Congkak

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Congkak board from Malaysia

Congkak , completely Main Congkak (in Indonesia also: Congklak ; Indon. For cowrie shell , also Dakon ), is a variant of Mancala that is common in Malaysia , Singapore and Indonesia .

This game is played by two players, mostly women. Outside of Asia, Congkak was first described in 1894 by the ethnologist Stewart Culin .

A long wooden board, Papan Congkak , is used to play with, on which there are two rows of five to nine small play hollows each. In Malaysia they are called Lubang Kampung (German: "Village") or Lubang Anak (German: "Child"). The most common are boards with two seven play hollows. In addition, there is a large storage trough at both ends, Lubang Rumah (Eng .: "House"), in which the captured stones are collected. The storage trough on the left belongs to each player.

At the beginning of the game, there are as many game pieces (usually cowrie shells or tamarind seeds ; in Malaysia called Anak-anak Buah ) in each game hole as each row has game holes.

Whoever catches the most stones wins.

Comparison with other games

Congkak is very similar to other Mancala variants in South Asia, such as Naranj (Maldives), Dakon (Java), Sungka (Philippines) and Tchonka (Mariana Islands).

The main difference between the game and the Kalaha, which is known in the USA and Europe , is that the move continues when the last stone falls into a filled hollow. If this happens, the content of this trough is picked up and distributed. A move does not end until the last stone is placed in an empty play pit. Other differences to Kalaha are that Congkak is played clockwise and the first move is made simultaneously. This should compensate for the tightening advantage.

Congkak differs from Sungka in that Sungka is played counterclockwise and has a different cultural background.

literature

  • Culin, S. Mancala: The National Game of Africa . In: Report of the National Museum (Philadelphia (USA)) 1894: 597-611.
  • Hellier, M. Notes on the Malay Game Jongkak . In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Straits Branch) 1907; 49: 93.
  • Overbeck, H. New Notes on the Game of Chongkak . In: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Straits Branch) 1915; 57: 8.
  • Skeat, WW Malay Magic . London (England) 1900, 485.
  • Wilkinson RJ Papers on Malay Subjects . Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) 1915, 57.

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