Pachiz is a race game played in the Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. The game was commonly played among men, at their periodic assemblages known as ziyefats.
Rules
Four 3x8 rectangles, arranged in a cross-shaped board. Four pieces (ot, or horse) per player, which begin in the central squares, the talak. Seven cowrie shells, used as dice. The throws are as follows: one mouth up = 10; two mouths up = 2; three mouths up = 3; four mouths up = 4; five mouths up = 25; six mouths up = 30; seven mouths up = 12; zero mouths up = 6. Certain throws had a value of khal, which granted a player the right to enter a piece on the board and to another throw. Pieces enter the board from the central square onto the top square of the central row in their arm, and proceed down this row, then around the board in an anti-clockwise direction, and then back to the central row of the player's arm back to the central square. When a piece lands on a space occupied by an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece is sent back to the start and must enter again. The first player to return all four of their pieces to the central space wins.
