By Hana Kotinová

RIYADH —As a participant of two Nomad games festivals held in Kyrgyzstan in 2016 and 2018, I got a chance to come to King Abdulaziz Camel Festival. It was a unique experience. At first, I was thinking about participation as a player, but after saying no, I will not have enough time for training and playing in World Championship, which follow a month after, at the end I took the arbiter job and come.

In my country I am promoting the intellectual games, I organize tournaments in them and I play them at high competitive level. I am glad that these games where shown to public at the Camel festival. They are hundreds years old, the time proved their quality. They are not only fun, they are an interesting tool to train human brains and not only that. As we say, they have power to make you a better person.

So what are these games about? Toguz korgool is coming from Kyrgyzstan, is played on wooden board, which has two rows of 9 cups, and two big cups in the center. At the beginning, you have 9 small pieces in each small cup, all together 162 pieces. You can use natural seeds, beans, small stones etc. The game is of course easier if you use something of same size, like plastic or glass balls. When it is your turn, you choose some cup from your side of board and you distribute the pieces around the board.

Starting in the cup you choose, you pick up all the pieces and then in anticlockwise direction you are putting one piece into each cup as long as you have some pieces in your hand.

When you finish, you check the cup, where you put the last piece. If this cup is on the opponent’s side of the board and there is even number of pieces, you can capture these pieces and move them to your storage – one of the two big cups. This is happening all the game and who will collect more pieces, is the winner at the end of the game.

There is no luck, if you want to win, you have to think. It has easier rules than chess, but is has equal number of combinations.

Oware is an African game. The board is similar to the one of Toguz korgool, but has less cups, just 6 instead of 9. The princip is the same, pick up pieces, distribute them and at the end sometimes you can capture. Who capture more, is the winner. One board and 48 pieces and you have fun for whole live. Expecially, if you are able to come sometimes to some tournament. Going to tournament, gives you chance to learn new things, because experience of your opponents is different. The more different opponents, the more tricks how to win you can discover.

And one day you can become the World Champion. If you are not so ambitious, you can simply have fun by playing with people from different towns or countries. I am sure the festivals like Nomad Games and Camel Festival with intellectual games as a part of them will be organized in the future on more places and I am looking forward to be there. — SG