Description

Songo Ewondo, often just called Songo, is played by the Ekang (also known as "Fang" or "Pangwe") in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the northwest corner of the D. R. of the Congo. It is one of the most popular mancala games.

Songo is known for its rich orature of funny stories, which were recorded by the German anthropologist Günter Tessmann (1884 - 1969) in 1907. The game is a popular mindsport in Africa. Songo competitions are held every weekend in Douala, Cameroon.

The game is promoted by the minister for culture and art and the president of the Republic of Gabon, Mr Omar Bongo Ondimba. There are plans to teach Songo at all the schools of the country. Over 200 Songo masters (called "nti") attend every year a huge tournament in Libreville.

The Songo World Championship in the village of Oyop (South Cameroon) attracts famous players from many countries. The current world champion is the Gabonese Vivi Metou. Other strong players are Endelé, Lévy Megne-Masseko, Narcisse Nguema, Davy Obiang, Ta-Ndong, Moulouma, Kamsi, Romy Nguema, Zuè Allogo, and Desiré Meba Mefame.

Rules

Songo is played on a mancala board ("mbek") of 2 x 7 holes. These holes are called "nda" ("house"). At each end there is a big store for the captured counters. Each house contains five stones called "songo" ("pebble"). A player controls the row on his side of the board.

On his turn a player distributes the contents of one of his holes, one by one, clockwise into the ensuing houses. The leftmost hole of a row may only be emptied, if if contains at least three stones unless it would be the only possible move. However, the hole may be emptied, if the move results in a capture or if the opponent has (a) nothing left in his holes and (b) it isn't possible to feed him with three or more stones.

If a hole contained 14 or more stones, it is skipped and all the player's own holes that follow. The remaining stones are only sown on the opponent's side. If the opponent has no stones left, he must be fed with at least seven stones. If this can't be done, he must get as many stones as possible.

A player must move at his turn. If the last stone falls in an opponent's hole, which contained one, two or three stones, its contents are captured together with the last stone (ie. two, three or four stones). If the previous-to-last stone also brought an opponent's house to two, three or four, these are captured as well, and so on. If 14, 21 or 28 stones were sown, only the last stone can be captured, but nothing else.

When a player has only one stone left in his row and this stone is in his leftmost hole, he captures it. If a move would captures all all an opponent's seeds, the capture is forfeited, and the seeds are instead left on the board. The game ends when a player cannot move. The stones that are still on the board are won by the player who moved last.

The player who captured most counters wins. If both players captured the same number, the game is a draw.