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'''Running-fight games''' are [[board games]] that essentially combine the method of [[race games]] (such as [[backgammon]] or [[pachisi]]) and the goal of elimination-based games such as [[chess]] or [[draughts]].

== Description ==

Like [[race games]], pieces are moved along linear tracks based on the fall of dice or other lots; but like [[chess]], the object is to capture opponent pieces.

Differences between a running-fight game and a race game: 

* When a piece lands on a space or point occupied by an opponent, instead of sending it back to the beginning to start over, the opponent piece is captured, permanently removed from the game.

* There is typically no "end" to the track; pieces keep moving around their circuits, gradually capturing more and more enemy pieces. 

A player wins and ends the game by capturing the last of the opponent [[Game piece|pieces]].

Running-fight games are found almost exclusively in Islamic-influenced cultures, ranging from West Africa to India, often bearing the names Tâb, Sig, or variations thereof; in fact, the whole running-fight family is sometimes referred to as Tâb games.

However, three European examples exist: Daldøs/Daldøsa (Danish/Norwegian), Sáhkku (Samit), and Að elta stelpur (Icelandic).

Also in this group is the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican game known variously as Bul, Boolik, or Puluc.

The modern cross and circle game Fang den Hut! and its descendents Coppit and Headache are also running-fight games. Their unusual method of capture is the same as that of Bul, and conceivably they are descended from it, since a description of Puluc was published in German in 1906, and Boolik in English in 1907; Fang den Hut! was published in Germany in 1927.

== See also ==

* [[Board game]]
* [[Game]]
* [[Race game]]

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running-fight_game Running-fight game] @ Wikipedia


[[Category:Board games]]
[[Category:Games]]
[[Category:Running-fight games]]