The Game of Kalah

Kalah, also sometimes referred to as Kalahan or Mancala, is a game where players compete to capture more stones (or seeds) than the opponent. Kalah is an adaptation of the ancient game Mancala, from where it gained it's name.

Equipment and Set Up

Kalah is played on a board with two rows consisting of six round holes and a large store at either end called Kalah.

A player controls the six holes closest to them and the Kalah on their right side.

The board is set up with the same number of stones in each round hole. The Kalah is empty at the start of the game.

Beginners may want to start with three stones in each hole, but the game becomes more and more challenging by starting with 4, 5 or up to 6 stones in each hole. Traditionally the game play is most associated with 4 stones.

Overview

The object of the game is to have more stones in your Kalah than your opponent does.

At the beginning of the game, the selected number of stones are in each hole (3 to 6). Each hole has the same number.

Once a player captures a stone in their Kalah, it it remains there for the rest of the game. There are three ways to put stones in your Kalah:

1) A player gets stones by placing during a turn one at a time around the board. When the player reaches their Kalah, one stone is placed in it, and if stones remain they continue to the opponents side of the board.

2) Stones are captured by landing in your own empty hold when your opponent has stones in the opposite hole. Stones from both holes are transferred to your Kalah.

3) When a player has no stones on their side of the board and it is their turn to play, the game is over and all remaining stones go to the other player's Kalah.

This BGA game will end when more than 50% of all stones are in a single player's Kalah (19 stones in a game starting with 3 stones per hole, 25 when starting with 4 stones per hole, 30 when starting with 5 stones, and 37 when starting with 6).

During Your Turn

Play is always counterclockwise. On a turn, the player chooses any of the occupied holes on their side of the board and removes all stones.

Moving counter-clockwise, the player drops one stone in each hole, including the player's Kalah, until all stones are placed. Players may not skip a hole or their own Kalah, but do not place a stone in the opponent's Kalah.

The player's turn is over when they drop their last stone into an opponent's hole or one of their own occupied holes.

If the last stone is dropped into the player's Kalah, they must move again.

If the last stone is dropped into an empty hole owned by the player, they capture all stones of the opposite hole together with the capturing stone and put them in their Kalah.

If the opposite hole is empty, nothing is captured, and the players turn is over.

Ending the Game

There are two ways to end the game in Kalah:

1. When a player, at their turn, is unable to move, because they no longer have any stones in any of their holes. The remaining stones are captured by their opponent. The game is over and the player with the most stones in their Kalah is declared the winner.

-OR-

2. When during gameplay, a player captures more than half of the stones on the board into their Kalah. This player wins and the game is over.

Variants

Pie rule

Once the first player's turn is over, the second player may choose to take their turn as normal or claim the opponent's move and position by changing sides of the board.

Empty Capture

This variant permits a player to capture their final stone dropped during a move, when it's dropped into one their own empty holes, even when the opposite hole of the opponent is empty.

Number of Starting Stones

This variant allows a game to start with 3, 4, 5 or 6 stones in each of the 12 holes.

Other Variations

There are several other variations of this game which are not available on BGA such as:

• No capture

• Placing stones in both Kalahs

• Self capture by placing stones in an opponent's empty hole

• No counters in the holes to indicate the number on stones in them.