Bagh Chal
Bagh Chal ( Nepali : बाघ चाल , " ") is an old Nepalese strategy board game for two players, which is also known as the National Game of Nepal . The name is made up of the Nepali words बाघ bāgh ( tiger ) and चाल cāl (movement). In the game a tiger family hunt for a herd of goats is played, which is why the game is sometimes called tigers and goats in western countries .
Course of the game
On a square board, 25 square points (5 by 5) are drawn and connected by grid lines. The outer corner points and the middle points of the outer line are also connected diagonally. Player 1 has four tigers (Nepalese: बाघ, bāgh ), player 2 has twenty goats (Nepalese: bākhri ).
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At the beginning of the game, the tigers are placed on the four outer corners. If the tigers are pieces that show an orientation, for some rule variants the tigers are placed in such a way that they face the center of the playing field. Player 2 starts the game by placing a goat on one of the free points. Then player 1 may move a tiger. Then player 2 places his second goat on the playing field, so that the turns of the players take turns. The tigers may move in their moves over the connecting lines to any accessible nearest free point, or if there is a goat there, they may jump straight over to a free point behind it. If a goat has been jumped over (eaten) by a tiger, it is removed from the field. The goats may only be moved after all twenty goats have been placed on the field.
The aim of the game is either as the tiger player to eat an agreed number of goats or as the goat player to encircle the tigers with the goats so that they can no longer move. The goats can protect themselves against the tigers by standing one behind the other, so they cannot be jumped over.
Rules of movement
Tiger trains
- Goats can be caught from the start.
- Only one goat can be caught in each turn (no chain jumps).
- The jump over a goat must be straight (no jumps over corners).
- Tigers cannot skip each other.
Goat trains
- Goats are removed from the field immediately and do not return after being skipped.
- Goats cannot jump.
- Goats can move over the connecting lines to any accessible closest free point when all goats have been placed on the playing field.
General
- After all 20 goats have been placed, the goats and tigers are not allowed to repeat the following playing field situations. A repetition would exist as soon as the figure constellation was the same and with the same constellation it would be the same player's turn.
- Players may agree on the goal of how many goats must be caught (usually five) to win.
Rule variants
- Tigers cannot jump backwards (only forwards and sideways). You must land in the direction of the jump.
- Since the playing field itself is symmetrical, it has no orientation (such as forward) itself. The information here relates to the tiger figures themselves. This rule variant can only be played if the tiger pieces or figures allow you to determine where the front of the tiger is. With each move of the tiger, the front must be updated in the direction of the move. In particular, this rule offers a small balance between the strengths of the game when players of different strengths play together.
- Depending on the position of the playing field, there is also the option of pulling along diagonals. Here it would have to be agreed whether the diagonals should not be pulled sideways and backwards, as soon as these possibilities otherwise existed.
- Jumping compulsion: Every opportunity to catch a goat must be used.
- An agreement should be reached on the compulsory jump before the start of the game. There are rules of the game which clearly state that there is no compulsion to jump . Another argument against an obligatory jump requirement is that no source is known that stipulates a regulation in the event of a violation of the jump requirement. If you therefore play with a mandatory jump, you should ensure that the previous playing field situation can be restored, for example by notating the moves. Players interpret the obligatory jump partly in the rules of the game, which state that tigers move like in a checkers game , which typically includes the obligation to jump.
- If the playing figure is moved again in the immediately following move, the playing figure may not be moved back to the field on which it was previously.
- It should be agreed here whether this rule variant only applies to tigers or only to goats or both players.
- It can be agreed that this move rule for tigers does not apply until all goats have been placed.
- As a further rule variant, hitting a goat can be agreed as an exception to this. So if a goat is hit on a playing field position and another goat immediately pulls into exactly this playing field position, the tiger can jump back and hit this second goat as well. The tiger moves to the space on which it stood in the immediately preceding move.
In the following example diagram, the result is not the same if only the goats (one goat is forced to move ) or if both players (no longer forced to move) are prohibited from moving the same pawn twice.
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