KAPA‘A — “Last move win” is one of the sayings on the Hawaiian Checkers.com website. The goal of konane, an ancient Hawaiian strategy game, sounds simple. And it is. What is difficult is the goal — to try and outplay
KAPA‘A — “Last move win” is one of the sayings on the Hawaiian Checkers.com website.
The goal of konane, an ancient Hawaiian strategy game, sounds simple. And it is. What is difficult is the goal — to try and outplay your opponent to where you have the final move.
To celebrate the start of the Makahiki games in October, Kaua‘i Museum, in partnership with Hawaiian Checkers.com, will be hosting a 16-player konane tournament on Oct. 6 starting at 1 p.m.
Registration requires a $5 fee and can be done by calling the museum at 245-6931.
At stake is a prize package valued at more than $100.
“We will have an activity station set up starting this Saturday at the museum’s ‘Ohana Day,” said John Kaohelauli‘i of Hawaiian Checkers.com and the Soul Mates shop in the Coconut Marketplace.
“During the last hula ho‘ike at the Kaua‘i Mini Golf in Kilauea, there were a lot of people getting involved in the game in an activity station.”
Kaohelauli‘i is an advocate for generating a konane resurgence similar to how the kendama, an ancient Japanese wooden toy, has caught on with the younger set recently.
“This was game played by everyone, ali‘i and the people, until the missionaries came and disapproved of it,” Kaohelauli‘i said. “At one point, it was even banned, leading to a near disappearance of the game.”
Kaohelauli‘i learned the game in the Explorer program at Kamehameha Schools and set out to get more people to enjoy the game.
“The hardest part of konane is finding someone to play with,” Kaohelauli‘i said, enjoying a game with his daughter Jeni before she had to open her Work It Out active lifestyle shop in Kapa‘a.
Kaohelauli‘i said konane is a relatively simple game to learn.
“Most people understand the game after just three games,” he said, noting an average game takes about 10 or 15 minutes.
“By the time you play your seventh game, your mind is already working on simple plans, and by the 10th game, you understand why you lose.”
The game is played on huge stones called papamu with small impressions, or puka, in the papamu, or playing board, where the playing pieces, or ‘ili‘ili, are placed.
White pebbles, ke‘oke‘o or kea, and black, or ‘ele‘ele, pebbles were used, along with dark and light seashells, states a k12.hi.us/~gkaapuni/konane.htm website.
Hawaiian Checkers.com has simplified play, offering hardwood papamu, ili ili, an ili bag and a standardized set of the rules in various levels, including a mobile version which went on sale Wednesday on its website, or at the Kaua‘i Museum gift shop or Soul Mates in the Coconut Marketplace.
Play starts when one player takes a white and a black piece in hand from anywhere on the board, and after hiding a piece in each hand, offers the opponent the opportunity to select a closed fist.
The opponent is then assigned that color. Play begins when black, always first, jumps, or lele, and eating, or ‘ai, the white piece by moving forward, backward or side to side into a vacant space.
Play alternates until the last player to be able to move is the winner, states the website.
“This is just a good game for everyone,” Kaohelauli‘i said.
“It’s good for family because you sit face to face, good for health because of the brain stimulation, good for education because it’s wholesome and teaches about history and culture, and it’s good for business owners as well because of the control you learn how to manage.”
Kaohelauli‘i said in addition to Saturday’s activity station at the Kaua‘i Museum starting at 10:30 a.m., he will also have a station set up at Work It Out — which is celebrating its fourth anniversary — during the First Saturday event in Kapa‘a town from 5 to 8 p.m.
He will also host an activity station on Sept. 1 during the museum’s ‘Ohana Day.
And on Oct. 6, he will be hosting a full workshop on konane prior to the start of the tournament.
Visit www.hawaiiancheckers.com for a wealth of information on the history, rules and general information about konane. Visit www.kauaimuseum.org for more information on the Kaua‘i Museum.
