstruct the game without some imagination.
Contents |
Rules
The board has two rows of six pits, and at the beginning there are four counters (we will call them seeds, although we don't know what they are) on each.
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| Initial position |
This game is played by three players. Each player controls four consecutive pits.
At his turn the player takes all the seeds from one of his holes and sows them in the following holes (perhaps anticlockwise), skipping those married to other players (see below).
- If the last seed ends in a hole containing a total (including the seed just sown) of four seeds the move ends and this hole becomes married to the player and is marked as such.
- If the last seed ends in an empty hole the move is over.
- If the last seed ends in a non-empty hole not containing four seeds the move keeps on sowing from this hole.
The winner is the one who has more seeds in the holes married to him, at the end of the game.
Unanswered questions
What happens if the last seed is sown in a married hole? Is the move over? Probably.
Can a player begin a move from a hole married to him? Probably not.
Is the game only for three players or a three players version of a two players game?
What is its relation with krur? Is it just another name for it, or maybe its three players version?
Is the sense of sowing really counterclockwise?
Does the turn also pass to the next player in a counterclockwise direction?
What happens if a player has no seeds at his turn? Is the game over or does he just passes?
What happens when all holes belonging to a player are married?
What happens if the last seeds keep on cycling around the board without being captured?
Personal references
- Bautista i Roca, V.
- (2001). Personal communication with Saharian expatriates.
Suggested rules
To be able to play the game some of the "unanswered questions" can be asumed as:
- If the last seed is sown in a married hole the move is over.
- A move can not begin from a married hole.
- If a player has no possible move his turn passes
- Sowing is counterclockwise, and also the turn passes counterclockwise from player to player.
- If the last seeds cycle around the board the game is over and noone gets them.
 | No research done!
No serious research has been done on this game. All this information must be taken with a grain of salt. It would be really great to improve the article through more research or personal experiences. |
