Tiger Game
Opening Position
Alternate Names
老虎棋
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
A Tiger Game board, a shown above, one tiger counter and eighteen men counters are required for play.
History
The Tiger Game is a popular pastime in China.
Objective
The objective of the men is capture the tiger by hemming him in so that he is unable to make any legal move. The tiger seeks to capture enough men to make their objective impossible, thereby winning the game.
Play
With one player controlling the men and one player controlling the tiger, alternate turns entail the movement of a single counter along a line to any vacant position on the board. The tiger may also make a short jump over a man, thereby capturing the counter and removing it from the board.
I have not seen rules clarifying which player moves first, if the tiger is allowed to make enchained jumps, or if the men are allowed to move backwards, but the folksy nature of this game means that this game has probably been played with many different rules. These are probably important rules to settle between players before any serious game play begins.
Variations
There seems to be many different board variations and opening positions that attest to the folksy nature of this game.
Sources