Bagha-Chall
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| Bhaga-Chall | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Age range | Any |
| Setup time | < 1 min |
| Playing time | < 1 hour |
| Random chance | None |
| Skills required | Strategy |
Bagha-Chall (meaning "Change of Tigers") is a strategic, two-player board game that originates in Nepal. The game is asymmetric in that one player controls four tigers and the other player controls up to twenty goats. The tigers 'hunt' the goats while the goats attempt to block the tigers' movements.
The game is played on a five by five point grid. Differently to chess or checkers, pieces are positioned at the intersection of the lines and not inside the areas delimited by them. Directions of valid movement between these points are connected by lines. The game play takes place in two phases. In the first phase the goats are placed on the board while the tigers are moved. In the second phase both the goats and the tigers are moved. For the tigers, the objective is to "capture" five goats to win. Capturing is performed in a similar manner to draughts, by jumping over the goats. The goats win by blocking all the tigers' legal moves.
[edit] Rules
At the start of the game the four tigers are placed on the corners of the grid, facing the center. All goats start off the board.
The pieces must be put at the intersections of the board lines and moves follow these lines.
The player controlling the goats moves first by placing a goat onto a free intersection on the board. Then it is the tigers' turn. One tiger is then moved to an adjacent position along the lines that indicate the valid moves. Moves are alternate between players.
Tigers capture goats by jumping over them to an adjacent free position (like in checkers). Goats can not move until all 20 have been put on the board.
The tigers must move according to these rules:
- They can capture goats any moment after the beginning of the match.
- They must capture a goat whenever it is possible.
- They can capture only one goat each time.
- They must jump over a goat at any direction, but the jump must be to an adjacent intersection following any of the lines from the position they stand to capture them.
- A tiger can not jump over other tiger.
- Tigers can not capture a goat by jumping back (the tiger piece has a head and a tail, and at every move, the head must be positioned opposite to direction he came).
The goats must move according to these rules:
- They must leave the board when captured.
- They can not jump over the tigers or other goats.
- They can only move after all 20 have been put on the board.
Neither goats nor tigers can move back into a space that that individual piece immediately previously occupied.
The tigers win once they have eaten five goats. Goats are trying to avoid being eaten and they win by crowding the tigers in so that they are unable to move.
