Bagh Chal

About this board game

Bagh Chal is a traditional abstract strategy game from Nepal for two players, with games taking about 20 minutes. Its name roughly translates to “Tigers Moving,” and its asymmetric design pits four tigers against twenty goats.

The game begins with all four tigers on the board and no goats. The goat player places the goats one at a time on any chosen spaces, while the tiger player receives a move between each placement. This opening phase creates an evolving contest for space before all the pieces have entered play.

Pieces move along lines between intersections, on a board that resembles a Chinese Chess board in its layout. Once every goat has been placed, players take turns moving one of their pieces one space. A tiger may also capture a goat by jumping over it in a straight line to an empty space.

• Tigers: Capture five goats to win.
• Goats: Cannot capture, but aim to surround and immobilize the tigers.
• Core tension: Tigers seek opportunities to jump, while goats build a position that removes those opportunities.

Because the two sides have different pieces and objectives, every move serves a distinct purpose. The tigers have mobility and capturing power, while the larger goat force must coordinate its placements and movements to hem them in until they have no legal move or jump.

Bagh Chal belongs to a wider family of Asian games featuring combinations of tigers, leopards, goats, cows, and related pieces on varied boards. It is also played on the same board layout as traditional Spanish Alquerque and Fanoron-Dimy, the smaller variant of Fanorona from Madagascar.