MancalaGames/List: Tournaments

List of Mancala Tournaments

Mancala can be played in a competitive manner, as a mindsport like Chess, Shogi, Xiang Qi, Go, Renju or Draughts. Every year hundreds of tournaments are organized throughout the world. Mancala masters achieve an extraordinary knowledge in many games and thus demonstrate the outstanding beauty and unfathomable depth of Mancala.

Game	Tournaments	Leading Players	Notes
Oware	Andorra (Andorra-la-Vella); Antigua & Barbuda (Johnson's Point, St. John's); Austria (Vienna); Barbados (Speightstown); Belgium (Antwerp); Burkina Faso (?); Canada (London ON), Czech Republic (Prague); France (Cannes, Hellemes, Le Bourg, Le Pradet, Lille/Rijsel, Paris, Toulouse); Ghana (Accra, Kumasi); Ireland (Dublin); Italy (Bari, Pisa); Ivory Coast (Abidjan); Netherlands (Amsterdam), Portugal (Leiria, Batalha); Slovenia (Ljubljana / Laibach); Spain (Barcelona); Switzerland (La-Tour-de-Peiltz); Togo (?); UK (Cambridge, Canterbury, London, Manchester, Oxford)	Ibrahim Abubakar ("Oware Killer"), Kwaku Solomon, Trevor Simon, September Christian, Pumpkin Lewis	The most popular Mancala game; discipline of the Mindsports Olympiad (MSO) since 2001; International Oware Society based in London (UK).
Songo ewondo	Cameroon (Douala, Oyop), Gabon (Franceville, Libreville, Oyem); France (Lille/Rijsel)	Vivi Metou, Lévy Megne-Masseko, Meba Mefame, Narcisse Nguema	Masters are called "Nti"; more than 50 tournaments each year; promoted by the Gabonese Culture & Arts Ministry
Kiothi	Kenya (Meru)	(?)	Last report in 1972; the current status of the Kiothi Club in Meru is unknown.
Gebeta	Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)	(?)	Discipline of the annual traditional sports competition organized by the Addis Ababa Traditional Sports Federation.
Bao	Malawi (?); Kenya (Lamu); Tanzania (Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar); UK (Cambridge)	Abdulrahim Muhiddin Foum, Masaoud Hassan Ali ("Kijoumbe"), Ali Maulid Hussein ("Maulidi")	16 member clubs of the Chama cha Bao ("Bao Society") on Zanzibar; discipline of the Mindsports Olympiad (MSO) in 2002; masters are called Fundi (about 10 on Zanzibar).
Omweso	Uganda (Kampala); UK (Cambridge, London)	Hudson Kyagaba, Mwodha Fredrick, Twaha Tinkamanyire	Discipline of the Mindsports Olympiad (MSO) in 2000-2003; National Game of Uganda; International Omweso Society in London (UK).
Kiela	Angola (Luanda)	(?)	Promoted by Bernardo Campos with the support of the Angolan government.
Hus	Namibia (Windhuk)	(?)	Organized since 2002 by the Pan African Centre of Namibia (PACON) with the support of the Namibian President Sam Nujoma.
Moruba	South Africa (Bolobedu, Polokwane, Sasekani, Tzaneen)	D. Shikwambam; Petrus Shibambu	Promoted by the South African Sports Commission (SASC) since 2003.
Hawalis	Oman (Masqat)	Dad Mohd	Clubs in Ruwa, Mutrah, and Seeb.
Toguz Kumalak	Kazakhstan (Alma-Ata, Aktau, Aktobe, Arys, Astana, Cholpan-Ata, Kostanay, Kyzylorda, Pavlodar, Shymkent, Stepnogorsk, Taldykorgan, Taraz); Kyrgyztan (Bishkek); Mongolia (Urumchi); Russia (Altay, Chakassia, Chelyabinsk, Tuva, Tatarstan); UK (London); Uzbekistan (Karakalpakia)	H. Eleusinov, A. Nursejtov, Asel Dalieva, E. Kudaybergenova, Talgat Toktybayev	More than 30 Togus Kumalak masters; over 20 national and international tournaments in Central Asia; discipline of the Mindsports Olympiad (MSO) 2006.
Congkak	France (Paris); Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Pekan, Seremban)	(?)	Mostly for children.
Sungka	Philippines (Davao, Manila); South Africa (Pretoria); Taiwan (Taipei); UK (London); USA (Dallas TX)	(?)	Promotes Filipino identiy in migrant communities.
Kalah	Germany (Bayreuth, Dresden, Hamburg, Pfünz); USA (Kenai AL, Bakersfield CA, Pleasanton CA, San Francisco CA, Denver CO, Coventry CT, Brandon FL, Port St. Joe FL, Ames IA, Champaign IL, Glenview IL, Lansing IL, Brownsburg IN, Manhattan KS, Bedford MA, Beverly MA, Holbrook MA, Wareham MA, Westminster MD, Fort Leonard Wood MO, Peculiar MO, Grand Island NE, Millville NJ, Long Island NY, Boiling Springs NC, Pepper Pike OH, Gresham OR, Philadelphia PA, Pittsburgh PA, Memphis TN, Arlington TX, Freeport TX, Lake Jackson TX, Newport News VA, Federal Way WA)	(?)	Mostly played by children and computer scientists.
BohnDuell	Internet	Ulrich Voigt ("uvo")	Since March 2003.
Diffusion	Internet	Mark Steere	First tournament is still going on at Super Duper Games.