Bao (mancala Game) - Rules - Capture and Sowing

Capture and Sowing

When a capture occurs, the player takes all the seed from the captured opponent's pit, and relay sows them in his or her rows. The first seed must be sown in a kichwa; if it is sown in the right kitchwa, sowing will proceed counterclockwise, while if it is sown in the left kitchwa, sowing will be clockwise. For this reason, the right kitchwa is also called "counterclockwise kitchwa" and the left one "clockwise kitchwa".

The choice of the kitchwa to sow from is initially left to the player, with a few exception. If capture has occurred in any kimbi, sowing must start from the closest kitchwa.

While the player is relay-sowing, if the last seed in any individual sowing is placed in a marker, a new capture occurs. Sowing of the captured seeds will start again from a kitchwa. In this case, it is never up to the player to choose which kitchwa to sow from, that is: if the capture occurred in a kimbi, sowing must start from the closest kitchwa, as above; otherwise, the player must preserve the current clockwise or counterclockwise direction of sowing. That is, if a capture occurs at the end of a clockwise sowing, the newly captured seeds will have to be sown starting from the clockwise kitchwa, and vice versa.

If the turn is not a mtaji turn, relay sowing, but captures will never take place: marker pits are treated just like any other pits.

In any case, the turn ends when the last seed in a sowing is dropped in an empty pit.