House That JAK Built
"Game Don't Stop"
- Fragrances By JAK
- Oldest Game in The World
Shax
Shax is the Somali version of the game which finds its roots in antiquity and is well known through tribal tradition.
Shax is played with 12 pieces per player and is played on the 9 Men’s Morris board (3 squares and no diagonals).
Shax is played in two phases
• The placement phase
• The movement phase
The placement phase
• Each player takes a turn placing a piece on any unoccupied corner or intersection on the board.
• The players try to locate their pieces in a way that will be to their strategic advantage in the second phase of the game.
• While placing their pieces each player also aims to be the first to place three in a row, on any part of the board (no diagonals). This is called a jare.
• No pieces are removed during this phase of the game.
• In constructing a jare players must be careful not to score a jare at the expense of poor deployment of pieces badly affecting the future outcome of the game.
The movement phase
• When both players have placed all of their pieces on the board the player who made the first jare has the right to remove one piece belonging to the other player, from anywhere on the board.
• The other player then removes one of his opponent’s pieces without regard to his having made a jare.
• If no jare was made during the first phase of the game the 2nd player makes the first removal and then the original 1st player makes his removal of an opponent’s piece.
• The 1st player of the 2nd phase then takes the first turn to move one his pieces to any adjacent empty space that has now been created.
• Each player then tries by such moves, in turn, to establish a new jare.
• Each time a new jare is established the maker has the right at that time to remove one of his opponent’s pieces from anywhere on the board.
• If a player is unable to move, the besieged player demands a way out: “jid i sii aan jar aheyn” (give me a way without jare).
• The besieger is bound to open up a space by moving one of his pieces without scoring a jare.
• If such a move happens to result in the besieger scoring a jare, that player is not allowed to exercise his normal right to remove one of his opponent’s pieces from the board. Oodan (closed) is the term used to describe this situation.
• Play continues until one player has removed all but two of the opponent’s pieces from the board or a player forfeits.
Variations:
• One variation is played on a board with two squares (6 Men’s Morris board) and 8 pieces per player.
• A second variation (Jare) is played among the young using 1 square [3 x 3 board and the center position (3 Men’s Morris board)] and three pieces. First to achieve 3 in a row wins.
(See http://www.jidwaq.netfirms.ca/somalis/shax.htm for more information on Shax.)
Shax is the Somali version of the game which finds its roots in antiquity and is well known through tribal tradition.
Shax is played with 12 pieces per player and is played on the 9 Men’s Morris board (3 squares and no diagonals).
Shax is played in two phases
• The placement phase
• The movement phase
The placement phase
• Each player takes a turn placing a piece on any unoccupied corner or intersection on the board.
• The players try to locate their pieces in a way that will be to their strategic advantage in the second phase of the game.
• While placing their pieces each player also aims to be the first to place three in a row, on any part of the board (no diagonals). This is called a jare.
• No pieces are removed during this phase of the game.
• In constructing a jare players must be careful not to score a jare at the expense of poor deployment of pieces badly affecting the future outcome of the game.
The movement phase
• When both players have placed all of their pieces on the board the player who made the first jare has the right to remove one piece belonging to the other player, from anywhere on the board.
• The other player then removes one of his opponent’s pieces without regard to his having made a jare.
• If no jare was made during the first phase of the game the 2nd player makes the first removal and then the original 1st player makes his removal of an opponent’s piece.
• The 1st player of the 2nd phase then takes the first turn to move one his pieces to any adjacent empty space that has now been created.
• Each player then tries by such moves, in turn, to establish a new jare.
• Each time a new jare is established the maker has the right at that time to remove one of his opponent’s pieces from anywhere on the board.
• If a player is unable to move, the besieged player demands a way out: “jid i sii aan jar aheyn” (give me a way without jare).
• The besieger is bound to open up a space by moving one of his pieces without scoring a jare.
• If such a move happens to result in the besieger scoring a jare, that player is not allowed to exercise his normal right to remove one of his opponent’s pieces from the board. Oodan (closed) is the term used to describe this situation.
• Play continues until one player has removed all but two of the opponent’s pieces from the board or a player forfeits.
Variations:
• One variation is played on a board with two squares (6 Men’s Morris board) and 8 pieces per player.
• A second variation (Jare) is played among the young using 1 square [3 x 3 board and the center position (3 Men’s Morris board)] and three pieces. First to achieve 3 in a row wins.
(See http://www.jidwaq.netfirms.ca/somalis/shax.htm for more information on Shax.)
