Rules

Bestemshe is a simplified version of Togyzqumalaq meaning 'by five'.

The game starts with 5 stones in each hole (otau). The object of the game is to capture more stones than your opponent. Since the game only has 50 stones, capturing 26 is sufficient to accomplish this.

The player who starts is known as 'Bastaushi' with the second player called 'Kostaushi'.

Gameplay

Players move alternately, where a move consists of taking stones from a hole on their side and distributing them to the other holes on the board. On a players turn, a player takes all the stones within one of their holes and distributes them anticlockwise, one by one, into the following holes. The first stone must be dropped into the hole which was just emptied, unless there was only 1 stone in the hole, in which case this stone is just put into the next hole.

If the last stone falls into a hole on the opponent's side, and this hole then contains an even number of stones, the stones are captured and added to the player's score.

Whilst these general rules of movement and capture are the same as in Togyzqumalaq, a difference in Bestemshe is that there are no tuzdiks.

Winning

If a player captures 26 (or more) stones during the game, the game ends and they are the winner. However the game is also over if a player has no moves. In this case the remaining stones on the board which have not been captured are won by the player on whose side they are on. Draws are not possible as the number of stones a player has captured will always be even.