Yut
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Template:Koreanname noimage Yut (윷) is a traditional board game played in Korea. Its origins are unclear, but it is known that yut was played for generations on the Korean peninsula. There is ample evidence that yut was played at the time of the Three Kingdoms. In Korea the game is also called cheok-sa or sa-hee for casting yut sticks.
There is also a folk explanation for the game, arguing that it goes back to a bet by some town people to raise five different kind of live stock: pigs, dogs, chicken, cows and horses. Each of these town people would go and invest in this live stock only.
The board and the game as such are known to have been used in fortune telling, but this use is no longer practiced. Such fortune telling was particularly common in mountain areas and small farming villages.
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Material
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There is the board (mal-pan, 말판) which is normally made up of stitched cloth. It comes in a rectangular or square shape. There are two straight courses and two diagonal ones. Each of the straight courses comes with five stations, the diagonal ones have five stations, too, but one is shared. This brings the number of stations to twenty-nine in total. The board is also known to be drawn onto the floor.
Instead of dice, the yut sticks are used. There are two kinds of yut stick: jang-jak yut (장작 윷) and bam yut (밤 윷). Jang-jak yut are made of fire wood. There are four sticks of about 15 cm length and a diameter of 2 cm to 3 cm. These sticks are split into halves. Chestnut wood is most commonly used, but birch wood is also common. These woods are chosen for the weight and the fresh sound when playing. Bam yut, on the other hand, are wooden sticks of about 3 cm length. They have a diameter of about 1 cm, and again are split into halves. The bam yut are played in a small bowl, shaken in the palm, and then released.
There are small tokens (marks) used for the game, called mal (말). There are four tokens for each team, although there are no common rules what a token can be made of. The only rule is that the mals of the opponent teams must be clearly distinguishable. Apart from black and white plastic tokens generally found today, common mals are coins, buttons, small pebbles, or even chess beads (both from Western chess and Korean chess). When choosing the mal, some Koreans consider its speed, because the faster a mal (literally a horse) runs, the better it is thought to run.
Yut sticks
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The sticks are cast in order to determine how far a token can be advanced. The score is determined by counting the sticks which are over, and those which are up. Each combination has its own name. If one stick is over (flat side up) and three sticks are up (round side up) this is called do (pig). Two sticks up and two sticks over is called gae (dog). One stick up and three sticks over is called geol (chicken). All sticks over is called yut (cow), whereas all sticks up is called mo (horse). A do is worth one point, a gae is worth two points, a geol is worth 3 points, yut is worth 4 points, and mo is worth 5 points.
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How to play
The game is played between two partners or two teams who play in turns. Yut is a popular family game. There is no limit in the number of participants in a game, which means that the game can be played by a considerable group. When played with large groups it is not uncommon for some group members never to cast the sticks: they still participate discussing the strategy.
The starter of the game is determined by each team casting the yut sticks. The team with the higher points achieved. Each team then casts the sticks in turn. A player achieving a yut or mo is allowed to cast again. There is no limit to the number of times a player can cast again before the end of a turn, provided he or she keeps casting yuts or mos. The respective scores can be played separately if wished. Each team moves a mal according to the score achieved. If a mal lands on a station occupied by the opponent's team, the opponent's mal is removed from the course, and returned to the starting position. If a mal lands on a station occupied by the own team, these mals can travel together from that point on (counting as one). However, if an opponent lands their mal on a station occupied by several mals of the opponent, all these are removed from the course.
The mals travel around the board and can move forward only. However, when landing on one of the big stations (in the corner and the centre), the team can choose to take the shorter way should they wish to. There are four possible courses.
The game is won by the team who bring all their mals home first, that is complete the course with all their mals. A course is completed if a mal reaches the station where the game is started (cham-meoki). Yut is often played for three or more wins.
Special rules
The game is sometimes enhanced by labelling one, two or three of the yut stick on their flat side. The Seoul rule can be played if one of the sticks is labelled Seoul (서울). If this stick is the only one facing down (do so that the letters Seoul can be read), a mal can be placed directly into the centre (bang) which in this case is called Seoul. Are all the mals already on the course, this counts as a do. The Busan rule is similar. One of the yut sticks is labelled Busan (부산). Rather than to the centre, the mal travels directly to the far corner (mo). Again, this only applies if this is the only stick facing down, and not all mals are on the course already.
There is also the back rule, where one of the sticks is labelled back (후퇴). If this is the only stick facing down, one of the mals has to go back one step. Depending on the rules used, if none of the mals are on the course, this is counted as a do or treated specially. It is indeed commonly treated specially. That means that one of the mals is placed onto the arrow next to the start. The mal remains there until another back is cast. In this case, however, the mal completes the course at once.
Social meaning
The game is a popular board game throughout Korea. It is considered a very Korean game. The game is often treated as a social spectacle with onlookers and team members shouting loudly, encouraging each other, or wishing for a certain score. The rare scores of yut and mo in particular cause excitement, particularly if cast more than one at a time.
The stations
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The stations of the game all have their own particular name, although they are not common currency with most Koreans. It is thought that the outer stations imitate heaven, the inner square, on the other hand, the land. The whole board can be interpreted as a reflection of the universe, with sun rise, sun set, winter solstice et cetera. It is often argued that the board reflects the advanced science of the Korean people at the time of the Three Kingdoms.