Ali Guli Mane


Ali Guli Mane is an abstract strategy board game of the mancala family, from Karnataka in South India. It is known as Chenne Mane in Tulunaadu Akal Patta in North Karnataka. The name of the game, like that of many mancala games across the world, is simply a description of the board used: it means a "wooden block with holes". It is similar to Pallanguzhi from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. There are also similarities with the traditional Malay mancala game Congkak.

Initial setup

Ali Guli Mane uses two rows of 7 holes each. Each player "owns" the row of holes closest to him/her. The game starts with 70 pieces, with 5, 7 or 12 in each hole.

Turns

In each turn, the player removes all seeds from a hole and distributes them clockwise or anti-clockwise, at his or her own choice. This sowing is done sequentially but the principle is slightly different from that used in a game like Pallanguzhi. Once the last of the seeds is placed, the player take all the seeds in the next hole and continues placing them in this way.
If the next hole is empty (transl|tcy|saada

Multiple matches

Ali Guli Mane is often played as the Congkak, following the first game with new matches handicapped. The players arrange in their own part the seeds that they have captured. The player who has won more seeds, having an excess, can fill his or her holes with 5 seeds each, holding aside the additional seeds as "already captured". The other player fills as many holes with 5 seeds as possible, holding as "already captured" any remaining seeds not sufficient to fill a hole. All holes left empty will be marked in some way to remember that they are "protected" holes, and they will not be used in the new game.