English

The combinatorics of Mancala-type games: Ayo, Tchoukaitlon, and 1/pi

Combinatorics 2009-09-25 v1

Abstract

Certain endgame considerations in the two-player Nigerian Mancala-type game Ayo can be identified with the problem of finding winning positions in the solitaire game Tchoukaitlon. The periodicity of the pit occupancies in ss stone winning positions is determined. Given nn pits, the number of stones in a winning position is found to be asymptotically bounded by n2/πn^{2}/\pi.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/9502225,
  title  = {The combinatorics of Mancala-type games: Ayo, Tchoukaitlon, and 1/pi},
  author = {Duane M. Broline and Daniel E. Loeb},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/9502225},
  year   = {2009}
}