Mahbooseh Rules

Mahbooseh is one of the oldest and most popular board games in the Arab world. Winning requires strategy, careful planning, and a little luck.

The game is played on a board divided into four sections, with six points in each section. Each player begins with 15 checkers. One player uses the white checkers and the other uses the black checkers; the colors only distinguish the two sides.

Your goal is to move all your checkers from their starting position, around the board, and into the final section of your track, where you bear them off. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins, unless the game ends earlier through the special holding-the-checker rule described below.

Setup

Before the game begins, each player places all 15 checkers on their starting point. Each player moves in the opposite direction to the other, following their track into their final, bearing-off section.

Starting the Game

Each player rolls one die. The player with the higher roll goes first. If both players roll the same number, they roll again. The app handles this automatically at the beginning of the game.

Moving the Checkers

At the beginning of each turn, roll both dice. The numbers rolled determine how far you can move your checkers.

You may move one checker for each die or move a single checker using the combined value of both dice, provided each step is legal.

A checker may move to:

• An empty point.
• A point occupied by your own checkers.
• A point occupied by only one opposing checker, allowing you to trap it.

Doubles

When both dice show the same number, you have rolled doubles and receive four moves of that number. For example, rolling two fives allows you to make four moves of five points instead of two.

Trapping an Opponent’s Checker

If a point contains only one opposing checker, you may land on that point and trap it. This is a central part of the game and the reason it is called Mahbooseh. Trapping your opponent’s checkers near your home section can increase your chances of winning.

A trapped checker stays on the board and cannot move until the opponent has moved all of their checkers off it. A point containing two or more checkers of the same color is safe and cannot be trapped.

Bearing Off

You may begin bearing off only after all your checkers have reached the final section of your track. Points in this section are numbered 1 to 6 from the bearing-off edge.

• Use a die matching the point occupied by the checker you want to bear off. For example, a 4 allows you to bear off a checker from point 4.
• If that point is empty but you still have checkers on higher-numbered points, use the die for a legal move within the final section. An empty matching point alone does not allow you to bear off a checker from a lower point.
• If the die is higher than your highest occupied point, you may bear off a checker from that highest occupied point. For example, if your highest occupied point is 3 and you roll a 5, you may bear off a checker from point 3.
• You may choose a legal move within the final section instead of bearing off.

Special Rules

You cannot bear off while one of your checkers in the final section is trapped by an opposing checker that has fallen behind.

In the special case called holding the checker (مسك الحجر), the game ends when a player traps the opponent’s last remaining checker on its starting point, before that checker has left the start. The player who traps it wins immediately, without having to bear off all their checkers. This refers to the last checker still on the starting point, not any lone opposing checker elsewhere on the board.