MEET
The women
Inaugurating our series of interviews of the inspiring voices of Women in Mancala, today we meet Canan Alıcıoğlu, president and founder of the Bestemşe Dokuz Kumalak ve Mangala Oyunları Derneği (Bestemshe, Togyzqumalaq & Magala Games Association during the Czhech Open 2025 in Pardubice, Czech Republic, on her views about women in mancala games.
As recently posted, Canan just held in September 2025 the first international togyzqumalaq tournament in Amasya, Turkey, with great success and the participation of 5 countries. Canan and her two daughters have been participating in tournaments all around the world in recent years, making a name for themselves as organizers and athletes in the mancala family.
Canan is not only the founder of the mind sport association in Amasya, Türkiye, she is also the official representative in Türkiye of of the World Togyzqumalaq Federation, has been Mangala Women Medallist in multiple occasions in Türkiye and has been involved in teaching and developing abstract games for children for more than 10 years; professionally, for the past 3 years.
For Canan, mind games “are extremly important for children development. In her own words, “I want children to be excited about other games and not play computer games and be in their phones. I want them to play anything” She made playing board games, especially mangala, a tradition in her home, teaching her daughters and playing with them. Then she aked herself “why don’t the other children also play?”
That thought inspired her to take action: she started to learn many different board games, currently she plays more than 100 different games, most abstract, and professionally teaching them to children now in her association or “little club” as she refers to it for the past 3 years.
I asked her about her views of women participation in mind sports and if she wanted to comment on the fact that we do not see much attention to women in mind sports, especially in abstract games and mancala games around the world. For her “Women must play mangala; they must play dokuz kumalak, and mind games”.
Canan’s approach to mancala and abstract games trascend competition and fame. For her, it is about building trust. In her view, an important roles for women in mancala games revolves around building trust with children to have healthy adults: “Women, if they are mothers, they are involved in daily things with their children, and the games are so good to talk to our children. If we play these games with our children they can talk to you about their problems and build trust. It is important for trust.
Beyond building trust, avopinding videogames and phones for young children, she also considers mind games as a very fun family activity that can shape many dynamics in the home: “you can play your husband to see who washed the dishes”.
I asked her what is her advice for young women that want to be involved in mancala games, to what she responded: “if you want to trust yourself you have to do anything. You have to play mind games, do traditionally <men things>. Be confident”
For the future of women in mancala games, she sees that” more women than men will play”. And that women and men will play mixed, “as it should be”.
Thank you Canan for being an inspiration for all women in mancala games and for you efforts to work to encourage young girls and women to play abstract games.
