Awithlaknan Mosona

Alternate NamesKolowis Awithlaknannai, Serpent Fight, Stones Kill Serpents, Fighting SerpentsNo. of PlayersTwoEquipmentAn Awithlaknan Mosona board and twelve each of black and white counters are required for play.

History

This game and its similar relative, Kolowis Awithlaknannai, are played by the Zuni Indians of New Mexico. The games seem to be from the Alquerque family of jump and capture games and were probably introduced to the Indians by the Spanish Conquistadors centuries ago.

Objective

The goal is to capture all of the opponent’s counters, the first player to achieve this being the winner. A player may also win by blocking any legal move by his opponent. If it is agreed that a draw seems imminent, the player with more counters may declare victory.

Play

Counters are placed at all the intersections except the middle one, as above. Alternate turns between players entail a move along a line to any neighboring vacant intersection in any direction or a short jump over an opponent’s counter(s) in a straight line to a vacant intersection beside the counter being jumped. Counters are captured by being jumped over and are then removed from the board. Double or multiple captures in one move are permitted and direction may be changed after each enemy counter has been jumped. On any turn that it is possible to take an opponent’s counter it is compulsory to do so. If a player does not make the compulsory capture on their turn by failing to notice it, their opponent may then remove that counter as a bonus before their next move.

Variations

Kolowis Awithlaknannai is a very similar but more complex game also played by the Zuñi Indians. The above board is constructed of eight lozenges side by side and is the most common. The game, however, could be played on a board constructed of any even number of lozenges provided that the central point is vacant at the start of the game.

Sources

1. Pentagames. Compiled by Pentagram. 1990. Fireside, Simon & Schuster Inc. ISBN 0-671-72529-7.

2. http://www.xtec.cat/~fmarti58/reciclajoc/interficiejocstaula/saltaricapturar/awithlaknannai.htm