Oware Strategy and Tactics

As with many other board games, oware is

not a game of chance. During the course of
a game, the strongest players rely on well-
planned strategies and execute well-
known tactics with the clear purpose of
obtaining the victory. Below we explain the
basic strategy of oware and how to easily
determine which player has a better
chance of winning. Don't let them beat you
again!
Foundations of Strategy

Oware's basic strategy consists in moving the game pieces

in such a way that favorable positions for the player may be
obtained. That is, the player shall try to obtain a distribution
of the pieces on the board that makes it possible for him to
capture more seeds than the opponent in later moves.

Therefore, it is important to minimize the number of holes

that contain less than three seeds in the player's own
row, as this will decrease the chances for the opponent to
capture their seeds. At the same time, the player would
want to maximize this variable in the holes of the opponent,
so that the probability of capturing their seeds becomes
higher.

Another well-known strategy in the game is to accumulate a

large number of seeds in one of the holes belonging to the
player. A hole of this kind that contains twelve or more
seeds, so that it can be sown completing a full turn around
the board, it is called a kroo.

Collecting seeds in such large groups makes it possible for

the player to capture a huge number of seeds in a single
move (up to fifteen in oware abapa). Allowing the opponent
to perform such a capture is usually an unrecoverable
strategic mistake.

Board Evaluation

Measuring the advantage of player at a particular point in

the game is a difficult task that will depend on the
peculiarities of each position. Still, it is possible to
estimate the superiority of a player by giving a value to each
hole on the oware board. So, if a player has captured five
more seeds than his opponent, his advantage is about 10
points.

Similarly, each of the holes on the board also represent an

advantage or disadvantage for the player by the number of
seeds contained therein. This is an evaluation that can be
estimated quite easily with the following table. Keeping in
mind that it is only an approximation and that the actual
value will depend on the specific position.

Empty One seed Two seeds Kroo

4 points 3 points 3 points 2 points

For each seed the player has captured add 2 points. Add 3
points for each hole in the opponent's row containing one or
two seeds; add 4 points for each of the opponent's holes
containing no seeds and 2 extra points if the player has
accumulated over twelve seeds in any of his own holes.
After doing the same calculation from the viewpoint of the
opponent, it will be easy to know which of the two players
has an obvious advantage.

As can be seen from the table above in oware the value of a

kroo is relative. Accumulating more than twelve seeds in a
single hole is only really useful if it can be used to capture a
huge number of seeds, although since the opponent will
certainly try to avoid it at all costs its outcome will often be
only a slight strategic advantage.