What is Yoté: second piece from the hand?
Every capture in Yoté removes two enemy pieces: the one you jump, and a second one of your choice. In the standard game here that second piece must come from the board. With this option, turned on in the table setup, you may take it from the board or from the pieces your opponent still holds in hand.
The difference matters most early in the game and whenever a player hoards pieces in hand. In the standard game, a player with few pieces on the board loses little to the second removal, and if their jumped piece was the only one on the board there is no second removal at all. With this option the second piece is always taken while your opponent has any piece left, and taking it from the hand removes a reserve that could have been dropped anywhere. Holding pieces back is no longer a safe way to protect them.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Yoté | Yoté: second piece from the hand |
|---|---|---|
| Second piece removed after a capture | Standard YotéAny other enemy piece on the board, of the capturer's choice. | Yoté: second piece from the handAny other enemy piece on the board, or one piece from the opponent's hand, of the capturer's choice. |
| When no other enemy piece is on the board | Standard YotéOnly the jumped piece is removed; the pieces in hand are safe. | Yoté: second piece from the handThe second piece must be taken from the opponent's hand, if they have one. |
| Placing, moving and capturing | Standard YotéPlace a piece on any empty square, step one square orthogonally, or jump an adjacent enemy piece orthogonally into the empty square beyond. | Yoté: second piece from the handThe same. |
| End of the game | Standard YotéYou win when your opponent is down to one piece or none, counting the board and the hand. A player who has no legal move on their turn loses. | Yoté: second piece from the handThe same. A piece taken from the hand counts towards the win like any other. |
History
Yoté is a traditional game of West Africa, recorded by Charles Béart in Jeux et jouets de l'ouest africain (Dakar, 1955) as one of the most widespread gambling games in Senegal. Its signature rule is that a capture takes two pieces: Béart writes that the capturer also takes a piece of their choice from the opponent's pieces ("un pion au choix dans le jeu de l'adversaire"), and that phrase does not name the board as the only place to take it from.
Later rule sets settle the question in different ways. João Pedro Neto's rules for the game state that the extra piece is taken from the board but not from the opponent's reserve, and other modern rule sets likewise take it from the board. One boxed edition takes it from the board, or from the opponent's unplaced pieces when none are on the board.
The standard game here follows the board-only rule. This option is the open reading of the old rule: the second piece may come from the board or from the hand at any time, which makes every capture cost the opponent two pieces while they have them.