Pretwa


Pretwa is a two-player abstract strategy game from Bihar, India, and it was described by H.J.R. Murray in A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess. The game is related to draughts and Alquerque as pieces are captured by leaping over them. The board is composed of three concentric circles divided by three diameters. Pretwa belongs to a category of games called Indian war games, which also includes the games Lau kata kati, Dash-guti, Egara-guti, Gol-skuish. All Indian war games have one important thing in common, and that is that all the pieces are laid out on the board at every intersection point, with the exception of the central point. This forces the first move to be played on the central point, and captured by the other player's piece.
Pretwa is a smaller version of the game Gol-skuish.

Setup

The board consist of three concentric circles divided by three diameters that are equally spaced apart from one another. This produces 19 intersection points. The intersection of the three diameters forms the central point of the board. Pieces are situated on the points, and move and capture along the lines of the board.
Each player has 9 pieces. One plays the black pieces, and the other plays the white pieces, however any two colors or distinguishable objects will do. Players choose which color to play, and who starts first.
As indicated by the diagram, each player initially places their 9 pieces on three consecutive radiuses leaving the central point vacant.

Rules

, Lau kata kati, Dash-guti, Egara-guti, Butterfly, Draughts, Alquerque