Embedded Files
Alternate Names
Serpent Fight, Stones Kill Serpents, Fighting Serpents. Kolowisi is a mythic serpent.
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
A Kolowis Awithlaknannai board and twenty-three each of black and white counters are required for play
History
This game and its similar relative, Awithlaknan Mosona, are played by the Zuñi 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. Kolowisi is a mythic serpent.
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 and two ends, as above. Alternate turns between players entail a move along a line to any neighboring vacant intersection in any direction or a 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 huff (remove) that counter as a bonus before their next move.
Variations
Awithlaknan Mosona is a very similar but simpler game also played by the Zuni Indians. Notice, however, that there are an additional two horizontal lines that pieces may be moved along in Kolowis Awithlaknannai. One variant of this game entails each player starting with 24 counters. This allows only one vacant intersection at the opening of the game.
Sources
Pritchard, David. The Family Book of Games. Brockhampton Press, 1994. ISBN 1-86019-021-9
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse