From: nwbernst@unix.amherst.edu (Neil Bernstein)
Subject: E-mail Hnefatafl
Organization: Amherst College
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 22:48:29 GMT


Anyone for a game of E-mail Hnefatafl, or Hafntafl (damned if I know how to 
spell it)?  Anyway, it's that Viking game where one side tries to get the king
out to the side of the board and the other side tries to capture the king.
Here are the rules the way I learned 'em:

1) The 19x19 board is set up in the following way: Black (X) has 24 pieces and
a king (K), White (O) has 48.

   ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
 1 ..O..O.......O..O.. 1
 2 ................... 2
 3 O....O.......O....O 3
 4 .......O.O.O....... 4
 5 ......O.X.X.O...... 5
 6 O.O..O.......O..O.O 6
 7 ....O....X....O.... 7
 8 ...O....X.X....O... 8
 9 ....X..X.X.X..X.... 9
10 ...O..X.XKX.X..O... 10
11 ....X..X.X.X..X.... 11
12 ...O....X.X....O... 12
13 ....O....X....O.... 13
14 O.O..O.......O..O.O 14
15 ......O.X.X.O...... 15
16 .......O.O.O....... 16
17 O....O.......O....O 17
18 ................... 18
19 ..O..O.......O..O.. 19
   ABCEDFGHIJKLMNOPQRS

2) Black has first move.  Black's object is to move its king to any square on 
the edge of the board.  White's object is to capture the king by surrounding
it on four sides, ie  O
	       	     OKO
	   	      O

3) Pieces move like rooks in chess, ie up, down, right, left, no diagonal 
movement allowed.  They move as far as they want in a straight line, and
cannot jump over or occupy the same space as another piece.

4) Pieces capture by surrounding other pieces on any two sides (except diagonal
of course.)  Capturing is an _active_ process, ie, a piece may move between two
of its opponent's pieces and not be captured.

Legal capture:

  ABCDE			  ABCDE
1 .....			1 .....	
2 .OX..			2 .O.O.
3 .....			3 .....
4 ...O.			4 .....

  situation		situation after
  before move		O's move D4-D2

No captures result in the following situations:

(First example of a situation with no capture:)

  ABCDE			  ABCDE
1 .....			1 .....
2 .O...			2 .O...
3 ..X..			3 ..X..
4 .O...			4 ...O.

  situation		situation after O's move B4-D4.
  before move		There is no such thing as diagonal capture.
	
(Second example of a situation with no capture:)

  ABCDE			  ABCDE
1 .....			1 .....
2 .X.X.			2 .XOX.
3 .....			3 .....
4 ..O..			4 .....

  situation		situation after O's move C4-C2.
  before move		Capturing is an _active_ process.  A piece may move
			between two others and not be captured.

5) The space where the king is first placed (dead center of the board) is
called the THRONE and designated by a T after the king moves from it.  Consider
it to be an immobile "neutral" piece.  No piece _except_ the king may move 
through it.  Captures may be made by any side against it, eg:

O....   ......			.X....	.....
.....   ......			...... 	.....
.XT..   .O.T..		or	..OT..	.X.T.
.....   ......			......	.....
.....   ......			......	.....
		
before	 after			before	after

That's it!  (Wow, I didn't realize how meticulous you needed to be in 
describing the rules to a game.)  I'd love to play an email game, any color
(it tends to be a little easier for beginners to play Black), any time.
Send a message to nwbernstein@amherst.edu if you're interested and I'll
send you a board in a message.

						- Neil Bernstein
						struggling Classics major

PS: Anyone know anything about what games the Greeks and Romans played?  I
know they played various sorts of dice games, but I'd really be interested in
more detailed information