Bohnenspiel

Bohnenspiel → German, Italian.

Bohnenspiel

Other Names: Badari,
Baltisches Bohnenspiel,
Kardis, Kardis-Bohnen-
spiel, Sabo

First Description: Fritz
Jahn, 1916

Cycles: One

Ranks: Two

Sowing: Single laps

Region: Estonia (historical),
Germany (once also in
territories later annexed
by Poland and Russia)

Already in 1916, the Bohnenspiel (Bean Game) was called "an old German game" by the game pastor Fritz Jahn (1863-1931) who rediscovered it in 1908 while visiting Baron Viktor von Stackelberg at his estate in Kardis (Island of Ösel), Estonia. The baron owned a replica of the famous mancala set which was a gift from the Shah of Persia (probably Aga Mohammed) to Czarina Catherine the Great (reign 1762-1796), born Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst. The original is to this day kept in the art collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Like all German nobles the Stackelbergs who owned the estate since 1532 were expropriated by the Estonian government in 1919.

Old Bohnenspiel Board (1917)

The game was mostly played by the German aristocracy in the Baltic Provinces of the Russian Empire in the 19th century and, for that reason, named Baltisches Bohnenspiel ("Baltic Bean Game") or Kardis-Bohnenspiel ("Kardis Bean Game"). In the eastern provinces of Prussia which are since the end of World War II occupied by Poland and Russia, a variant was played on a larger 2x9 board which was called Deutsches Bohnenspiel ("German Bean Game"), but its exact rules are now forgotten. Das Deutsche Bohnenspiel was very popular in the 1880s according to the wife of Wilhelm Hans August von Waldow (1856-1937), Governing President of Königsberg (1899-1903) and the Senior President of Pommern (1911-1917) in Stettin.

Bohnenspiel has the same rules as the classic Turkish Mangala, which appears to have been called Manqalat or Manqala in Persia.

Any similarity of the Bohnenspiel to African games, such as Ouré (played by the Wolof in Senegal), appears to be a mere coincidence, when its place and time of origin is considered. The game spread from Petersburg to the Baltic countries, from there to Prussia and later to other German states and eventually to German-speaking countries in the south such as Switzerland and Austria.

Pastor Fritz Jahn lived in Züllchow, a suburb of Stettin, where he was director of the Züllchower Anstalten, a Lutheran brotherhood which created a pedagogical institute and a children's home. He used the game for the education of children and workers and promoted it in many books and speeches. Other games he liked were Domino and Cribbage.

Later the game was described by August Meikop in the Estonian youth magazine "Eesti Noorus" in 1932 and then by Bruno Arbeiter in the Deutsche Spielhandbuch (Handbook of German Games) in 1937. The oldest surviving game dates back to 1962.

The game was quite popular in the socialist worker and peasant state DDR (German Democratic Republic), where it was sold as Badari and suggestions were made to make a board from egg shelves. It appears that the Bohnenspiel is still more popular in the eastern part of Germany than in the west or south.

The bohnenspiel — *Bohnenspiel Seminar in Kazakhstan*

Malters Langenegger, a Swiss, has put a free Bohnenspiel program on his homepage where you can play online. His program is quite good.

The same program can also be found on many websites in Germany.

The Bohnenspiel is also played in Kazakhstan, Central Asia. Several tricky endgame problems were composed by Maksat Shotayev, a well-known Toguz Kumalak player. He even organizes seminars in which he teaches Bohnenspiel and Omweso.

The first international Bohnenspiel tournament was held on July 19, 2012, in Pardubice (Czech Republic). There were eight players from the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and Kazakhstan in the competition, which was won by Maksat Shotayev. Another tournament was held on April 5, 2013 in Nürnberg (Germany). It had 12 players, which were from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Germany, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Somalia, and Uganda. The competition was won by Ralf Gering who lost not a single game out of five. More tournaments were played in 2013 in Sinzig and Bad Breisig.

The game can be played online on igGameCenter, a special online game gadget that allows playing abstract board games with other opponents in real-time, since October 12, 2008.

Rules

The Bohnenspiel is played on a 2x6 board with six seeds in each hole initially. Your store is on the right side.

Initial Position

Moves are counter-clockwise, single lap.

If the last seed is dropped into a hole which then contains 2, 4 or 6 seeds altogether, these seeds are captured and put into your store called "Schatzhöhle" ("treasure cave") in some books. Also, all "ripe" holes which are in a continuous chain directly behind are harvested. You may capture on both sides of the board.

The game ends when one player is unable to move. The remaining seeds are given to the player who moved the last time. The player who got more seeds wins the game. According to B. Rüger it is possible to play a match of several games (he called it a "Partie"), which is won by the player who first gets 100 points.

The notation of Bohnenspiel games and problems is simple. The holes are numbered from 1-12 counter-clockwise, starting with the leftmost hole of the player who began the game.

Statistics

On the average a Bohnenspiel game is decided after 41 moves (range of this statical analysis: 28 - 65). The longest known game took 91 moves, the shortest game 27 moves (see the article about game statistics).

The Bohnenspiel appears to be well-balanced. Approximately 6% of all games are draws.

Historical Games

Bruno Rüger, 1962:

4,8; 6,12 (2 from hole 8); 6,7; 3 (2 from 12),7; 5,8 (2 from 12); 4 (2 from 7),11; 5 (2 from 7), 11 (2 from 12); 2,11 (2 from 12); 4,7; 3,8; 4 (4 from 5),11; 1 (2 from 2),10; 6,10 (6 from 12); 4 (4 from 7),8 (6 from 11); 1 (4 from 5),9 (2 from 5); 3 (4 from 10, 2 from 9, 8, 7 each),12; 1,11; 1,12; 1

As North can no longer move, South gets all the remaining beans. South wins with 50:22 points.

Heinz Machatscheck, 1972:

3,9; 5,7 (2 from hole 3); 6,8; 4?,7 (6 from 9 plus 2 from 8); 1,12!(2 from 1); 2,11; 5 (2 from 11),9 (4 each from 2 and 1); 3 (6 each from 7 and 8),11 (6 from 12); 5,10; 3 (2 from 5),9? (2 from 10); 6,11 (4 each from 2, 1 and 12); 4,10 (2 each from 12 and 11); 5 (2 from 6),7; 3,10; 4,9; 5,8 (2 from 12); 1,9; 2,10; 3,12 (2 from 1); 4,11; 5 (2 from 6),12 (2 from 1); 2 (2 from 3).

North has 28 points more than South.

Endgame Problems

Problem 1: The Gentlemen

South to move and draw

Created by Maksat Shotayev (Kazakhstan), 2006.

Problem 2: Charming Bohnenspiel

South to move and win

Created by Maksat Shotayev (Kazakhstan), 2006.

Variant

According to K. Hemprich (1926) a Bohnenspiel ends, when all beans have been captured. If a player cannot move, he must pass until he can sow again.

External Links

General Background

Websites directly related to the Bohnenspiel

References

Anonymus.: Kardis und Klimax. In: Deutscher Wille des Kunstwarts. Beilage zum Kunstwart. 1917; 30 (23): 194.
Anonymus.: Die spannendste Art, Perlen aufzureihen. Sofort nachspielbar: Für Mancala genügen zwölf Mulden. In: Berliner Zeitung May 14, 1994: 80.
Arbeiter, B.: Das Bohnenspiel. In: Die Arbeitsschule: Monatsschrift des Deutschen Vereins für werktätige Erziehung 1942; 56 (12): 189-190.
Arbeiter, B. & Ruhnke, W.: Brettspiele (4. Ergänzungsband zum Deutschen Spielhandbuch). Ludwig Voggenreiter Verlag, Potsdam (Germany) 1937, 8 & 10-12.
Glonnegger, E.: Das Spiele-Buch: Brett- und Legespiele aus aller Welt. Ravensburger Buchverlag & Heinrich Hugendubel Verlag, Ravensburg & München (Germany) 1988, 214.
Hemprich, K.: Spielpeterle und Ratefritze (2. Teil). Verlag der Dürr´schen Buchhandlung, Leipzig (Germany) 1926, 98-102.
Hirte, W.: Unsere Spiele: 1000 und mehr. Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig (Germany) 1971, 307-309.
Jacob, G.: Der Einfluß des Morgenlands auf das Abendland vornehmlich während des Mittelalters. Lafaire, Hannover (Germany) 1924, 75.
Jahn, F.: Beschäftigungs- und Gesellschaftsspiele als wichtige Erziehungsmittel in Anstalten, Kolonien und Familien (Vortrag). Züllchower Anstalten, Züllchow bei Stettin (Germany) 1911.
Jahn, F.: Geduldspiele, Brettspiele und anderer lehrreicher Zeitvertreib ein dringendes Bedürfnis für unsere Verwundeten: Wegweiser, für alle, die es angeht. Züllchower Anstalten, Züllchow bei Stettin (Germany) 1914.
Jahn, F.: Die Pflege des Spiels in Krieg und Frieden als Aufgabe des Vaterländischen Frauen-Vereins. Sittenfeld, Berlin (Germany) 1916.
Jahn, F.: Alte Deutsche Spiele. In: Schwering, L. Lug ins Land, Furche-Verlag, Berlin (Germany) 1916, 161-181.
Jahn, F.: Alte deutsche Spiele. Furche-Verlag, Berlin (Germany) 1917, 14-15.
Jahn, F.: Unterhaltungsspiele für Jünglings- und Jungfrauenvereine. Verlag des Norddeutschen Männer- und Jünglingsbundes, Hamburg (Germany), 1920, 7-8.
Jahn, F.: Unterhaltungsspiele für Jünglings- und Jungfrauenvereine. Aus: "Führen und fördern": Handbuch für kirchliche Jugendpflege. Verlag des Norddeutschen Männer- und Jünglingsbundes, Hamburg (Germany) 1920, 7-8.
Koch, K.-H.: Spiele für Zwei. Hugendubel, München (Germany) 1986, 59-63.
Machatscheck, H.: Zug um Zug: Die Zauberwelt der Brettspiele. Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin (Germany) 1972, 157-158.
Meikop, A.: Lauamänge. In: Eesti Noorus 1932; 4: 225.
Müller-Alfeld, T.: Brettspiele. Verlag Ullstein GmbH, Frankfurt/Main & Berlin (Germany) 1963, 153-156.
Rüger, B.: Du bist dran: 42 Spiele am Tisch. VEB Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig (Germany) 1962, 34-37.
Shoberl, F.: Turkey: Being a Description of the Manners, Customs, Dresses, and Other Peculiarieties, Characteristic of the Inhabitants of the Turkish Empire; To Which Is Prefixed a Sketch of the History of the Turks. R. Ackerman, London (England) 1821, 220-222.
Steingass, F. J.: A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, Including the Arabic Words and Phrases to Be Met with in Persian Literature. Routledge & K. Paul, London (England) 1892, 1333.

Solutions

The Gentlemen

1.  2 (A)                9 (2 from 12)
2.  3                   11 (but not 10?, loses)
3.  6!!(B/C)             7
4.  5 (4?)               7 (2 from 8)
5.  4                   10
6.  5 (2 from 6)        11 (wins the remaining beans)
(A)
1.  6                    7
2.  5!!                  7 (2 from 8)
3.  2                    9 (2 from 12)
4.  3                   11
5.  4                   10
6.  5 (2 from 6)        11 (wins the remaining beads)
(B)
3.  5?                  10 (but not 7? because of 6!)
4.  4                   11 (2 from 12)
5.  5 (D)                7
6.  6 and South loses.
(C)
3.  4?                  10
4.  6                   11 (2 from 12; but not 7? because of 5!))
5.  5                    7
6.  6 and South loses. Greed ruins gentlemen.
(D)
5.  6                    7
6.  5                    8 or 9.
7.  6 and South loses. Greed ruins gentlemen.

Charming Bohnenspiel

 1.  1 (2 from 2) (A/B)     7
 2.  5 (2 from 6)           9
 3.  4                      8 (4 from 11)
 4.  5 (2 from 6)           9 (6 from 10)
 5.  3                     12
 6.  1, 2, 4 or 5 and South wins with 38:34 points.
 (A)
 1.  6? (4 from 7)        12 (2 from 1 and 2 from 2)
 2.  5                    10
 3.  4 (2 from 6)          9
 4.  5                    10 (4 from 11)
 5.  3                     8
 6.  5 (2 from 6)         10
 7.  4                    11 (2 from 12)
 8.  5                     9
 9.  6                     7 and North draws!
 (B)
 1.  2?                    7
 2.  1                    12 (2 from 2)
 3.  1                     9
 4.  2 (4 from 3)          8 (4 from 11)
 5.  4 (2 from 5 and 6 each)   9 (6 from 10) and North draws.

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