Bestemshe is a two-player mancala game from Kazakhstan, a compact form of togyz kumalak. The board has 10 holes called otau (5 per player) and 2 stores called kazan, and the game uses 50 stones (kumalak). When you move, one stone stays in the hole and the rest are sown one by one. If your last stone makes an even number in an opponent’s hole, you capture it. The first to collect 26 stones wins.
Below are the rules step by step, with board diagrams and a sample opening. The 9qum engine plays by exactly these rules, which follow the federation’s handbook “Bestemshe sözdigi men erejeleri” (Astana, 2025).
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The board has two rows of five holes. Your row is the bottom one, numbered 1 to 5 from left to right; your opponent’s hole 1 is top right. Captured stones go to each player’s kazan. At the start every hole holds 5 stones.
| Opponent (second player) — holes 5…1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Opponent’s kazan: 0 · Your kazan: 0 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| You (first player) — holes 1…5 | ||||
In Kazakh the player who moves first is called bastaushy, and the second player is qostaushy. Decide who starts by agreement or by drawing lots.
Move from any non-empty hole in your row. Take all its stones, put one back, and sow the rest one per hole counter-clockwise: right along your row, then leftwards through your opponent’s row from their hole 1.
Only the last stone matters. If it lands in an opponent’s hole and the count there becomes even — 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on — the whole hole goes to your kazan.
The first player moves from hole 3: one stone stays, four go into holes 4 and 5 and the opponent’s holes 1 and 2. The opponent’s hole 2 now has 6, an even number, so all six are captured.
| Opponent (second player) — holes 5…1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Opponent’s kazan: 0 · Your kazan: 6 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| You (first player) — holes 1…5 | ||||
The second player answers from their own hole 3 in the same way and captures six from the first player’s hole 2. The score is 6:6.
| Opponent (second player) — holes 5…1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Opponent’s kazan: 6 · Your kazan: 6 | ||||
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| You (first player) — holes 1…5 | ||||
From the start, four of the five possible moves capture, so always check your opponent’s reply too.
Atsyrau is the rule that ends the game. If after any move one player has no stones left in their row, the game is over, and the player who still has stones takes everything left on the board.
It works both ways: capture your opponent’s last stone and the rest of the board is yours, but empty your own row and they take it all.
There are 50 stones in the game. You win as soon as your kazan holds more than half of them, that is 26. If the game ends after atsyrau with 25 each, it is a draw.
| Bestemshe | Togyz kumalak | |
|---|---|---|
| Holes per player | 5 | 9 |
| Stones | 50 (5 per hole) | 162 (9 per hole) |
| To win | 26 | 82 |
| Tuzdyk | no | yes |
| Move | one stone stays in the hole | the same |
| Capture | even number in an opponent’s hole | the same, plus tuzdyk |
Togyz kumalak is the natural next step: moves and captures are the same, plus the tuzdyk. See how to play togyz kumalak.
| Kazakh | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| otau | hole, pit | one of the 5 holes in each player’s row |
| qazan (kazan) | store | where captured stones are kept |
| qumalaq (kumalak) | stone, ball | a playing piece; there are 50 |
| bastaushy | first player | the player who moves first |
| qostaushy | second player | the player who moves second |
| utu | capture | taking an opponent’s hole with an even count |
| atsyrau | atsyrau | the game ends when one row is empty |
Other spellings: bestemshi, bestemse, bestemşe.
Bes means “five” in Kazakh, and the name echoes the key number of the game: five holes per player and five stones per hole. Short rules and quick games make it a first step for children before togyz kumalak.
Do not confuse it with bes tas (“five stones”), a different Kazakh game of tossing and catching pebbles.
You need 26 of the 50 stones, more than half. The game ends the moment a player reaches 26; a 25:25 finish after atsyrau is a draw.
Atsyrau is the end-of-game rule. If after a move one player has no stones left in their row, the game ends and the player who still has stones takes every stone left on the board. It can win you the game, or lose it if your own row runs empty.
No. Bestemshe has no tuzdyk. Stones are captured in only two ways: when your last stone makes an even number in an opponent’s hole, and through atsyrau. The tuzdyk belongs to togyz kumalak and is easy to learn once bestemshe is familiar.
Descriptions come from different sources, and some describe the endgame or atsyrau differently. The rules on 9qum follow the federation’s handbook “Bestemshe sözdigi men erejeleri” (Astana, 2025). When playing friends offline, agree on the rules first.
Children can start from about five years old: five holes each and one capture rule. Short games keep young players focused. Coach mode and the Novice level make the first games easier.
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