Toğızqumalaq Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Glossary
• 1. Rules of Toğızqumalaq
  • 1.1. Nature of the game
  • 1.2. Object of the game
  • 1.3. Explanation of moves
  • 1.4. Declaring a "tuzdyq" (salt)
  • 1.5. The "atsyrau" situation
  • 1.6. Recording the game

Glossary

• Toğızqumalaq board – a special board made of 18 vertical houses and 2 horizontal stores (kazan), divided into two equal parts.
• Kumalaq (stone) – the ball-shaped stone used in the game.
• Otau (house) – a special cell on the board in which the stones are placed.
• Kazan (store) – the horizontal store into which captured stones are placed.
• Bastaushy (starter) – the player who makes the first move of the game.
• Qostaushy (responder) – the player who makes the reply move after the starter.
• Art – the name of the first house.
• Tekturmas – the name of the second house.
• At ötpes – the name of the third house.
• Atsyratar – the name of the fourth house.
• Bel – the name of the fifth house.
• Belbasar – the name of the sixth house.
• Qandyqaqpan – the name of the seventh house.

1. Rules of Toğızqumalaq

1.1. Nature of the game

1. The game is played mainly between two players. The player who starts the game is called the starter (bastaushy), and the opponent is called the responder (qostaushy). The starting player is determined by lot or by rating indicators. The opponents make their moves alternately.

2. The game is played on a special board called the "Toğızqumalaq board" (Figure 1). Ball-shaped stones (kumalaks) are used. The board consists of eighteen vertical houses and two horizontal stores, divided into two equal parts. Each of the two equal parts has nine houses and one store.

Each player collects the stones they have won into this store. Each player's store is located not on their own side but on the opponent's side. The houses are numbered from 1 to 9, from left to right. At the start of the game each house contains 9 stones, so that each player's side holds 81 stones and a total of 162 stones take part in the game.

3. The placement of the stones in the houses before the game begins is shown in the diagram below (Diagram No. 1). Each of the eighteen houses contains 9 stones.

1.2. Object of the game

1. The object of the game is for a player to win by collecting at least 82 stones in their own store.

1.3. Explanation of moves

1. To make a move, the starting player takes all the stones from one of the houses on their own side, leaves one stone in that house, and distributes the rest one by one into the following houses, starting from the next house to the right (in the direction counter-clockwise).

2. If the last stone falls into an opponent's house that contains an odd number of stones and makes it even (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and so on), the stones in that house are captured and placed into the player's own store. If the last stone falls into an opponent's house and makes it odd, or if the last stone comes back into one of the player's own houses, the move is considered unsuccessful or an ordinary move. In that case no stones are captured. A house containing an even number of stones is called a "closed house" (jabyq otau), and a house containing an odd number of stones is called an "open house" (ashyq otau).

3. During the game a player may move one stone from a house into the next house. The house is then left empty.

4. In the classical game, a player who has picked up the stones from a house at the start of their turn must make the move from that house. Stones lying in a house are straightened and arranged with a pointer stick (qalamsap). To arrange the stones in a house by hand, the player must first warn the opponent by saying "I am adjusting" (tüzeimin). If a player arranges stones by hand without giving this warning, a referee gives a warning to that player, but the player is not obliged to move from that house. A player arranges the stones lying in a house with the pointer stick only at the moment when it is their turn to move. Players who cause disputes are entered on a special list.

5. Moves alternate. The game continues until one of the two players has collected 82 stones.

1.4. Declaring a "tuzdyq" (salt)

1. If, when making a move, the last stone falls into any house of the opponent's side that contains 2 stones, other than house No. 9, then that house is captured together with the 3 stones formed in it, and a "tuzdyq" is declared.

2. A house from which a tuzdyq has been taken is marked only with a special tuzdyq sign approved by the Republican Toguz Kumalak Sport Federation, or approved by the Chief Referee Board of the given competition. Each time a move is made, the stones that fall into the tuzdyq must be placed into the store of the player who declared it.

3. During the game a tuzdyq may be taken only once. A tuzdyq is not taken from the house whose number matches the number of the opponent's house that holds a tuzdyq, and it is not taken from house No. 9.

4. It is forbidden to place stones into a house from which a tuzdyq has been taken.

1.5. The "atsyrau" situation

1. As the game approaches its end, the stones in the players' houses begin to run out. The player whose moves run out first, and who is left without a move, is considered to be in the "atsyrau" situation. The opponent of that player makes one additional move and places all the stones remaining in their own houses into their own store. After that, the players count the stones they have won.

2. If the player in the "atsyrau" situation has collected at least 82 stones in their store, that player wins. If the number of stones in their store is less than 81, that player loses. If the number of stones is 81, the game is considered a draw.

1.6. Recording the game

1. The players record the course of each round's game on special score sheets (Competition documents, Appendix 1). The moves written on the score sheets must be clear and legible.

2. The following symbols are used to record moves:

• : – successful move
• - – unsuccessful move
• Х – tuzdyq sign
• = – offer of a draw

3. Two forms of recording are used: the short form and the full form.

In the short form, the following are written:

• the sequential number of the move;
• the number of the house from which the move is made;
• the number of the house where the last stone fell.

Examples (as printed in the source):

1.76 (10)    9-8
2.6-6        8:7 (4)

In the full form, the following are written:

• the number of the house from which the stones are moved;
• the number of stones in that house;
• the number of the house where the last stone falls;
• the number of stones in that house;
• the symbol Х if a tuzdyq is taken;
• a colon (:) for a successful move, and a dash (-) for an ordinary move;
• an exclamation mark (!) for a strong move;
• a question mark (?) for a mistaken move.

Examples (as printed in the source):

1.79:610     79:610
2.510-511    910:912
3.111:212    810:814
4.213:512    92:13Х
5.92:114!

4. The players write on the score sheets the name of the competition, the dates of the competition, the round number, the opponent and the table on which they played, and the result of the game, and then sign the sheet. During the game the score sheets must lie where the referee can see them at any time, and a player may not fold the score sheets to suit themselves.

5. A proposal of a draw made in a game is marked by both players with the symbol (=) on their score sheets.

6. The score sheets are considered the property of the organisers of the competition.