Surakarta

How to play Surakarta?

Surakarta is a board game named after the city of Surakarta (Solo) on the Indonesian island of Java. Pieces can slide one square in any direction, but the TAKE occurs only on special ring lines that "go around" the edges of the board at the corners—giving the game surprise, long-distance captures you don't see in other types of checkers.

1. Each player starts with 12 tiles arranged in 2 rows on their side of the board; The middle 2 rows are empty.
2. A piece can move one square in any direction (horizontally, vertically, diagonally) as long as it is empty.
3. EATING is different: only tiles on special "ring" lines are eaten by sliding along that line and hitting the FIRST opponent tile in the path.
4. IMPORTANT: The bait move must go around at least one CORNER of the ring until it reaches the target — a move made in the same straight row without touching the corner does not count as a bait.
5. The 4 points in the middle do not belong to any ring - the piece that goes there is safe, it cannot be defeated.
6. You win if you capture all 12 of your opponent's tiles. If no one has any moves left, the one with the most pieces on the board wins.

Surakarta strategy tips

• The rows and columns where the rings touch the board are attack lines; Protect your pieces on these lines.
• Placing a piece in front of the ring line cuts off the opponent's long-range attack in a single move.
• Before eating, check whether the location of the stone you eat is open to your opponent's ring attack.

Surakarta history

Surakarta is a strategy game named after the city of Surakarta on the Indonesian island of Java. The inner and outer rings running around the corners of the 6x6 board are the most distinctive feature of the game.

Pieces normally move one square; but for food, long journeys are made through the rings, and this journey must pass through at least one corner ring. This unique mechanic engages spatial thinking in a very powerful way.

Other names: Surakarta game, ring game