bagha chal

Bagha chal is Nepal's national game, and is translated as tiger moving game. In Nepali (the language of Nepal), 'bagh' and 'chal' respectively mean 'tiger' and 'to move'.

The board on which bagha chal is played consists of 25 interconnected points:

o---o---o---o---o
|\  |  /|\  |  /|
| \ | / | \ | / |
|  \|/  |  \|/  |
o---o---o---o---o
|  /|\  |  /|\  |
| / | \ | / | \ |
|/  |  \|/  |  \|
o---o---o---o---o
|\  |  /|\  |  /|
| \ | / | \ | / |
|  \|/  |  \|/  |
o---o---o---o---o
|  /|\  |  /|\  |
| / | \ | / | \ |
|/  |  \|/  |  \|
o---o---o---o---o

Rules

One player plays on the offensive with 4 tigers
The other plays on the defensive with 20 goats

1. The game begins with the tigers placed in the 4 corners.


2. The goat player has the first go and play alternates between goats and tigers.


3. To start with, goats are placed on the board one at a time, while the tiger player may make one move each time.


4. For one move, a tiger may move from one point to the next, or may (following the lines) jump over 1 adjacent goat, which is then removed from play.


5. The goats defend themselves by blocking the tigers from jumping any goats.


6. The tiger player wins when 5 goats have been jumped.


7. The goat player wins when the tigers are encircled by goats and have no possible moves available.

Easy to learn, yet difficult to master. Bagha chal may seem simple at a glance, but can be extremely addictive.