Seega

There are at least two different boards that Seega may be played on. The game always commences with the board vacant of counters.

Alternate Names

Siga, Kharbga, Shantarad (Issaq Tribe, Somalia), Syredgé, Bub, Ufuba wa hulana

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

This game is typically played on a 5x5 square grid with black and white having twelve counters each. The game is also played on 7x7 square grid boards with twenty-four counters each, and 9x9, with forty each. Frequently in Africa, the game was played with ad hoc materials such as stones and holes made in the ground.

History

Probably African in origin, the age of the game is not known. The first mention of it in literature appears in 1889. Seega boards are found scratched on the summit of the Great Pyramid of Cheops and on fallen roofing slabs at the temple of Kurna, both in Egypt, though neither appear of ancient date. Variants of the game are known in parts of Africa including Sudan, and Somalia.

Objective

The first player to capture all but one of his opponent’s counters wins the game. If a stalemate occurs, the player with more counters may declare victory. Draws are frequent.

Play

Beginning with the board empty of counters, the game is played in two distinct phases. In the first phase, alternate turns entail the placement of two friendly counters at any vacant square, other than the center one, on the board. When all twenty-four counters have been placed, the player placing the last two commences the second phase.

In the second phase, alternate turns entail the movement of a single friendly counter to any orthogonally adjacent vacant cell, including the central one. With their movements, each player attempts to capture opposing counters by custodianship. If a counter moves into a position such that there is now an opposing counter between it and another friendly one and all three are in an uninterrupted orthogonal straight line, the opposing counter is captured and removed from the board for the rest of the game. A counter on the central cell cannot be taken, however. A single counter may make more than one capture with a single move as demonstrated below:

Here, black captures three opposing counters in a single move.

After making a capture, that player continues moving the same counter until he is not able to make any more captures. A player may move a friendly counter in between two opposing counters without being captured, since a player may only make a capture on her turn.

Strategy

Variations

Another game, also called Siga, is played on the same board and is similar but the captures are made by jump. See High Jump.

Sources

  1. Provenzo, Asterie Baker and Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. Play It Again, Historic Board Games You Can Make and Play. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981. ISBN 0-13-683367-5

  2. Pritchard, David. The Family Book of Games. Brockhampton Press, 1994. ISBN 1-86019-021-9

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

  4. Murray, H.J.R. A History of Board Games other than Chess. Oxford University Press, 1952.