Mig Mang

Opening position for Mig Mang as played on the standard Go board.

Alternate Names

Ming Mang, Mi Mang, Gundru, Gun-dru. "Mig Mang" is also used to refer to the Tibetan version of the game of Go or just as a general term meaning board game. Mig Mang translates from Tibetan as “many eyes”.

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

Different game historians describe different boards used for this game:

• An unusual 16x17 square grid is likely one of the older and more traditional boards used for this game. Here each player commences with thirty-three counters of their own color arranged in all but one of the corner postions along two adjacent sides of the board.

• A 16x16 square grid, which is the traditional board used for the game of Go in Tibet. It is likely that this board just came to be used for the game when a 17x16 board was not available. Here, each player commences with thirty-two counters of their own color arranged in all but one of the corner positions along two adjacent sides of the board.

• An 18x18 square grid used for the standard modern game of Go. Again this is likely to just be an adaptation used for the board when a 16x17 or 16x16 square grid was not available. Here each player commences with thirty-six counters of their own color arranged in all but one of the corner positions along two adjacent sides of the board.

• An 8x8 square grid is an obvious choice as it is likely a common board laying around the house used for checkers or chess. Using this board, the counters may be placed at the intersection of the board or on the cells in a more western style of board game play. In these versions, each player commences with sixteen or fourteen counters of their own color, respectively, arranged in all but one of the corner positions along two adjacent sides of the board. Playing at the intersections of the 8x8 board is the same initial setup for the Tibetan game known as Gundru or Gun-dru, here described as a variant of Mig Mang.

Any of the above variations or just about any rectangular grid will work well to play the Mig Mang. No matter which board is used, an equal or lesser number of counters that a player starts with on the board will also be needed in hand at the start of the game.

Counters that are reversible, e.g. from a Reversi or Othello set, can also be utilized for the play of this game. As captured counters change to the opposing color, it is useful to simply reverse the counter when captured.

History

This game originates from Tibet. Little is known of its history, but its method of custodianship capture hints at it being a very ancient game. Its custodianship capture is also vaguely reminiscent of Reversi and may have served as an inspiration for it. It is also likely that this game is related to Go, but the question of whether it is an ancestor, descendant or cousin could probably never be demonstrably answered.

Objective

Theoretically, a game is won by reducing your opponent’s counters to one in number. Typically, however, one player gives up before that when their numbers have been reduced to far less than their opponent’s.

Play

The game commences with the counters positioned at the intersections as above. After deciding which player will go first, alternate turns entail the movement of one single friendly counter. A counter may be moved orthogonally along a line any distance along unimpeded intersections (the movement of the rook in Orthochess). Of course, no more than one counter may be at any one position on the board.

A turn may not be passed.

Capture is by custodianship. A single enemy counter or an unbroken line of enemy counters may be captured by placing a friendly counter at both ends and are then removed from the board and replaced by friendly counters. Specifically, all counters must be in a straight unbroken line with two friendly counters at either end. Any counter, however, may move between two enemy counters safely without being captured. In fact, a counter may actually make a capture by moving in between two enemy counters if another friendly counter is at the end of that formation. Also, two groups of enemy counters may be captured by the movement of one counter. Counters on the corner may not be captured.

This author has yet to see a discussion of rules pertaining to enchained custodian capture, a situation that may arise in this game. A counter or group of counters may come to have two opposing counters surround it in custodianship immediately after a custodianship capture as a result of a previously friendly counter adjacent to it now being opposing. The question then arises, "Does that counter or group of counters become captured?" The answer seems to be no, but the only proof I could find of this is in reconstructions of the game played online. It seems reasonable that the game could be played either way, allowing that enchained custodianship can make for a devastating capture in a single move and thus a much faster game. I leave this decision to the future players of this game, but say that this should be addressed before the game commences to avoid any possible conflicts.

White moves to capture the three black counters in a row, by doing so changes the middle of those three counters to white and then also has a potential enchained capture of the black counter marked A. Whether or not this type of capture should be allowed should be addressed before commencing a game.

Unscrupulous players will notice and exploit a flaw in the game’s rules. An impregnable structure may be formed which allows a player to repeatedly make the same move and avoid capture, creating a stalemate as shown below. One simple way to solve this is to give a victory to a player whose opponent makes such a structure and makes the same repetition of moves to avoid breaking it. In Orthochess, a game is a draw by repetition of the same board position three times. Here, however, a victory may be given to the player with more counters if such a situation arises.

The black counter at the corner here may repeatedly move back and forth creating a stalemate and prohibiting white from a win without a rule to make such structures illegal.

Variations

Sources