How to play
Toguz Korgool (“nine droppings”), also called Toguz Kumalak in Kazakhstan and Dokuz Korgol in Turkish, is an old Turkic strategy game of the mancala family, played by shepherds of the steppe. It sits on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage together with Turkey’s Mangala.
The board has two rows of nine pits and a store (kazan) for each player. Every pit starts with nine stones: 162 in all. Your pits are the bottom row, your store is on the right; you move first. Sowing goes counterclockwise.
Your move. Pick one of your pits. Take all its stones, drop the first one back into the same pit and then one into each following pit, going round to the computer’s side and back again if there are many. Stores are skipped. If the pit holds a single stone, it moves into the next pit.
Capturing. If your last stone lands in one of the computer’s pits and leaves an even number of stones there, you capture them all into your store.
Tuzdyk. If your last stone lands in one of the computer’s pits and leaves exactly three stones there, that pit becomes your tuzdyk: you take the three stones, and every stone that lands in that pit for the rest of the game goes into your store. Tuzdyks are marked with a cross. There are three limits:
- each player can make only one tuzdyk per game;
- the opponent’s ninth (rightmost) pit can’t become a tuzdyk;
- you can’t make a tuzdyk in the pit that matches the opponent’s tuzdyk on your side (same position counting from each player’s left).
Nobody sows from a tuzdyk.
The end. When the player to move has no stones to sow, the game ends and the stones still in each row go to that row’s owner. The player with more stones wins. 81 each is a draw.
Tap one of your pits to sow it. Choose Easy, Medium or Hard at the top; Hint shows a good move and Undo takes back your last move with the computer’s answer.
Strategy
- Count before you sow. A pit with n stones ends n - 1 pits further on (n = 1 moves one pit). Look for moves that end on an odd pile on the computer’s side: your stone makes it even.
- Make a tuzdyk early. It collects stones for the rest of the game, so a tuzdyk made in the opening is worth far more than one made near the end.
- Watch the computer’s threes. Before moving, check which of its pits you could turn into three, and which of yours it could.
- Big pits travel. A pit with 20 or more stones goes all the way round, so count carefully: it drops stones in every pit, including your own.
- 82 wins. With 162 stones in play, a store of 82 can’t be caught.
If you enjoy Toguz Korgool, try Tombala or Turkish Draughts next.
