Waurie

From Mancala World

Waurie → German.

Waurie is a mancala game that is played on the Cayman Islands, a British colony in the Caribbean. Legend has it that the game was introduced to Grand Cayman by the pirate Black Beard (1680 ? - 1718) after one of his voyages to Africa. Reportedly it was a favourite pastime of Ernest Hemingway each time he spent his holidays on this lovely island.

The most beautiful wooden boards made of mahogany are carved by an artist nicknamed Caribbean Charlie. Traditionally gray or yellow nickernuts (Caesalpinia bonduc and C. major) are used for playing the game.

Waurie is now being promoted by David Grogono who used to be a sailboat captain and a member of the Olympic Team for the Cayman Islands in 1996 and is now product manager for REALbasic. In 2004 he has written a freeware programme for Linux, Macintosh and Windows which can be downloaded from his homepage.

A minor variant is commercialized in Kid-Cala as "beginner's version", with the only difference that seeds are sown into both stores.

[edit] Rules

The game is played on a board of 2x6=12 pits and two stores called endpits. Initially there are four seeds in each pit. You'll need a total of 48 seeds.

Initial Position

Play is counter-clockwise and single-lap. Stones are distributed as usual, one by one, into the following pits and (as in some Indonesian, Malaysian and Filipino games) into your own endpit, but not into your opponent's endpit. The symbolic meaning is that you're taxed when you enter your opponent's territory, but not when you return to your own land.

If the last seed falls into your own endpit, you have a bonus move (similar to Kalah or Dakon).

If there are enough seeds to complete a full round, a seed is dropped into the emptied pit (unlike Oware).

It's not permitted to pass a turn.

There is no capturing except the taxing described above.

If a player can't play, he wins the game. At the end of the game the loser is the only player who has still seeds in his pits.

[edit] Strategic Hints

It is often decisive to feed the opponent at the end of the game. The last player able to do that will usually win.

[edit] Endgame Problem

South to move and win! (Ralf Gering, 2008)

[edit] References

Armstrong, W. P.: A Game Called Island Wari: A Board Game From The Caribbean Islands. In: Wayne's Word 1997 (3); 6.
Grogono, M.: Helpfile for Waurie. Booton NJ (USA) Grogware 2004.

[edit] External Links

Computer version of Waurie, by Grogware
Black Beard

[edit] Solution

5! a/3/1! b/4/2 c/5/6!/6-1/3/2/4/3/5/4/6 South wins. (15 moves)

But not:

(a) 6?-1/3/2/4/3/5/4/6 North is faster.
(b) 6?/1!/1/2/2/3/3/4/4/6-5/5/6 North wins.

Notes:

The first three moves of South can be: (5, 1, 2), (1, 5, 2) or (1, 2, 5).
North should be feeded, only if his seed reaches the 6th pit, neither before nor after. Otherwise South would loose. Good timing is very important.

[edit] Copyright