How to Play Bagh-Chal: Rules and Winning Tips

Updated 14 October 2026 · 6 minute read

Bagh-Chal (बाघचाल, also written Baghchal or Bagh Chal) means "moving tigers". It is Nepal's traditional strategy board game: one player has 4 tigers, the other has 20 goats. The tigers hunt by jumping over goats; the goats can't capture at all, but they win by working together to trap every tiger. In Newar it is called dhun kasa, the tiger game.

The board

The board is a square grid of five lines by five lines, which gives 25 points where pieces stand. Pieces sit on the points (the crossings), not in the squares. Diagonal lines run through every other point, so some points connect in eight directions and others in only four. A piece can only move along a drawn line.

Setup

• The four tigers start on the four corner points.
• The twenty goats start off the board, in the goat player's hand.

The rules, step by step

1. Goats go first. Players then take turns, one move each.
2. Placing phase. On each goat turn, the goat player places one new goat on any empty point. Goats can't move until all twenty are on the board.
3. Moving phase. Once all twenty goats are placed, a goat turn means sliding one goat one step along a line to a neighbouring empty point.
4. Tigers move one step along a line to a neighbouring empty point, from the very first turn.
5. Tigers capture by jumping. A tiger may jump over a single goat that is next to it, landing on the empty point directly beyond, in a straight line along a drawn line. The jumped goat is removed. Only one goat can be captured per move, and tigers can never jump over another tiger.
6. Goats can't capture. Their only weapon is blocking.

How to win

• Tigers win by capturing five goats. (Some families play to a different number; agree before you start. The online game uses five.)
• Goats win when no tiger can move or jump on its turn: every tiger is trapped.
• If the same position comes up again and again with nobody making progress, the game is a draw. The online game calls a draw when a position repeats three times.

Strategy for the goats

The goats are harder to play well, which is why beginners often start as the tigers. Their game is about patience: a goat that is lost early is hard to make up.

• Fill the edges and corners first. A goat on the edge can't be jumped from the outside, because there's no point beyond it to land on.
• Never leave a goat with an empty point behind it in a straight line from a tiger. Before every placement, check each tiger's possible jumps.
• Keep goats in solid groups. A goat backed by another goat on the far side can't be jumped.
• Don't rush the middle. Build walls from one side of the board and push the tigers together slowly.
• Use the moving phase to squeeze. Once all goats are down, shrink the tigers' space one point at a time, keeping every goat protected.
• Losing one or two goats is not the end. Twenty goats can afford a few losses if the wall stays intact.

Strategy for the tigers

• Strike early. The tigers are strongest in the placing phase, while the board is still open and goats are thinly spread.
• Keep the tigers apart. Tigers bunched together block each other; spread out, they cover more of the board.
• Threaten two captures at once. The goats can only block one threat per turn, so a double threat (a fork) usually wins a goat.
• Stay out of the corners and edges once the board fills up; a tiger there has fewer lines to move along and is the first to be trapped.
• Prefer the points with diagonals. They give a tiger eight directions to move and jump instead of four.

Is Bagh-Chal fair?

In 2004, computer scientists Lim Yew Jin and Jürg Nievergelt worked through every possible position and showed that with perfect play from both sides, Bagh-Chal ends in a draw. Neither side has a guaranteed win, so between real players the winner is whoever makes the last mistake. In practice good goat players win more often, and beginners do better as the tigers.

Where Bagh-Chal is played

Bagh-Chal comes from Nepal, where it is played in villages, tea shops and homes, and especially at family gatherings during Dashain. Brass and wooden boards with cast tiger and goat pieces are a common souvenir in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Southern India has a close relative, aadu puli attam ("lambs and tigers"), played on a different board. Games of this kind, where two unequal sides chase and trap, are known as hunt games and are found across South Asia.

Frequently asked questions

How many goats do the tigers need to capture?

Five, in the most common rules and in the online game. Some families play until more goats are captured.

Can a tiger jump over more than one goat?

No. A tiger jumps one goat per move, and only in a straight line along a drawn line, onto an empty point.

Can I play Bagh-Chal online for free?

Yes. Bagh-Chal on Dashain Games runs in any phone or computer browser with no download or sign-up. Play the goats or the tigers against the computer on three levels, or play a friend on the same device.