Fanorona

How to play Fanorona

Not from the book. Fanorona is the game of Madagascar, played by the Merina kings and still everywhere on the island; legend has it that Prince Andriantompokoindrindra lost the throne to his brother Andrianjaka over a hard position. The rules follow the common account (Wikipedia, the Ludii library and Bell).

From the sources

• Nine by five points on alquerque lines: the diagonals run only through every second point, the strong points, where the lines cross. Twenty-two pieces each fill every point but the centre.
• White moves first. A move is one step along a line to an empty neighbouring point.
• Capture by approach: the piece steps towards an enemy piece standing on the next point in the same line, and that piece is taken, with every enemy piece standing in line behind it without a gap.
• Capture by withdrawal: the piece steps directly away from an enemy piece next to it, and that piece is taken, with the line behind it.
• One step cannot capture both ways: when it could, the player chooses approach or withdrawal.
• Capturing is compulsory. A plain step — a paika move — is allowed only when no capture is open.
• A piece that has captured may go on capturing in the same turn, but never to a point it has already stood on this turn, and never in the direction it has just moved. Going on is the player's choice.
• Whoever takes every enemy piece has won.

My choices

• The starting pattern of the middle row is the usual one — white, black, white, black, the gap, white, black, white, black — so the position turns into itself under a half-turn with the colours swapped.
• A capturing piece may stop at any point, since the sources say going on is optional; a side that cannot move has lost; fifty moves without a capture is a draw.
• The machine looks a few steps ahead, with a capture sequence counted step by step: pieces first, then room to move.

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