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Evidence for Fanorona
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.661
Type Ethnography
Location Madagascar
Date 1896-01-01 - 1896-12-31
Rules 9x5 intersecting lines with diagonals. Each player has 22 pieces, starting on the intersections of the lines except in the centre position. Pieces move to an adjacent intersection along the lines. Players must capture pieces when possible. Capturing is accomplished by moving to an adjacent intersection to an opposing piece in the continuing direction of the capturing stones movement, or by moving away from an adjacent opposing pieces in such a direction. When an opponent's piece is captured, all other of the opponent's pieces in that line are also captured. Multiple captures can be made, but cannot be done by moving twice in the same direction. Multiple captures are optional. A player wins by capturing all of the other player's pieces.
Content "The fanorona board is a rectangular parallelogram, divided into 31 equal squares. Gather these, in your eye, into eight larger squares, containing four each; draw the diagonal lines in each of the eight, and the fanorona figure is complete. Forty-four movable plieces are required for the game—twenty-two on each side. With the Malagasy these are usually little pebbles and potsherds, or beans and berries. We, however, will cal then the Black and the White pieces. The two players sit opposite each other, having the long sides of the fanorona adjacent to them. The pieces are then arranged on the corners of the angle-points, not on the squares, as in chess or draught. There are five of these long lines on the board, each containing, of course, nine angle-points, and the pieces are thus arranges:
Black: First line 1.....9
Second Line 1....9
White: Fourth Line 1.....9
Fifth Line 1.....9
The third, or central line, is occupied by the eight remaining pieces, placed alternately thus:
Black 1, 3, 6, 8
White 2, 4, 7, 9
One point remains unoccupied, the central angle-point of the board, the fifth and the third line. The represents the royal seat in the public gatherings, but in the fanorona game it is called the fòibény (navel).
The object aimed at by each of the players is, as in draughts, to remove the whole of the adversary's pieces from the board...
First, that a piece may be moved in any direction—forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally, to the first station in a direction, if such station be vacant.
Second. If there be now no other vacant station between the attacking piece just moved and the enemy's piece along that line, these, whatever their number, are captured at once, as far as they stand in unbroken order on the line attacked. If, however, a vacant position occurs in their line, or another hostile piece is among them, then only the piece or pieces nearest the assailant are captured.
Thirdly. The pieces of the enemy may be captured by a retreat as well as by an advance. A piece that has been standing in an adjoining station to some piece or pieces of the enemy may capture it or them by retreating one point along that line, if such point happens to be vacant. The limitation defined immediately above applies in this case also.
Fourthly. At the beginning of a game one move only is permitted to the first side. After that side has moved once, any piece that is moved is permitted to run amuck in the enemy's lines, and to go on as long as he finds foes to capture, provided (a) that he does not return immediately to any point he has just left, and (b) that he does not take a foe behind him immediately after taking one in front of him, nor one on his right hand immediately after taking on his left hand, and vice versa. "Don't eat at both ends, like a leech," says the Malagasy proverb..." Montgomery 1896: 151-155.
Confidence 100
Source Montgomery, W. 1896. The Malagasy game of Fanorona. The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine 3: 148–157.
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