Changes: Bawo

Revision as of 08:24, 16 November 2010

Bawo

First Description: (?), 1896

Cycles: Two

Ranks: Four

Sowing: Multiple laps

Region: Malawi

Bawo (from Swahili "bao": board) is a variant of Bao la Kiswahili played by the Yao in Malawi as a tournament sport.

The oldest Bawo board was made in 1896 in Malawi and is kept today in the British Museum in London.

Regular championships are held at district, regional and national levels in numerous places in Malawi such as Blantyre, Chirimba, and Mzuzu City. Leading players are Isaac Masauli and Gilos Chitsulo. It is said that there had already been a national Bawo league sponsored by South African Airways in the 1990s.

Rules

The Bawo rules are similar to Bao la Kiswahili except for the following differences:

Initially there are eight seeds in each nyumba, which is called kuu in Malawi and only 20 seeds are kept in reserve.

There is a special opening gambit: In their first turn each player empties their holes containing two seeds add another seed from their reserve, and then place these five as desired in any of the 16 holes on the player's side without sowing them. The second player, however, adds to them also (in fact captures) all the seeds, which are opposite to his occupied holes in the opponent's inner row.

Bawo Poem

A Game of Bawo

Take your cue from a game of Bawo
where sides at the edge of doom
are best conceded as losses
and easy withdrawal
leads to stunning victories

Springs hot and cold, dry up;
flowers bloom and fade
and trees at times shed their leaves and their barks
neither recall the bloom
nor visit springs that once gushed waters -
memories are sweetest unruffled by daylight and
forced ceremonies stink worst than rudeness

This meticulous insouciance
these decoys made in heaven
follow a standard design
with familiar specifications

Take you cue from a game of Bawo;
neither recall the bloom of flowers
nor the showers of spring.

Felix Mnthali (1933-)

External Links

References

Kayira, K.: James: A Bawo Wizard. In: Together: A Youth Magazine 2006 (39).
Mapanje, J.: Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing. Heinemann International, London (UK) 2002.
Mmeya, M.: Bawo Enthusiasts End Year at Shrine. In: The Nation December 4, 2009.
Singini, G.: Kasambara Launches Bawo Trophy in Mzuzu. In: The Nation March 16, 2009: 43.

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 * Initially there are eight seeds in each ''nyumba'', which is called ''kuu'' in Malawi and only 20 seeds are kept in reserve.
+[[Image:Bawo1.jpg|thumb|240px|Initial Position]]
+* There is a special opening gambit: In their first turn each player empties their [[hole]]s containing two seeds add another seed from their reserve, and then place these five as desired in any of the 16 holes on the player's side without [[sowing (game mechanism)|sowing]] them. The second player, however, adds to them also (in fact captures) all the seeds, which are opposite to his occupied holes in the opponent's inner row.
 ==Bawo Poem==