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Evidence for Choko
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.1778
Type Ethnography
Location Gambia
Date 1909-01-01 - 1909-12-31
Rules Five rows of five holes. Each player has twelve sticks; one player's sticks are longer than the other player's. Players alternate turns placing one of their sticks in an empty hole on the board. A player may, on their turn, move a stick to an empty adjacent hole in an orthogonal direction instead of placing a stick. A player captures an opponent's stick by hopping over it in an orthogonal direction to an empty hole immediately on the opposite side of the opponent's stick. A player may, during their turn, place one of the remaining unplaced sticks on the board, in which case the opponent must also place one of their reserved sticks on their following turn. The player who captures all of the opponent's pieces wins.
Content "Choko is the only form of the game found in the Gambia Valley. This game is played on sand or loose earth by the Mandinko and Fulas, on diagrams of 25 holes made with the finger;
bits of stick about five inches long called Kala , and others three inches long called Bond are used as counters. It differs slightly from the Egyptian game. The sticks are set upright in the loose soil of the holes, one at a time, by the two players alternately, and play usually
begins before the last two sticks have been put down. In that case either player may put this last stick into a hole at any stage of the game, the opponent putting down his own last
one immediately afterwards. Sometimes play is begun while each player has two or more sticks in his hand ; it may be commenced at any time. The players have only one move at a time, and capture the opponent’s sticks by jumping over them, and not by enclosing them. At each jump over the enemy’s stick they remove both that and a second stick belonging to him, selecting one that will most benefit their own play. This soon ends the game, which only lasts for a quarter of an hour or less. The winner is he who captures all his opponent’s sticks." Parker 1909: 604.
Confidence 100
Source Parker, H. 1909. Ancient Ceylon. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
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