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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 Philmon Kossa, Isaac Masauli, Bright Mkanda, Isaac Selemani, and Gilos Chitsulo. The winner of the national Bawo League, which sponsored by Lorex Kapanga receives 35 000K (about 230 US Dollars) and a trophy, which is a lot in a country with a per capita income of 69.5 US Dollars per month (in 2009). According to Paul Smith 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 a few differences.

General differences

  • Initially there are eight seeds in each nyumba, which is called kuu in Malawi, and only 20 seeds are kept in reserve. Also, the kuu must have at least eight seeds to be considered a functioning kuu.
Bawo1

Initial Position

  • If a player feels that a takata move isn't going to end naturally, he may announce that it might be a never-ending move and stop after the current lap.
  • It is permitted to sow the contents of the kichwa to the back row, even if it is the only occupied hole of the front row, but it would result in immediate defeat.

Differences related to the first stage of the game

  • Before the first stage begins, there is a special opening gambit played by each player in their first turn: The first player empties his holes containing two seeds, adds another seed to them from his reserve (called nemo in Bawo), and then places these five as desired in any of the 16 holes on his side without sowing them. The second player does the same to get five seeds for the gambit, but also adds to them all the opponent's seeds, which are opposite to his occupied holes in the opponent's front row and are thus captured.
  • Nemo may only be added to singletons in a takata (non-capturing) move, if all holes of the front row outside the kuu contain at most a single seed.
  • If the only occupied hole in the front row is the kuu, the kuu has exactly eight seeds and nothing can be captured, a seed is put into the kuu, then its contents (i.e. all nine seeds) are lifted and sown in either direction.
  • The contents of the opponent's kuu can only be captured by placing a nemo in the opposite hole, if the own kuu is not threatened (i.e. the hole opposite to the own kuu must be empty).

Differences related to the second stage of the game

  • If there is still a (functional) kuu, it must be moved on the player's first non-capturing move or even before, if sowing its contents would result in a capture.

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.


Copyright

© Ralf Gering
Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license.

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