Achi

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Achi is a Morris-type game. What's a Morris-type game? It's a type of game that involves placing pieces on a board to get three in a row. There are 3 Men's Morris (like Achi and tic-tac-toe), 6 Men's Morris, 9 Men's Morris, and even 12 Men's Morris. (To get a portable 6 Men's Morris game, see Games People Played at www.handsonlearning.org).

Three Men's Morris has been around for a long time. A board was found at the Ptolemaic temple at Komombo (c. 300 BCE). We know that Roman soldiers played the game as they traveled through Europe in the third and fourth centuries because game boards have been found near Hadrian's wall in England. Achi is almost identical to the Chinese game of Yih (now called Luk tsut k'i) which Confucius described in about 500 BCE.

The same game is called Tapatan in the Phillippines, Tres en Raya in Spain, Hujura in Iran, and Cashlan Gherra in Ireland. Other Three Men's Morris type games are found in Nigeria, Akidada; India, Tre-guti; and the Netherlands, Dreisticken.

Although this game is played all over the world, only in France is there a rule prohibiting the first player from putting the first piece on the center point. Mathematicians have proven that, without the French rule, the first player will always win if they put their first piece in the center. Try playing the game without the French rule--which way do you prefer?

Did you know that there are 1680 possible ways the six game pieces can be placed on the board?

Ghana
Ghana was once called "The Gold Coast" because European traders found so much gold there. It was the first black nation to become independent in sub-Saharan Africa. Before 1482, when the Portuguese began settlements and exporting gold, the Dogomba and Mampussi kingdoms controlled the northern area of what is now Ghana. The Ashanti and Fanti people migrated from the savannas in the northern part of the country to the rain forests in the south. From the time of Dutch control, 1642-1870, the Ashanti controlled the trade routes and so became the most powerful group. In 1874, Ghana became a British crown colony and a period of Ashanti-British wars began. On March 6, 1957, Ghana became an independent country.

Ghana is a major exporter of cacao, gold, and industrial diamonds.

Capital and Largest City - Accra
Official Language - English
Currency - 1 Cedi = 100 Pesewas, 700 Cedi equals about $1.00

	Population (2000)	Area
Ghana	17,832,000	92,098 sq. miles
United States	281,421,906	3,787,319 sq. miles
Wyoming	493,782	97,914 sq. miles

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