Play Hnefatafl Online.

Play Hnefatafl Online.
Spil nefatavl online.

The ancient Viking board game, Hnefatafl, online.
Vikingernes brætspil, nefatavl, online.
Übersetzung: Bitte verwende den oberen Google-Button.
Oversættelse: Benyt venligst Google-knappen øverst på siden.
Traduction: utilisez le bouton de Google en haut de la page s'il vous plait.
Для перевода: пожалуйста используйте Гугл кнопку вверху страницы.
Tafl against human opponents.
There is an invitation for a game of Hnefatafl. Join the game!
Opponent: epoc, ,
Play white
11x11
Play black
11x11
Play white
9x9
Play black
9x9
Human vs. human over the internet.
Human vs. computer.
Choose game, log in or click on one of the boards. / Wähle ein Spiel, log in oder klicke auf eines der Bretter. / Vælg spil, log ind eller klik på et af brætterne. / Choisissez le jeu, log in ou cliquez sur un des plateaus. / Выберите игру, нажмите на одну из досок.
Rules.
Hnefatafl 11x11, and here.
Fetlar Hnefatafl 11x11, and here.
Scandinavian Museums Hnefatafl 11x11.
   Regeln auf deutsch.
   Regler på dansk.
   Règles en français.
   Правила на русском.

Berserk Hnefatafl (running berserk: click the Berserk button, do all the berserk moves and finally click the Berserk button again.)
Swedish Tablut 9x9.
Ashton Tablut 9x9.
Cartier Tablut 9x9.
Rachunek tafl.

Quick overview of variants.
More comments on the Hnefatafl rules.
On the origin of Hnefatafl.
Forum.


  2012-05-16 22:54:23 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Adam Bartley's photos of Hnefatafl sets in Midgard Historisk Senter, Norway.

  2012-05-16 10:47:18 Sybil: Epoc on the right and Sybil n the left....we have to end this work!

  2012-05-15 18:32:42 epoc: Epoc and Sybil In making Hnefatafl sets

  2012-05-15 17:44:27 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: the Hnefatafl sets of epoc in making.

  2012-05-12 13:42:54 Hagbard: works again

  2012-05-12 13:34:33 crust: ok, thanks.  Incidentally, I can't seem to accept an invitation now, I just get a blank page with "Unknown column 'hvidsprog' in 'field list'"

  2012-05-10 11:21:38 Hagbard: yes, new fix; thanks for telling about the error. The game is being ported to iPhone and iPad and this caused the error.

  2012-05-10 09:58:32 crust: seems to be working today..;)

  2012-05-10 00:28:16 crust: to Hagbard,  no, sorry, the same problem is still occurring. I make my moves normally, but they don't register

  2012-05-10 00:23:29 crust: :)

  2012-05-09 22:50:46 Hagbard: fixed

  2012-05-09 21:00:16 crust: to hagbard:  glitch...
my moves aren't registering.  Game page says "waiting for opponent's move" but summary and diagrams show it's still my move

  2012-05-09 20:58:55 crust: hello? can't get message to work...

  2012-05-08 21:21:23 Hagbard: New in the photos gallery: barba's hnefatafl set.

  2012-05-06 19:05:13 barba: Thanks

  2012-05-06 16:05:57 Hagbard: To barba: the deadlock is removed. For a berserk move: First press the berserk button, then do the moves, and finally press the berserk button again.

  2012-05-05 14:59:19 Barba: Hi folks. I'm currently playing a Berzerk Hnefatafl against Epoc. I tried to do a Berzerk move, but this seems to be interpreted as a pass. In the chat window there is a system message:

System info: *** Same board position 2 times! Probably maintained by white

Now the game seems to be 'locked'. Any experience with this before? Or any way to 'unlock'?

Absolutely fantastic site for a fantastic game by the way. Thanks for that!

  2012-05-03 11:07:32 Roderich: Yes, it works!

  2012-05-02 09:14:51 Hagbard: To Roderich about the laptop: It should be possible with the cursor to grab the dividing line between the game board and the chat, and draw the line upwards to give more space to the chat window.

  2012-04-24 08:42:28 Hagbard: Gives the overview.

  2012-04-23 01:08:31 crust: to Hagbard: the "current board positions" facility is brilliant!  Good work.

  2012-04-19 14:44:17 crust: congratulations epoc! a fine victory!

  2012-04-18 16:22:28 Chuck Ward: I was thinking we should have a game send invites

  2012-04-17 00:30:44 Sybil: Thank you Crust this news is very amazing! Hagbard i tried again but not works....maybe i wrong something...

  2012-04-16 22:37:09 crust: Nel 2008 lo Hnefatafl fu riportato in auge grazie a Peter Kelly sull’isola di Fetlar nelle Shetland, dove si tengono ogni estate i campionati mondiali di Hnefatafl.

  2012-04-16 20:54:50 Hagbard: Sybil: everything looks normal, please try again

  2012-04-16 20:46:47 crust: re: world championships...  no details yet from Grandmaster Kelly of the exact date and time.

  2012-04-16 20:46:43 Sybil: Sorry i've problem with registration.....the account registration link told me not valid...what do i do?

  2012-04-16 18:38:01 Hagbard: Alas, unfortunately iPhone doesn't support Java.

  2012-04-16 18:16:29 Gosling: I'm trying to play using an iPhone with safari, but the board does not show up.

  2012-04-16 12:48:01 Hagbard: Fetlars page about Hnefatafl World Championship (fetlar.org/hnefatafl-world-championship) informs: "2012 Championships to be held in Fetlar usually in early August".

  2012-04-12 22:30:41 crust: oh, right!  I see now.

  2012-04-12 20:55:34 Hagbard: But Fetlar is the default on the expert page.

  2012-04-12 18:49:38 crust: To Hagbard:  the default version is now the one with the edge hostile to the king?  I thought it was felt that that version was unbalanced in favour of black...?

  2012-04-09 20:24:15 Hagbard: New in gallery: post stamp

  2012-04-09 11:40:03 Hagbard: Good game. I'll try and test the chat on some laptop.

  2012-04-09 11:31:42 Roderich: you win, good game! :)

  2012-04-09 11:31:11 Roderich: yes, it fits right into it, but even if you zoom it out, no chat windows appears

  2012-04-09 11:28:57 Hagbard: Interesting to have the game tested on a small laptop! Is the whole board visible then?

  2012-04-09 11:21:26 Roderich: @ Aage: Just in case you've written me something: I'm playing with my small laptop which doesn't show the chat window. I think this game might be over very soon, though. Greetings

  2012-03-21 02:19:59 Chuck Ward: Works noe :)

  2012-03-20 23:06:49 Hagbard: To Chuck Ward: there was a bug, sorry, please try again

  2012-03-20 17:44:07 Chuck Ward: To Hagbard:No  the java just half loads...this does not happen with my other games.

  2012-03-20 14:41:00 Hagbard: To Chuck Ward: What happens, is there an error message?

  2012-03-20 14:20:39 Chuck Ward: to Evans:Sorry but the game wont load for me.

  2012-03-14 19:19:19 crust: to Oddur:  we have four games started - I'm playing black in all of them.  We need to have a game where you're playing black, so will you please accept a tournament invitation where it says "crust invites to play black"?  That would be great!

  2012-03-13 10:28:42 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: shaunyman's hnefatafl sets.

  2012-03-08 09:11:21 Roderich: To Adam: Hey Adam, I didn't even notice there was a game. I've started a new one for us with me playing black, another match is still shown as ongoing where you play black ... greetings!

  2012-03-07 22:53:13 Adam: @ roderich: Had trouble sorting out my Java update so it looks like our game timed out. I've sorted it out now! So we can set up another game.

  2012-03-07 12:52:24 Roderich: To crust: These other two games which came out to be epics fights and wins for me here on aage's page were way more satisfying, but thanks for reminding me. Good luck for your further games, esp. that ongoing one against MaC seems to be very intense!

  2012-03-07 12:06:10 crust: To Roderich - thanks for the game - don't forget the time you beat me in 9 moves on dragonheelslair!!  :(

  2012-03-06 19:31:38 crust: Who put new batteries in the sructured forum?  I just had to look away - it was too brilliant

  2012-03-06 19:26:11 Roderich: way to go! very helpful, thanks!

  2012-03-06 19:13:48 crust: copenhagen rules guide now attached to tournament page

  2012-03-03 12:40:50 crust: Hello Kennari!  I remember you from tafl gild.  Greetings! crust (aka hnefataflman)

  2012-03-02 10:34:04 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: chuck ward's Hnefatafl games.

  2012-02-29 21:20:28 crust: to Hagbard:  Thanks, I didn't know that.

  2012-02-29 10:10:03 Hagbard: To Roderich - hopefully not problems with Google Chrome and some other browsers anymore

  2012-02-29 08:16:57 Hagbard: To crust - games less than 4 moves are canceled without rating after 3 days of inactivity, so the crust/MaC game of 1 move disappears automatically

  2012-02-29 00:45:28 crust: To Hagbard - is it possible to cancel a tournament game once started?  I have 2 tournament games started with maC, but I'm playing white in both for some reason.  If one could be cancelled without it counting as a loss for either of us, that would be great

  2012-02-27 11:54:17 Roderich: Ah, alright, got it, that's because of google chrome ...

  2012-02-27 11:51:32 Roderich: Hey Aage, thanks for your tip about the last game. Unfortunately I've got some kind of blue screen when opening our matches and I can't see your posts, only if I refresh the page I get a glimpse of what you've written.
Greetings

  2012-02-27 01:04:10 crust: The new Copenhagen tournament has begun!

  2012-02-18 16:17:50 Hagbard: The vertical Hnefatafl is in the photos gallery.

  2012-02-18 15:06:39 crust: :)

  2012-02-18 14:56:15 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Tim Millar's beach hnefatafl set.

  2012-02-18 14:09:13 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Adam Bartley's and Belinda Rush Jansen's Hnefatafl games.

  2012-02-16 10:12:49 Hagbard: To Adam: looking forward to the photos.

  2012-02-16 10:02:50 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Beadle's Hnefatafl game.

  2012-02-16 09:07:33 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Damian Valle's Hnefatafl game. I'd never imagined that many ways to create a hnefatafl set. Here the leather bag with the pieces is also the game board!

  2012-02-15 21:03:31 crust: Adam, please will you upload a picture of your amazing red versus blue hnefatafl set? Ta

  2012-02-15 13:36:45 -1': 1

  2012-02-15 13:36:44 1: -1'

  2012-02-13 19:56:27 Adam: Nice to see some more boards. I'm planning some interesting ones for a viking war exhibition. Will send photos.

  2012-02-13 08:31:48 tl: aage: vedr spil kontakt mig venligst
tom.lunden@gmail.com
mvh

  2012-02-12 22:36:48 Hagbard: New in photos gallery: Oddur's Hnefatafl game board.

  2012-02-06 14:34:04 тест: тест

  2012-02-06 14:26:55 Hagbard: Теперь можно использовать кириллицы в именах пользователей.

  2012-01-29 12:12:58 crust: works fine now - thanks :)

  2012-01-29 01:18:31 Hagbard: Thanks, this solved the case. Two lines were left from the test of the new version of the "next game" function. It should work now.

  2012-01-28 23:45:44 crust: ok Hagbard.  It happened again just now - I logged in as crust, did a move in one of my games, pressed "next game" and it went straight to YOUR games ("user Hagbard") and I could see all your chat with oddur.  I didn't read it of course...and I resisted the temptation to do your moves for you!  strange bug.  Only way I could get back to my games was log out and log in again.  so I have to log in separately for each game now.

  2012-01-28 21:41:05 Hagbard: Must be a bug in the login; will try to find it.

  2012-01-28 16:30:58 crust: hagbard:  glitch: I am being offered YOUR games - i didn't do any moves for you, but that's kind of weird.  I signed in as normal, and it said "user Hagbard" and showed me your games and boards

  2012-01-19 17:46:03 Adam: Hello all, I wanted to hear peoples opinions of berserk hnefatafl? I am still getting the hang of it, but my impression is that it is an extremely playable, surprising and entertaining game. I really like Aage's reasoning behind the rule set and the new pieces. And importantly, the draw problem largely evaporates. Perpetual check is still available to a desperate king of course. If you haven't played it, give it a few games, its great!

  2012-01-18 21:24:43 Adam: it was something like system error, whites board did not start up

  2012-01-16 21:45:44 Hagbard: Adam, do you by any chance remember what the error message said?
  By the way, if connection to a live game is for some reason lost, you can reattach from the list and continue, within 5 minutes.
  This specific game though should not've been rated, I'll put it on the bugs' list.

  2012-01-16 21:00:03 Adam: weird bug: set up a live game yesterday, game was accepted but the screen froze with a system error message. Then i logged into a correspondence game, and it showed up as a live game in the list, a day later, i made my move to see what would happen, then the game timed out giving me a win! Bit unfair. Thought you should know.

  2012-01-15 19:33:29 crust: to Hagbard:  take that, bug! Zap!

  2012-01-15 19:20:58 Hagbard: Bug squashed.

  2012-01-15 12:41:42 crust: to Hagbard:  there may be a bug in the sea-battle tafl - conanlib (white) reported he couldn't move to the central square e5.

  2012-01-12 19:23:58 crust: Thanks hagbard. I will stop worrying now ;)

  2012-01-12 18:44:12 Hagbard: It's the programmer jumping the low fence: when 0 moves, the list says "both players' turn". After the first move is done, the list will be correct.

  2012-01-12 13:16:40 crust: I'm having this trouble again - only with Ashton Tablut apparently - I started 2 games with A-M-L and in the list of games it says it's my move, but when I go to the game page it says waiting for opponent's move.  Is it a bug?

  2012-01-12 11:29:29 test: test

  2012-01-05 18:50:37 Hagbard: ok

  2012-01-05 18:41:12 chuck ward: ok I got it.its working again.had an issue on my end

  2012-01-05 18:38:10 Hagbard: It looks ok. Do you want your password reset?

  2012-01-05 18:37:08 chuck ward: ok thanks

  2012-01-05 18:31:07 Hagbard: Hang on, will be investigated!

  2012-01-05 18:26:42 chuck ward: To anyone I am in a game with,The site wont let me login.I am sorry for not finishing our games.

  2011-12-31 06:53:20 chuck ward: Happy New Year Tafl warriors

  2011-12-30 10:34:33 Hagbard: A Happy New Year to all users of these pages!

  2011-12-29 11:13:44 Roderich: @ Hagbard: everything's all right! I'm gonna see you guys soon playing tafl again, greetings and a happy new year!

  2011-12-27 20:57:31 crust: season's greetings to tafl players of the world!  Happy new year 2012!

  2011-12-27 08:52:24 Hagbard: Roderich, I hope you are at health.

  2011-12-23 06:04:28 chuck ward: to crust:How will I know its out? How can I get it?
So excited

  2011-12-20 23:37:52 crust: to Chuck: coming right up...  few more weeks

  2011-12-20 23:23:57 chuck ward: I really wish there was a good book on this game

  2011-12-13 17:33:08 Hagbard: Sea battle graphics could maybe be changed after New Year. Though the sea battle board is after all *seagreen* now.

  2011-12-13 11:25:58 crust: ...could be a viking ship, for example.

  2011-12-13 11:20:09 crust: to Hagbard:  please can we have little ship symbols as playing pieces for sea battle tafl?  and a watery texture for the board?  That would be awesome.  I'm not asking for an animation of captured ships sinking with a glug-glug noise, though come to think of it...

  2011-12-06 12:55:09 crust: as long as it doesn't become self-aware and take over the world like Skynet did in that documentary I saw

  2011-12-06 09:21:54 Hagbard: The Fetlar edge rule is a little extra help to computer-white against humans and a greater help to humans against computer-black, since humans will exploit the new possibility more deliberately than the comp AI does. This may require a modification of the comp AI tactics also, which must wait till after Christmas/New Year as the comp AI is nasty programming.

  2011-12-06 04:17:56 Beadle: Actually, I don't know why computer-black was so high. It's certainly easier now... (No edge capture makes a big difference)

  2011-12-06 03:48:13 Beadle: ...But Computer-White is still much more challenging to play against.

  2011-12-06 03:38:35 Beadle: Interesting. It looked like computer-black's rating had gone up quite a lot since the AI rules change. (It was the second-highest) I just beat it a few times, and it's back down a bit. However, it's worth noting that it was starting to more closely match computer-white's rating.

  2011-12-05 22:24:16 crust: to hagbard.  You're the best!  Cheers.

  2011-12-05 22:06:34 Hagbard: An error, fixed, you should be able to continue the game now.

  2011-12-05 19:46:43 crust: having trouble with correspondence game with roderich - game doesn't start up properly - anyone else having problems?

  2011-12-03 15:18:52 Hagbard: It is probably the simplest tafl variant possible.

  2011-12-03 12:17:57 crust: to Hagbard - I really like the sea-battle tafl - I admire its purity

  2011-12-03 12:12:58 crust: to Beadle - Hello Beadle good to see you again.  Give the AI a thrashing for me!

  2011-12-02 23:31:41 Hagbard: That the AI moves first both as black and white is a left over from the very first version and would be complicated to change.

  2011-12-02 21:57:35 Beadle: Actually, I was wrong about the blocking issue.
There was no piece to block with. Sorry.

  2011-12-02 21:53:39 Beadle: When I play against the AI as black, white still takes the first move.
Also, Black AI just ignores the king when the king is on the edge. If I get the king to the edge with a path to a corner, it doesn't even try to block it, letting me win on my next turn.
I don't mean to complain, and I'm grateful for the effort. Thanks.

  2011-12-02 09:07:53 Hagbard: You're right. The AI is modified.

  2011-12-02 03:19:56 Beadle: It looks like the rules poll is strongly in favor of the Fetlar rules. I would think of this as a reason to adjust the computer (AI) behavior for the computer game, if it would be practical to do so.

Also, would it be possible to release the source code for the game in a way that would allow it to be played offline? Perhaps as an executable?

  2011-11-28 18:00:47 crust: thanks:)

  2011-11-28 15:58:02 Hagbard: - it was a bug. It's clandrum12's turn, who never made his first move.

  2011-11-28 10:48:02 crust: hello Hagbard,
I don't know if this is a bug:  I have a correspondence game of sea battle tafl against clandrum12 - on the list of games it says it's "my turn" but when I go to the game itself it says "waiting for opponent's move".  Seems to be stuck like that for about 5 days.  Otherwise, all seems to be working excellently!

  2011-11-24 12:15:33 Hagbard: Berserk tafl 9x9: exact same rules as 11x11. Just no knight and the board is smaller, but that's it.
The king is armed.
In the hands of chieftains, the king is treated the same way as if he were a commoner: one chieftain captures him against a king's square (the throne), and two chieftains capture him elsewhere. Except that the king cannot be captured on the board edge, so from this reason he cannot be captured against a corner square.
The Berserk 9x9 is an experiment. The Bergen game pieces set is intended for the 11x11 board, and the 9x9 is just a downscaling for a routine check of this board also. But so far the Berserk 9x9 games does seem to be balanced.

Hagbard

  2011-11-24 11:16:44 Roderich: What are the exact rules of berserk tafl 9x9:

1. king wins on corner obviously, but does he count as weapon/hammer and anvil?

2. can the king be catched at the throne by one chieftain?

Greetings
Rodr

  2011-11-23 19:17:30 crust: Hagbard: the "next game" button is great!  Thanks

  2011-11-22 01:02:15 crust: ok :)

  2011-11-21 18:53:56 Aage: The Hnefatafl game is 1600 years old, and the Burnsall photos on Hnefatafl are but one year old, so - they're really very up to date! I think Burnsall is a good photo series, so if it's ok I'd agree with Adam in keeping it. The photos are moved to a new page with room for many more.

  2011-11-20 19:11:54 crust: I will try that

  2011-11-20 17:27:21 Hagbard: I'll give it a thought. By the way I use the browser update button when I've lost track of which moves still to make

  2011-11-20 11:37:25 crust: to Hagbard: Much better!  But I still think a "next game" button would be worth doing, because with the back-button you have to try and remember which games you've moved on and which you haven't (they all show "my move" on the page the back button takes you to) : )

  2011-11-20 09:43:42 Brandon: Hello! This looks very interesting...

  2011-11-20 08:54:15 Hagbard: To crust: that's it: the Home-button replaced by a Back-button.

  2011-11-20 08:53:13 Hagbard: To Roderich: a lucky triple-berserk

  2011-11-19 22:36:29 Adam: crust and Aage:My vote says keep the picture of the logs of war! Its inspiring to see the game being played and taught. But more pictures, absolutely!

  2011-11-19 21:05:52 crust: To Aage:  I'm very happy for you to get rid of the ancient photo from Burnsall Viking Festival - more than a year old now!  How about a gallery of hnefatafl sets made by players on this site?

  2011-11-19 21:01:14 crust: to Hagbard:  Oh yeah, the back arrow is much more convenient than the "home" button.  I didn't think of that!  Sorry

  2011-11-19 17:41:06 Roderich: That berserk turn was a killer! I really have to re-think my strategy!
Greetings from very foggy Rostock

  2011-11-19 15:50:48 Hagbard: I'll give it a thought. I use the browser go-back arrow for the time being. It brings me back to the games list, where I click on the next game.

  2011-11-19 11:49:26 crust: The correspondence format seems to be working well!  Are you planning to add a "next game" button so we can have several games on the go, and not have to log in separately for each one?

  2011-11-16 16:34:45 Hagbard: That's why there's only one!

  2011-11-15 18:03:20 Roderich: good work! :D
the knight's an evil bitch from hell! right now, I know why white has only got one of them

  2011-11-15 15:01:26 Hagbard: The bug is squashed, and the abrupted game can continue.

  2011-11-13 19:34:31 Roderich: It's a shame indeed, but won't be the last one. I'm off for one or two days, see you then

  2011-11-13 19:29:29 Hagbard: Something happened. Too bad, it was a dramatic game!

  2011-11-13 19:21:26 Roderich: another strange bug: can't move my pieces at all! can't even select them. my feeling tells me it has something to do with your berserk move

  2011-11-13 19:00:14 Roderich: that draw offering wasn't serious! can't take it back, can I?

  2011-11-13 16:59:00 Aage: All programmers believe that every bug is the last one...

  2011-11-13 13:50:37 crust: what is this, a bug hunt??  great work Aage.  crust

  2011-11-12 21:12:11 Hagbard: When white looses its only extra help, the knight, as I did, white is definitely weaker. But we have yet to see the knight at work.

  2011-11-12 21:03:34 Roderich: Nice! What I somehow like is the new mechanic of draw forts - white must come out and fight! I just wonder, if maybe it is white now that is weaker because of only one chieftain (or what was its name)? And it is no longer the same, if start from west, east, north oder south. Let's play more matches to find out!

  2011-11-12 20:50:09 Hagbard: Small bug, it'll be corrected and ratings adjusted. Thanks for the games! This handful of correspondence games were a good test, several bugs were found and corrected on the fly.

  2011-11-12 20:39:02 Roderich: Isn't our berserk match finished? It's still in my list, although I'd beat your king. Buttons don't react.
Greetings

  2011-11-07 22:11:13 Roderich: ah, "send move", got it... sorry

  2011-11-07 21:40:36 Roderich: Hmmm, now the moves aren't saved by the programme although I'm using firefox. Seems like the gods of tafl don't want me to play!

  2011-11-06 22:05:47 Aage: - and thanks a lot for solving the mystery! I think others have met the problem too.

  2011-11-06 21:36:31 Aage: Good to hear that! Microsoft once had a market war with Sun and forever after the Sun Java does not always work correctly on the Microsoft Explorer.
Berserk: No, the whole moves series begins with pressing the Berserk button. Then do all the moves, and finally press the Berserk again.

  2011-11-06 21:28:18 Roderich: okay, firefox does work ... I'm looking forward to a interesting berserk match ... have I got it right: if I want a piece to berserk I have to press the button "berserk", after I've beaten the first piece?

  2011-11-06 19:22:25 Roderich: It is a strange thing with my both notebooks (internet explorer 8 the one, 9 the other). I click on "ok" and nothing happens, as if I wouldn't have clicked or have forgotten something.

  2011-11-06 16:38:10 Aage: I just tried and can both invite and accept.

  2011-11-06 16:15:00 Roderich: @ Aage: I can't invite to any game. Any idea what's happening?
Greetings

  2011-09-26 18:09:33 crust: rachunek archive.    : )

  2011-09-24 21:06:48 crust: To Aage:  I like the re-organization of the options - much better.

  2011-09-24 20:41:30 Selah: Lets play

  2011-09-22 00:33:23 Aage: Should be fixed.

  2011-09-21 19:06:48 crust: to aage:  If you offer a game, then try to offer a second game as well, and click on "other options" in order to get to marseille, instead of going to the other options it just goes into Danish.  Is it a bug?

  2011-09-16 07:49:43 Hagbard: Looks like the problem with the chat windows was that the browser was zoomed.

  2011-09-14 20:18:14 sea slug: no problem.  I thought you were being a bit quiet!

  2011-09-14 19:50:48 Hagbard: @sea slug: somewhy my chat windows are not there, so I can't see messages, sorry

  2011-09-13 19:22:57 crust: awesome

  2011-09-13 16:36:48 Aage: On the structured forum, crust suggested two improvements of the game notation. They are implemented though some works only from now on forward.

  2011-09-10 18:38:11 Aage: Interesting bug - corrected. Thanks.

  2011-09-10 17:36:27 sea slug: ok, If you invite for an 11 x 11 game, and then keep that window open, and open another one and try to invite for a 9 x 9 game in the other window, it doesn't let you do it.  Or rather, it doesn't let you play 9 x 9, but instead sets up both invitations as 11 x 11. Same thing happens if you invite for 9 x 9 first (which works) and try to invite for 9 x 9 in second window as well, it comes out as 11 x 11.

  2011-09-10 17:27:02 sea slug: to aage, you are right, it seems to be working fine now.  hmmm, very odd...

  2011-09-10 15:33:34 Aage: @sea slug re 9x9: I tried the buttons and they invited as supposed to - how did you hit the bug?

  2011-09-10 04:17:13 crust: Test your brains with the new hnefatafl puzzle in the structured forum (under "strategy and rules").

  2011-09-09 19:31:23 sea slug: hey aage, the bug is back! unable to invite for 9x9

  2011-09-06 22:11:30 Adam: Hello Tafl fans. Our poll for choosing a tournament rule set is showing 100% in favour of Fetlar rules. However, we have only 5 voters. So please, everyone join up to the forum (link below)and have your say. Five people may be enough to set up a hnefatafl association, but I feel we need a larger following to make a rule set vote convincing.

  2011-09-02 21:28:37 Aage: Re 9x9/11x11: found a bug - it is corrected.

  2011-09-02 18:03:43 Aage: To sea slug: How did you do that?

The multiple invitation is a useful spin-off from the tournament.

  2011-09-01 23:38:00 sea slug: Hey aage, for some reason when I invite for a 9 x 9 game it comes up as 11 x 11.  Is there something wrong here?  By the way, I like the fact that we can now offer multiple games

  2011-08-25 21:27:07 Aage: I agree and will keep the feature. In the beginning visitors did many mistakes in the invitations process and sent out a swarm of new invitations when they clearly wanted to attach to an existing one. But I also think that now this way is better.

  2011-08-25 21:11:12 Adam: Aage, when the tournament was running I thought the function of being able to accept an existing game or setting up another was a function that might improve the online gaming experience generally. I know traffic is maybe not so high, but players offering an online game could also then offer different game types at the same time which would be fun. Just a thought.

  2011-08-22 21:44:54 Aage: Incredible - only four spam free days.

  2011-08-22 21:28:17 Roderich: we've got a dumb spammer in our forum ... globalisation has begun ^^

  2011-08-22 20:09:39 Roderich: no problem, it's not important enough to be worth so much work, thanks for trying

  2011-08-22 19:50:01 Aage: I gave it up, it's heavy programming.

  2011-08-22 14:51:33 Aage: Alas, it does not exist. Maybe I can give it a try tonight.

  2011-08-22 14:47:55 Roderich: Well, I would have done it by myself, step by step ... does such a program exist or do we have to make it exist?

  2011-08-22 14:39:33 Aage: Yes exactly. In this case the normalizing is equivalent to rotating the board 90 degrees. But it is in real a very difficult thing to do and almost impossible not to make errors in the process. It should really be done automatically by some computer game-normalizing program.

  2011-08-22 14:26:35 Roderich: @ Aage: Would this be in your opinion a correct standardised variant:

a8c8*-e5e3-d1d3-f5c5	
=
d1d3*-g5i5-k4i4-g6g3

I just want to know if I'm doing the right thing here ...

  2011-08-22 13:57:14 Roderich: Great! That's a lot material! Thanks Aage!

  2011-08-22 13:29:52 Aage: All Fetlar games since January are listed trough link below, in case they can be of use for study of opening moves.

  2011-08-22 10:19:26 Aage: Good questions. These two features are left overs from the ten years of development of the computer game. And yes, the very first version implemented was Scandinavian rules, computer playing black and starting. If Adam's poll turns out to point at Fetlar as a standard, I'll try to adjust the computer game accordingly.

  2011-08-22 07:19:23 Adam: Good questions from Beadle. I believe the computer plays the scandinavain rules. Though Aage will no doubt correct me if i'm wrong.

  2011-08-22 04:46:57 Beadle: Also, when I play against the computer, the king can be captured against the board edge. I only mention it because it's different, not to complain.

  2011-08-22 04:31:19 Beadle: As the game is played here, the rule seems to be that black moves first. When I play against the computer as black, white(Computer) starts the game. Why is this?

  2011-08-20 22:14:20 Aage: Increased to 512 KB - sorry, this program has a thousand adjustables. I hope the file will load now, else please let me know.

  2011-08-20 21:47:05 Roderich: Aage, I really don't want to ennoy you, but there's another problem in the forum: There's a data limit of 256 KB. My pdf however is 100 KB bigger, and I don't know how to reduce it – it's just a table with writings ... Maybe you can increase that limit when you find time to do it.
A nice evening to Denmark from Hansestadt Rostock

  2011-08-20 20:26:01 Aage: Yes unfortunately I had not tested it - now it is tested and should work.

  2011-08-20 19:11:43 Roderich: pdf format still doesn't work in the forum

"The extension pdf is not allowed."

Just so you know, greets

  2011-08-20 19:06:30 Aage: Thanks - the German sentence is changed.

  2011-08-20 18:56:21 Roderich: @ Aage: Thanks, I'll have a try later on!

By the way, I've found another text to improve in German, if you want to you could change

"Für Übersetzung: bitte verwenden Sie das Google-Button oben auf der Seite."

into: "Übersetzung: Bitte verwende den oberen Google-Button."

This would be in accordance with the other texts.
Greets

  2011-08-20 18:13:46 Aage: @ Roderich: It should be possible to upload attached files to the forum now, such as pdf and docx.

  2011-08-20 11:53:03 sea slug: to aage:  That's great!  I will look forward to it.  In the meantime, if that variation is to be the tournament rules, can you put a "9x9 tournament rules" button in the options, to make it easier to select the correct rules for practising?  That would be really helpful.  Cheers!

  2011-08-20 09:38:48 Aage: @ sea slug: good idea of a future tournament with the 9x9 board! It could fx. be in November. With three months in between, different rules sets could actually regularly be road tested this way.

  2011-08-20 09:25:21 Aage: There's already been done some test games with 11x11 board, 2-sides king capture, king wins on the edge - see link below to lists and animations. Up to now mostly white has won.

  2011-08-20 00:14:23 sea slug: to Aage:  how about a tournament of 9 x 9 hnefatafl some time? We could use the 2-side capture, escape-to-the-edge, hostile corners variation which seems to be the best balanced - a good tournament might give it a good road test, as it did for the Fetlar rules. In the meantime, I'm up for testing the 11 x 11 game with 2-side king capture

  2011-08-19 23:46:36 Hagbard: Update on the Fetlar rule-set balance from the tournament: 5 players (crust, Adam, Hagbard, Roderich and Jonas) completed all 20 games against each other, with 8 white wins, 6 black wins and 6 draws. Still a balanced result.

As the Fetlar appears to be best balanced rules for the 4-sides king capture game (for strong players that is), it would be interesting to also clarify the 2-sides king capture game. For the 2-sides game to have a chance of balance, the king must win on the board edge. The 2-sides game could very well turn out to be far from as well balanced as the Fetlar game, but it would be interesting to have this verified with a good number of test games.

  2011-08-19 22:48:08 crust: I've posted on the "other" forum a proposal for an international hnefatafl society.

  2011-08-19 19:25:57 Aage: Thanks for the suggestion - an Other-forum is added.

  2011-08-19 17:59:26 Beadle: I looked at the new forum, and I like it. I do have a suggestion though. Most web forums have a "misc" or "other" sub-forum. Perhaps one of those would be good. It could be used for, perhaps, showing off homemade game sets, linking relevant news stories, and so on. (To prevent it from becoming chaotic, the "Misc" sub-forum should be required to relate in some way to Hnefatafl, or other Tafl games.) This is just a casual suggestion, not a criticism.

  2011-08-19 11:43:32 Aage: Glad to hear that! The number of current email subscribers is shown now - 3 for now.

  2011-08-19 07:46:12 Roderich: @ Aage: But I should be in your list, too! I'm also getting notifications. Good function, by the way.

  2011-08-18 21:46:39 Aage: That's right, and since it is not meant to be any spam function, the notifications are sent only for seven days.
The number of subscribers is not shown, and it would be a rather depressing info too, since I am currently the only one using it.
The feature is very efficient though, I have met many newbies this way.

  2011-08-18 21:21:48 Beadle: So, if I sign up for email notification, I get a message every time someone invites. Likewise, if I put out an invite, everyone who is currently signed-up to receive an invite will receive this invite. Is there some way to see how many people are currently open to an invitation?

  2011-08-18 21:08:27 Aage: Please remember the email notification feature. When newbies invite, they very often stay for five or ten minutes only, and if a potiential opponent sees the email notification, it can be avoided that a newbie invites in vain.

  2011-08-18 21:00:48 Hagbard: To Beadle: As a newbie playing black, the rules where the king is captured from 2 sides and must reach a corner, give a better game, because it is easier for black.

  2011-08-18 18:25:53 Aage: A structured forum is added, which could be useful for some more structured discussions about strategy, rules etc.
The structured forum could be a supplement to the present, simple forum? The advantage of this simple forum is that any message is immediately and easily seen on the page, whereas messages in the complex forum more hide in the structure.
The complex forum can do many things, however, fx. polls. Maybe Adam could create a poll for a voting about international Hnefatafl tournament rules?

  2011-08-18 18:03:34 Beadle: Newbie here in NY state. I also think some kind of International Hnefatafl Society is a good idea. 

I recently discovered this game in the form of the 9x9 "Tablut". I like the 11x11 variant more. I was initially discouraged by the difficulty of playing as black, but looking at the tournament results, it actually looks more balanced that I had thought. I just need to improve my strategy, it seems. This game deserves a comeback.

  2011-08-17 22:27:35 Adam: I think forming an international hneftafl society is a great idea. Count me in. Seems to me the first job is agreeing collectively on this rule set thing. Not throwing out other rule sets, but agreeing on international tournament rules. (no prizes for guessing I'm a fan of the fetlar rules.) Rule agreement enabled football to take off, and I think its what is holding this game back. Of course we wouldnt be saying 'this is how the rules definitely were in viking times', but rather that they seem to be the ones that make the reconstructed game most playable.

  2011-08-17 09:14:24 Roderich: to crust:

I'm on board, captain! ;)

I've already toyed with the idea of founding a tafl club in my town, but I think it's really hard to find enough people in a smaller place like Rostock. Playing over the internet seems to be the perfect solution for the moment. Maybe we could add something like a well-arranged forum where there can be discussed strategies and questions from beginners with more detail.

Greetings and happy week to everyone.
Chris

  2011-08-17 00:46:59 crust: Thank you for your kind words and good sportsmanship!  I would like to add my thanks to Aage for all his hard work, making this tournament possible, and congratulations to ALL the participants on the amazingly high standard of hnefatafl we have seen here.  I propose that we (the tournament players) form the nucleus of a new international hnefatafl society, to bring this incredible game to a wider public.  Any thoughts?

  2011-08-16 17:32:15 Adam: Congratulations Tim. Well earned. Lets hope we can all keep the game activity levels up. I think everyones game has improved visibly through this tournament. Great fun, thanks for hosting Aage, and thanks for archiving the tournament.

  2011-08-16 14:35:49 Roderich: @ crust: Congratulations crust!!! Although no other thing I'd expected ... :)

  2011-08-16 12:00:43 Aage: The tournament completed - a lot of thanks for taking part and making this an event with a lot of fun and fine games, and congratulations to crust for the win! I included all points in the score list, like crust suggested, even if a few played only a couple of games, because it does not change the result.
Before this competition I sent invitations to a number of reenactment groups and had hoped to meet some tough warriors here from the real battle fields. But maybe bravery with sword and shield is one thing and bravery at the Hnefatafl board quite another, or perhaps it will be another time... (that is, could be that Adam is one of the tough warriors -).
A selection of eight of the games is posted as animations on Youtube.

  2011-08-15 23:09:16 Hagbard: We call it a draw then?

  2011-08-15 23:07:59 Mac: It was a very nice game, Hagbard,· unfortunatly the game crashed

  2011-08-15 21:19:27 crust: Tournament update:
These are the scores so far: (correct me if I'm wrong)

Crust 7.5 points (not counting glitched game)

Adam 5.5 points (unless we are disregarding Hugues' games, in which case, Adam has 3.5 points and would be in third place)

Hagbard 4.5 points

Roderich 3 points

Jonas 2.5 points

Shaunyman 2 points

Hugues 0 points

Roderich, crust, Hagbard, Jonas and Adam have all played each other twice

  2011-08-15 20:59:40 crust: To aage:   Thank you for doing these adjustments - please don't forget to delete the Roderich/crust game marked 2011-08-15 16:28:52 ("Black won") - this was an incomplete game because of a glitch, Black did not win, and my point should be taken away!  Thanks!

  2011-08-15 19:46:17 crust: to aage;  please take off my 1 point from that earlier Roderich/crust match, and give us each 1/2 a point.  thanks.

  2011-08-15 19:44:27 crust: to roderich: the last glitch may have been at my end, I got a sign saying "internet explorer has stopped working" and then "a problem with this website has caused internet explorer to close".  Shame, because that was one hell of a match - deserves a prize for longest game probably.  Amazing stuff going on in the corners!  Can't believe I survived...

  2011-08-15 19:40:30 crust: To aage:  we tried again (third try) and got a lot further, but the computer crashed again!  we have agreed to call it a draw anyway, because although roderich didn't have enough men for a draw fort, I didn't have quite enough for a complete encirclement.  can the result of roderich/crust be marked down as "draw" please?  thanks

  2011-08-15 17:48:40 Aage: I'll try if it is possible to fix the broken game with the correct moves.

  2011-08-15 17:32:48 Roderich: @ Aage & crust: 
CONTINUATION

19.  k2k3 - j2j3
20.  h3h2 - k7j7
21.  e7e3 - g11g2
22.  h2i2 - h9h4
23.  k4i4 - f3i3
24.  i5g5 - k8i8
25.  g5g4 - g2h2
26.  i4h4 - k6h6
27.  g4g1 - b6b2
28.  g1h1 - h2i2
29.  h1c1 - c8c3
30.  h4b4* - k5b5*
31.  b4b3* - c2c3*
32.  c1b1* - i2b2*
33.  b3b4* - c3c1*
34.  d3d2*

  2011-08-15 17:29:41 Roderich: @ Aage & crust:

Here's some IMPORTANT information about the reconstructed upcoming match:

By some strange circumstances the move list doesn't show the right turns - sometimes there is a "timeout" where it shouldn't be and thus doesn't show the information about the turn, but the game continues until a certain point, although this point wasn't the last turn. From turn 30 on there's also a displacement of 1 round. It's quite confusing, but luckily I had the final window with the last turn openend when I tried to reconstruct the game from the beginning.
The correct dates are the following. Only they can be the base of that game: (those with * are reconstructed)

1.       - h1h3
2.  g5g2 - f2c2
3.  g6g3 - k4i4
4.  f4f2 - h11h9
5.  g2i2 - i4i3
6.  f5j5 - a4f4
7.  g7j7 - f4f3
8.  f6f4 - g1i1
9.  f4k4 - i3k3
10.  j5j2 - a8c8
11.  e5i5 - i1i3
12.  j7j3 - f1j1
13.  e6g6 - e1i1
14.  d6d3 - a5a3
15.  g6g2 - h3h2
16.  h6h3 - i1i3
17.  j2i2 - d1i1
18.  g2k2 - j1j2

  2011-08-15 17:04:51 Aage: It's ok of course!
I hope the technique works all right the next time.
By the way the two half matches are on the list and can be seen in animation.

  2011-08-15 16:49:54 crust: to aage:  re: Roderich v crust tournament game - a glitch caused this match to end prematurely- my board said Roderich had timed out, and gave me the win, but his board showed he had moved.  We want to re-play the game, copying the moves exactly up to the point where it froze, and then carry on and finish it.  I hope this is allowed!!  So, When it says "Roderich/Crust  black won"  that's not true - not yet anyway. 
Thanks

  2011-08-15 16:31:33 crust: to roderich - what happened - you disappeared!  another glitch?

  2011-08-15 14:55:48 crust: to Roderich - i would like that!

  2011-08-15 14:53:22 Roderich: @ crust: If we have the game saved, let's play it until the end when see each other one day

  2011-08-14 20:52:38 crust: ok

  2011-08-14 20:51:57 Roderich: @ crust: ups, sorry... if you have time, we play the right one after that

  2011-08-14 20:51:08 crust: we already played this way round - I need to play you as black!

  2011-08-14 20:48:43 Roderich: @ crust: chat doesn't work as usual ;)

  2011-08-14 08:16:08 Hagbard: To Pedro: I saw you visited this site yesterday - you should join the tournament!

  2011-08-12 20:18:58 crust: I think you were winning - anyway - good fun, see you soon - I have to go

  2011-08-12 20:14:14 Roderich: @ crust: something went wrong, good game, you would have won for sure

  2011-08-12 13:33:06 crust: To aage:  brilliant!
To Roderich:  tough game!  well done.
To Tafl Gild:  Where ARE you guys?

  2011-08-12 13:05:45 Aage: To crust: if this round results in a shared no. 1, we'll take a second round until last man standing, as in football.
I tested your youtube idea, and it can be done.

  2011-08-11 22:48:06 crust: If only you knew the power of the Dark Side...

  2011-08-11 22:41:51 Adam: I've enormous problems beating crust, wish I could blame that on my OS : )

  2011-08-11 20:28:49 Roderich: @ everyone: I've enormous problems with my chat... could it be windows 7 which causes them? Greetings

  2011-08-11 20:25:24 Roderich: @ Repoupoune: Seems like the chat doesn't work. Good game!

  2011-08-11 19:33:32 crust: re: tournament.  
MATCHES STILL TO BE PLAYED:
Hagbard v Shaunyman
Hugues v Crust
Shaunyman v Hugues
Crust v Shaunyman
Hugues v Hagbard
Adam v Shaunyman
Jonas v Hugues

  2011-08-11 14:41:25 crust: To Aage:  Thanks for making this tournament possible!  I would like to propose that if there is not a clear winner on points, there should be a final round between the two highest scorers.  Then we could animate it and put it on youtube.  Because, frankly, the hnefatafl you can see on youtube is rubbish, no offence

  2011-08-11 14:37:19 crust: To Adam:  Thank you for an epic game!  One of the longest, + easily as tough as any chess match.

  2011-08-09 22:32:22 Adam: regarding rule-set game balance: 7 black wins vs 6 white wins and two draws. Doesn't get more balanced than that.

  2011-08-06 23:55:18 crust: Scores so far in the tournament:

Hagbard 4 points
Adam 4 points
Crust 4 points
Shaunyman 2 points
Jonas 1 point
Hugues 0 points

There are many matches still to play, and more players may join in at any time.

  2011-08-05 21:29:58 crust: to roderich: thanks,  and greetings to you.  I hope you are going to play in the tournament!

  2011-08-05 21:18:12 Roderich: to crust – Good game anyway, and in case you haven't got the message: I'm sorry for your dog.
Greetings

  2011-08-05 21:10:29 crust: to roderich - no problem

  2011-08-05 20:55:59 Roderich: sorry crust, my chat fucked up

  2011-08-05 20:13:53 Adam: @crust: some really good hnefetafl being played. The game archive from the tournament will be a valuable tool for us all to study and improve our game.

  2011-08-05 00:01:58 crust: just watching tournament results coming in, it strikes me that these fetlar rules are quite well balanced; there is roughly an equal number of white victories, black victories, and a couple of draws.

  2011-08-04 23:02:58 crust: congratulations to Jonas and Adam on their elegant demonstrations of the art of the hnefatafl draw fort.  Beautiful games!

  2011-07-30 08:01:53 Aage: The first invitation ten minutes after the match finished, updates the list of matches.

  2011-07-29 23:29:50 crust: to adam and hagbard:  I greatly enjoyed watching your matches on replay.  You are both as cunning as weasels! I am looking forward to trying to out-weasel you both....

  2011-07-29 23:23:12 Hagbard: It is on the list all right.

  2011-07-29 21:12:34 Adam: I don't see my loss as white against Hagbard on the play list. Hope I didn't click out of the page too soon or something.

  2011-07-29 11:06:01 Aage: The postfix "(tourn.)" seen in the rating list is added automatically for matches played from the tournament page.

  2011-07-28 20:30:06 Aage: I'd say they're welcome to play a few tournament matches for the fun of it - when the score is calculated these points are not included.

  2011-07-28 20:05:38 crust: I think it's ok to stick to 2 games per opponent - that's how it is done at a tournament, anyway.  We are more likely to have problems because players become unavailable.  In other words, people will start the tournament, play a few opponents, and then disappear.  I hope that won't happen...

  2011-07-27 17:41:35 Aage: Maybe it'd be an idea to loosen up the rule of two games per opponent? If I have ten games against crust, fx., surely nine are lost and with good luck maybe one is won. With still one point to split, that would be 0.9 for crust and 0.1 for myself. This way it is less important if you have a lot of luck in exactly two games.

  2011-07-25 16:36:37 Aage: Tim Millar made me aware that a cancellation is actually announced at the top of the Fetlar championships home page, sorry I overlooked that.
  This means that it makes sense to go ahead with our unofficial tournament.
  And nothing much to wait for either. It could as well run already August 1st - 15th.
  The games can of course be done at any time of the day, but maybe we should encourage participants to be especially aware from 17 UTC and onwards, because this would be 18 o'clock in Britain and Spain, 19 o'clock in Germany and Scandinavia, and 20 and 21 o'clock in Eastern Europe. And morning in USA.

  2011-07-25 09:56:47 Aage: The Shetland Times has an events list "What's On in Shetland - August 2011 + on". Above the list is written "These details are subject to change or cancellation without prior notification. Check with organisers if unsure." But as of today the Fetlar Hall event is still on the list.

  2011-07-23 13:55:39 Adam: Sounds great!

  2011-07-23 10:53:59 Aage: Maybe done something like this?:
Rules must be the Fetlar rules.
Every player plays one white and one black game against all other players (or at least against all who could win the competition).
Would it be enough to do these games for 14 days, fx. August 7th-21st?
How do the Shetlanders count points? 1 for won, 0 for lost and 0.5 for a draw?
Could be fun if some of the Russians, Estonians, varyags, Vikings and Adam's and Tim's medieval warriors would join.

  2011-07-23 00:02:05 Aage: @Adam: Good idea, it's ok with me. The Fetlar Hnefatafl home page has not mentioned a cancelling yet, however. Perhaps they might find someone else to head the championships this year. In the unlucky situation that they shouldn't succeed with this, we could have an "unofficial tournament" here. Some details would not be the same, most important it is very difficult to properly simulate the quickplay, so I guess we would stick to the usual 5 minutes timeout. Besides this, it would certainly be possible.

  2011-07-22 22:00:39 Adam: @crust. Thats sad news. It had been thinking of suggesting Aage some sort of online championship. We have the ratings which are great, but it might be stir up some gaming interest and be fun to have an annual play off of some kind on this website?

  2011-07-21 10:35:01 crust: I just heard from Shetland that the world championship has been CANCELLED.  : (

  2011-06-17 17:27:23 crust: could be useful in scrabble  : )

  2011-06-17 14:19:34 Nielsen: The search machine statistics tells how this game has been spelled with any incredible combination of letters. A few examples are:
hnafletafle, hnafeltafl, hefentafl, hemftalafl, hrfanatafel, hnefatl, hnfafl, hfenatl and hftanafl!
All these strange words were forwarded to this page.

  2011-06-10 17:29:38 Helge: I agree about the corners. Last time I won with white could not've been done without hostile corners.

  2011-06-09 23:24:23 sea slug: To Helge:  Yes I agree, this variant is quite well balanced.  I think it's a good idea to keep the hostile corners, even though the king escapes to the edge rather than the corners. It adds a lot to the dynamic of the game.     Very playable!!

  2011-06-09 23:10:01 Helge: to sea slug: my theory is still that the game is close to balanced (9x9, Millar rules). White won, but black (I) probably did some errors. In the games so far, white as well as black can win but not easy for neither.

  2011-06-09 20:01:23 sea slug: to helge:  thanks for the games - white wins again!  maybe variant is too easy for white...  my chat window froze, sorry about that

  2011-06-02 00:52:01 Torc: Anyone know any non-java, free versions of this? I cannot play while at work. :(

  2011-05-22 20:24:35 Helge: To Magnus: sorry, I didn't hear the music.

  2011-05-17 14:20:19 InglRafn: my first go was bad!

  2011-05-06 16:34:54 sea slug: to Hagbard:    ok  : )

  2011-05-05 09:24:01 Hagbard: To sea slug: Sorry, I didn't hear the board start up music yesterday.

  2011-05-01 13:51:14 Leipt: to sea slug: Thank you didn't know there were a chat outside the game. Hope the cauliflower is tasty.

  2011-04-30 15:52:53 crust: Very dangerous, those nine-year-olds.  Some of them have a highly-developed killer instinct.

  2011-04-25 12:11:12 Hjuke: I had a number of Hnefatafl games with a 9 year old child opponent, and it worked well with these rules:
Adult white (defender), child black (attacker): 11x11 board, 2-side king capture.
Adult black (attacker), child white (defender): 9x9 board, 4-side king capture.

  2011-04-14 20:17:23 sea slug: to Leipt - thanks for the games - see you soon - I have to go cook a cauliflower now.  I hope your cat doesn't get too many more hair balls

  2011-04-11 12:37:41 Pedro: Thanks Crust,i like playng with you because you are very good player

  2011-04-08 15:39:59 crust: to Pedro - that was a very convincing win!  I must study it to find out how you did it (and develop counter-measures). Well done anyway.  Glad to see your score go over 1700, you're catching me up!

  2011-03-30 00:59:09 crust: to Developer - It's all done by magic; Nielsen is a powerful wizard

  2011-03-30 00:55:01 crust: to Kostas - You're welcome.  I got the co-ordinates wrong in my answer, I meant e8 not e7, and g8 not g7.  Sorry about that.

  2011-03-29 20:55:32 kostas: to crust and to Nielsen : Thank for your answer..

  2011-03-29 18:52:55 Developer: Hi all, is this JAVA? if so, does someone can explain me the computer logic here? how it knows where to move what to do and etc.

  2011-03-29 11:20:39 crust: to Kostas - by the way, it may seem annoying that white can force a draw, but you will be glad of it when playing as white!  Sometimes by threatening to get a draw, white can force black to move pieces into dangerous positions, where they can be attacked, or maybe black will have to use pieces that are already busy guarding the corners, so a corner becomes unguarded again.  The whole draw thing is a vital part of hnefatafl dynamics, and is one of the things that helps to balance the forces of white and black.

  2011-03-29 11:04:44 crust: to Kostas - The computer is quite good at getting a draw, either by getting onto an open 3rd row, or by building a little "fort" in the middle of the board.  You have to make sure you don't leave the third row from the edge unguarded.  (rows 3 and 9, and columns c and i).If you have no black pieces on the third row from the edge, and the king gets on to it, he will go back and forth between the two corners forever - this would be declared a draw in a tournament after 3 moves, but the computer will happily go on forever.  So, stop it happening by controlling those 3rd rows!  Also, you can stop white building a "draw-fort" in the middle of the board by moving your men in to occupy key squares.    The vital squares to control are d5, d7, e4, e7, g4, g7, h5 and h7. You only need to occupy a few of those to stop white building the draw fort. Of course, white will try to get behind your pieces to capture them, so watch out! Good luck - hope to play you some time

  2011-03-29 09:51:13 Nielsen: to Kostas - If the comp is encircled, it defends the king by building a castle of king's men around the king so that the king can never be captured. This is really a draw: noone wins. To simplify the software (which is complicated already), it is rated as a computer win, but in return the human can withdraw as often as he wants to, whereas the comp never withdraws.

In the 11x11 hard mode you win against the king by moving in faster, so that the castle building is disturbed. On the 9x9 board the comp hasn't time or space enough for a castle.

When you play against human opponents ("Hnefatafl over the internet"), both players in this situation press the "Offer draw" button, and the game is correctly rated as a draw.

  2011-03-29 00:26:10 Kostas: Am i the only one that he can not win the 11:11 with black side on the hard mode? in the final point the king just repeat endless the same move and i follow him...even if it pass half an hour the same thing goes on...I think a rule like stratego rules for movements (for example you can not move more than 3 on row the same pioner) it would be usefull. Sorry for my bad english :)

  2011-03-12 16:34:39 crust: to Pedro - sorry I lost the chat window - my internet connection dropped out for a few seconds.  Thanks for the game though

  2011-03-03 20:18:49 Hjuke: Doing test games on the 9x9 board. So far it looks like the Scandinavian museum rules (2-side king capture) are precisely targeting this board.

  2011-02-25 23:13:24 crust: to aage:  Thank you !!!

  2011-02-19 12:37:46 crust: To MaC:  you may be right, but I think I can prove to you that white always wins 9 x 9 with 4-side capture.   Will you accept the challenge?

  2011-02-18 19:17:53 MaC: I started playing Hnefertafl long time ago on a 9x9 field with a 4 Side king capture rule, but without a draw. So white has to escape anyhow. In that case the rules are leveled equal to each side.

  2011-02-18 18:12:12 Hjuke: If so, next question about 9x9 will be: is the game now too hard for white? (2 side king capture) I suspect that the Fetlar rule will come in useful here also.

  2011-02-18 06:58:09 Hjuke: I lost a number of games on the 9x9 as black and won none. If noone can find a way to win as 9x9 black, it leads to a conclusion: then the 9x9 king cannot be a 4-side capture king but must be 2-side capturable.

  2011-02-16 18:12:27 crust: Does white ALWAYS win in the 9 x 9 version?  Has anyobody won a 9 x 9 game, playing as black, against a decent opponent?

  2011-02-13 22:46:38 crust: no thanks

  2011-02-13 22:14:36 Sofia: Hello,
If you wish to tafl games in a correspondance style in a simple webbrowser, you can have a try at
www.dragonheelslair.com

  2011-02-13 16:20:54 crust: to HAL:  just open the pod-bay doors, wise guy, or I'm going to take an axe to your processors and give you a re-programming you will never forget!

  2011-02-13 14:42:45 HAL: I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.

  2011-02-13 12:56:04 crust: to Aage:  that's a relief.  I thought maybe the Machines were taking over, like in Terminator

  2011-02-13 10:57:08 Aage: To crust: a bug sneaked in yesterday, it's corrected now; thanks for telling.

  2011-02-12 23:47:35 crust: to Aage: what's going on with the computer's game ratings?  each time it loses, its rating goes UP by about 30 points!!

  2011-02-11 23:44:19 Hjuke: To Skar: good games!

  2011-02-11 21:46:11 Hjuke: To lattermann: excuse me, I didn't hear the start up music.

  2011-02-11 16:30:52 Nielsen: Pedro and Crust and maybe others have experienced that the chat window occasionally freezed. It looks like it might have something to do with the stability of the user's internet line. I had the same problem during a period with an unstable (noisy) telephone line here.

  2011-02-11 16:30:00 Nielsen: I have looked through this thread and have a couple of follow ups.
  Niding mentions 16.9.2010 a variant with a weaponless king, which should function well and balanced. The rules look like the medieval Hnefatafl descendants Ard-Ri (Scot), Tawl-Bwrdd (Welsh) and Alea Evangelii (Saxon).
  The reason why I did not implement this rules variant, is that this site concentrates on the original *Viking game*. I guess it is ok for a medieval king to be a very noble, old man with not enough physical strength to lift a sword. Close to the situation in chess, where the king is the weakest piece on board next after the peasants.
  As for the Viking king, however, he would never see a battle against a hostile enemy flock, as Hnefatafl simulates, because such a Viking king would not survive a day among his own men!

  2011-02-10 17:50:45 Hjuke: I have tried a number of games on the 9x9 board recently. These games seem to run much like the 11x11 board, only quicker. On 9x9 one meets the dangerous lines, the corner fight etc., just like we know it from 11x11.

  2011-02-08 17:19:44 Roderich: @ MaC: Kannst du mir noch einmal deine E-Mail-Adresse schreiben? Die ist mir abhanden gekommen... oder du schreibst du mir einfach unter christoph.treskow@t-online.de.
Ein Gruß

  2011-01-25 13:05:21 Pedro: To Hjuke:Last game i lost my chat window, thanks for the game, you play very well.

  2011-01-24 16:17:19 Nielsen: Done some changes. Hope this removes the problem.

  2011-01-21 21:56:33 Roderich: ... my 3rd game... sorry

  2011-01-21 21:35:37 Roderich: I dont't know if it is due to my opponents, but this is my first game today that doesn't start at all. I'm always waiting for the first turn, but nothing happens...

  2011-01-21 18:52:06 Nielsen: To Roderich: Thanks! The text is adjusted.

  2011-01-21 17:41:48 Roderich: @ Nielsen: Hello, I just have another suggestion for improvement for the German text in the waiting-for-response-window:
Lass dieses Fenster geöffnet, bis die Einladung für ein Hnefatafl-Spiel über das Internet angenommen wird. Wenn du die Einladung zurücknehmen möchtest, klicke bitte auf "Stop".
Greetings

  2011-01-16 18:39:07 Nielsen: The replay function is ready. I have opened access for everybody to see all the games between high rated players, I hope that it is ok. Many of those games are instructive and educative to watch.

  2011-01-16 18:31:20 Aage: To crust: unfortunately I don't know why the chat window sometimes turns inactive for a long while, also unfortunate as it has an important function with the timeout warning.

  2011-01-16 18:11:39 Nielsen: To Roderich: I can see your points about Du/Sie and changed the texts into the modern imperatives. Thanks!

  2011-01-16 14:42:31 Roderich: yeah, very good function indeed

  2011-01-16 14:28:19 crust: To aage:  I just found the "replay" function...awesome!!

  2011-01-16 14:26:58 crust: to MaC:  looks like our game glitched out - I lost chat window, then just had "waiting for opponent's move" forever.  I presume your screen showed the same after your last move, and marked it as a win for you on time (judging by what happened to my score on the score board)  Sorry the game ended that way, though I think you were winning anyway.  crust

  2011-01-16 14:18:44 crust: to aage - greetings! any idea why the chat window sometimes just disappears, to be replaced by the message "Internet explorer cannot display the webpage"?  Usually the game can continue without the chat function, although of course the player doesn't get any time-out warnings either. crust

  2011-01-15 18:57:23 Roderich: @ Nielsen: Ah, and if at any time you need more translations in German, just tell me.

  2011-01-15 18:49:56 @ Nielsen: You're welcome. Yeah, they're both utterly correct, but the formal "Sie" is slowly getting out of style on the internet - at least on game sites -, as well as the "Du" with capital letter (in any case, you let the "Du" out in an imperative as above). If you want to stay formal, leave just it as it is. If not take my sentences. :)

  2011-01-15 18:32:48 Nielsen: To Roderich: thanks, the correction is done, except for wähle/klicke, I believe these forms require Du instead of the formal Sie.

  2011-01-15 18:22:54 Roderich: @Nielsen: Hi, if you want, you could also correct this in German:
Choose game, click on one of the boards. = Wähle ein Spiel, klicke auf eines der Bretter.
Greetings

  2011-01-15 16:50:02 Nielsen: To Pedro: Thanks for translation!

  2011-01-15 16:41:47 crust: to Pedro:  si!  gracias para el juego

  2011-01-15 16:39:56 Pedro: Buen juego Crust, hasta la próxima!

  2011-01-15 16:39:04 Pedro: Better say:Espera una respuesta a la invitación, no cierres esta ventana a no ser que quieras cancelar la invitación.Si quieres cancelar, por favor pulsa en detener.

  2011-01-14 18:51:11 Nielsen: To Pedro. What would this be in Spanish: "Await an answer to the invitation - do not close this window unless you want to abandon the invitation. If you want to abandon the invitation, please click on Stop." ?
A very rough translation is something like: "Esperan una respuesta a la invitación - no cierra esta ventana a menos que desee abandonar la invitación. Si desea abandonar la invitación, por favor haga clic en Detener."

  2011-01-09 20:52:06 Hjuke: To crust: indeed!

  2011-01-09 18:59:07 crust: to hjuke:  200 games as black now, too!  that's a lot of tafl!

  2011-01-07 14:00:45 Aage: If minutes are rolling, keep an eye on the message window, which will warn 60 and 30 seconds before timeout.

  2011-01-07 12:17:10 crust: To aage:  would it be possible to put an indicator next to the board which shows how much time is left to make your move?  It would help slow players like me.

  2011-01-05 16:43:51 Roderich: Hey there! Does anybody have experiences with the Tafl-App for the iPod? Is it worth buying it (e.g. strength of computer opponent)? As far as I am concerned Hnefatafl is also playable on it, in addition to Tablut and other variations... at least the art design is very nice.
Greetings, Roderich

  2010-12-29 16:36:52 Pedro: Ya somos 8 o 9 jugadores habituales chicos!

  2010-12-28 12:31:51 Nielsen: A Happy New Year 2011 to all users of this site and hope for many good games in the new year!

  2010-12-23 11:12:44 Pedro: Happy Christmas Crust and every body of hnefatafl

  2010-12-21 23:11:07 crust: Happy Crustmas to all hnefatafl players. Best wishes for 2012, I hope we meet up at a tournament somewhere!

  2010-12-21 12:37:18 Pedro: El rey puede/no puede ser capturado en el borde.This is more correct.

  2010-12-21 09:46:42 Pedro: Tu jugada, o tú mueves.
Esperando movimiento del rival.
Ofrece tablas.
Rodear al rey por 4 lados.
Tú juegas Blancas/negras.
El rey no puede ser capturado en el borde del tablero.
Fin del juego.
Hjuke ,yesterday i have little time to play, and i went.This is your translation.See you and thanks for the game.

  2010-12-20 17:05:35 Nielsen: To Pedro: could you please translate these expressions from the game into Spanish?
Your move.
Waiting for opponent's move.
Resign.
Offer draw.
Surround king from 4 sides.
You play black/white.
The king can/cannot be captured on the board edge.
Game over.
In Spanish.

  2010-12-19 14:26:23 Pedro: I think this is a joke,Crust.I did not write this note.I don´t Know what is the tablut, And i never play this game, but the entry is very funny

  2010-12-16 19:33:38 Nielsen: About the ratings password:
This is an optional password to protect the use of the Name.
If a password is blank, it can later be set to something.
A name is in use only as long as it is on the ratings list.
By the way, I'll change the name for this box to just "password".

  2010-12-16 17:58:47 Adam: to Nielsen: could you explain the ratings password box?

  2010-12-15 23:20:32 Adam: to Hjuke: thanks for the good game. It was tough.

  2010-12-15 22:58:12 Hjuke: To Adam: another time, thanks, very hard work, I'll leave the table for a fresh player.

  2010-12-15 20:56:57 Roderich: Jo bis dann! :)

  2010-12-15 20:56:02 Oybek: Chris, Danke für das Zusammenspielen!!! bis zum nächsten Mal!!!

  2010-12-15 20:55:59 Roderich: @ Oybek: Guck mal unten im Spielfenster... da kannst du Nachrichten eingeben, das ist besser als hier im Forum. Gruß Chris

  2010-12-15 20:32:10 Oybek: ok. ich hab Remis angenommen,

  2010-12-14 16:11:31 Pedro J.: Yo jugÃ© al tablut,y le gane todas, hasta yo fabriquÃ© el juego de tablut de bolsillo para que no me aburro en las salidas. Soy Genial.

  2010-12-11 09:03:35 Hjuke: To crust: Thanks! Even after so many matches I've much to learn about this game.

  2010-12-10 23:48:52 crust: To Hjuke: congratulations on your 200th game as white. I drink to your health

  2010-12-06 17:11:04 Nielsen: To MaC: By accident you must've hit a button on the browser top bar, so that the browser window resetted (browser window update).

  2010-12-05 20:21:55 MaC: to Nielsen: My last game crushed when I start printing during the match. The game restarts on my computer whilst Roderich was stil seeing the last situation. The chat was still running. I start a new move but get the message 'Time out'. 
The game:
Roderich, Dessau, Germany, hvid/white, 2010-12-05 18:54:00
MaC, Brake, Germany, sort/black, 2010-12-05 18:54:00

May be it help to find the error. 

Greatings
MaC

  2010-12-05 16:08:58 Pedro: Crust, i lost my window chat the last game.I can´t talk whit you.

  2010-12-05 09:24:10 Nielsen: To Chip: Your comp is OK. Once in a while the game applet gets stuck in a deadlock. It always happens within the first two moves (two rounds), and when it does, you have to abandon the current match and start over again with a new invitation. When you suspect this situation has arised, you can press "List moves", which can confirm that your latest move is missing from the list. Sorry, this error has been difficult to find and correct, probably I'll stumble upon the cause of it some day when looking for something else.

  2010-12-05 04:06:53 Chip: I have been having trouble with playing the person to person game section. After I make my move, nothing happens and the game times out. Has anyone else had issues like this? Or is my computer being belligerent?

  2010-12-02 16:58:44 crust: To pedro:  felicitaciones!

  2010-12-02 16:55:57 crust: Aage:  Thanks for the archive of all the previous matches!  Good idea.

  2010-12-02 16:52:17 crust: Hello Roderich; if you e-mail me at anomalocharis@hotmail.com i'll put you in touch with them.

  2010-12-02 16:02:50 Roderich: @ crust: Thank for your quick answer! I really would like to play a hnefatafl tournament some time, maybe I should watch out if there's something going on near here... can you maybe give more details about this one in Germany you told of? I'm sure we'll meet sometimes, I visit this website almost every day to practice for I'm quite a beginner.
Greetings, Roderich

  2010-12-02 15:45:48 crust: Hello Roderich.  The World Championship is 4-side kill hnefatafl using the "Fetlar" rules, that is, the king cannot be killed at the edge of the board.  I used these rules also for the tournament in Yorkshire.  This version of the rules has the strongest white king - all the other versions limit the white king's powers in some way. I should also mention that the World Championship is a quickplay contest, with a maximum time of ten seconds per move.  This makes the games very exciting, as you have to rely on instinct (and practice) with no time to analyse individual positions.  And of course you make mistakes because you're in a hurry.  There are plans for a tournament in Germany - I don't know which rule set they will use, but it will probably be the same (fetlar) set.  I look forward to playing you some time, all the best, crust

  2010-12-02 08:56:08 Roderich: Hello there, can someone tell me which exact mode of playing (2-side, 4-side kill, etc.) is actually  chosen for the championship and/or tournaments?
I'm lucky to have found this site, well done!
Greetings from Germany

  2010-11-29 15:25:01 Nielsen: I like Crust's explanation! Could also be something connected to global warming. The technical expl. is: names on the rating list are automatically cleared after one month of inactivity, though a few enthusiasts are flagged to be kept anyway.

  2010-11-29 13:10:05 Adam: to AAge: yes, from the rating list. I notice that new players appear, then disappear, and I was wondering what causes some to stay on the list, while others vanish

  2010-11-28 21:44:00 Nielsen: Do you mean from the rating list?

  2010-11-28 15:47:19 crust: It must be either black holes or spontaneous combustion

  2010-11-28 15:16:13 Adam: to Aage: Wow. All the more impressive. It shows the game really does have an attraction for people today. I have yet to generate enough interest in my home town to form a club, so I encourage people to come to this website where there is a good chance of meeting someone for a challenging game. This website is much appreciated. One thing I can't work out about the leader board, is what causes people to disappear from it?

  2010-11-27 12:37:33 Nielsen: The counting of games has run since April 23rd this year, same as the rating. So the comp did 15000 matches in just seven months.
  At the bottom of this page is a world map of visitors. It resetted recently but I saved a copy before the reset: below the forum you can see the map of visitors Oct. 2009 - Oct. 2010.
  This is one reason I built the Hnefatafl over the internet function in the first place, seeing the carpet of spots spread over half the world.
  Some percentage of the spots must represent some people with a good interest for the game, and it seemed an idea to let these users contact each other and have some proper matches across country borders. This function has run for nine months, and I am much surpriced that the computer is so popular over real people.
  First match over the internet here was played February this year.
  My first version of the computer game was put on the net January 2002.

  2010-11-26 12:42:03 Adam: Its nice seeing how many games people have played. And wow, 15 thousand games played against the computer! Thats a lot of hnefetafl. Maybe the website could do more to encourage people to play against other people,  as opposed to suggesting it. I think all the regular players would agree that playing against human opponents is even better than practicing against the computer.

  2010-11-22 15:33:33 Nielsen: It seems that by combined forces the users here have pinned down the Hnefatafl variant which works really well: the Fetlar game with or without king capture on the board edge. This was not at all obvious half a year ago, at least not to me.
  I've had a countless number of matches here with opponents by these rules, and the matches have been challenging no matter whether playing the white or black side.
  It looks like the other variants are more for further experimenting and for game researchers. Yet for curious and searching souls it could be left to explore the 9x9 board also.
  Many thanks to all who till now participated in exploring this ancient game!

  2010-11-21 14:25:20 crust: To Aage.  I just had a proper game - it's totally brilliant - the grid references and the moves list are really good improvements.  Now I can keep a record of interesting games, and maybe learn something.  A great help to understanding tactics and strategy.

  2010-11-21 12:28:48 crust: To Aage - I like the way you've simplified the options down to the two basic favourites. Much less confusing.

  2010-11-16 11:05:45 Adam: To Jens: I second that! Human opponents will always surprise you.

  2010-11-15 21:44:37 Nielsen: To Jens: I can see what you mean, there is room for improvement with the next generation of the AI. Until then, when you need a greater challenge you could sometimes have a match against a human opponent through the "Hnefatafl over the internet" function.

  2010-11-15 19:12:36 Jens: Great game! Really enjoy playing the 9x9 version. I have played many games as White ( Kings army - 9x9 board) with capture on two side set to difficult level. I can escape ninety percent of the games as White and notice the AI does not remember its mistakes. Would it be possible to make it remember its previous mistakes? This would make it much more enjoyable and consistant. Great game and thanks for sharing.

  2010-11-15 13:14:49 Pedro: Thanks dear friends of hnefatafl, I understand .I think is preferable that the white king could be captured by only two soldiers near the corner like my game whith Crust.The game is more interestring and difficult .

  2010-11-14 19:49:44 Nielsen: I will look into the suggestion of Adam.
  Of all the possible combinations of variants, the players here have for months used only two: the king to be captured from 4 sides and can be (edge rule 1) or cannot be (edge rule 2) captured on the edge.

  2010-11-14 19:20:29 Adam: handy hint. When i'm playing i always have a second window open showing the rule variation definitions. Its hard to remember all the details otherwise. Maybe Aage could make it so that the appropriate rule definitions appear in the game window (it already says which rules you are playing with, but the one line definition would help too, if there is space)

  2010-11-14 17:53:12 crust: Dear pedro  - sorry I lost chat window again.  It's all about the differrence between Edge Rule 1 and Edge rule 2.  If you don't specify any particular rule variations, you get Edge rule 1, which means the king can be captured at the edge of the board by 3 enemy pieces, or by two enemy pieces when he is right next to the corner square (the corner square then acts as the third enemy piece for this purpose).  These are the rules we were playing with.  However, when you were playing adam you must have either specified edge Rule 2 in the options, or "Fetlar Rules" which has the same effect:  the King can not be captured at the edge of the board, and therefore he would also be safe from attack by two pieces when standing next to the corner.  I'm sorry if I caught you out - I tried to warn you by chat message, but maybe it had already stopped working...  Just remember to check which edge rule the game has - it is stated just next to the board.  I hope that helps!  hasta luego, crust

  2010-11-14 16:32:51 Pedro: Crust ,i repit my ask about the attack on the corner.I have this position whit Adam, but his king was not killed.Could you explain to me what happens, thanks.

  2010-11-04 10:12:45 MaC: to Pedro: what is your prefered playing time?

  2010-11-03 18:44:12 Pedro: Really its very difficult to play hnefatafl because i never find another player

  2010-10-31 12:35:27 Adam: to MaC: Good idea about regular times. Maybe we should have a couple of days to increase chances of availability? Also, i've noticed people (in europe) often play later, so maybe a late evening would be good, wednesdays 21.00 to 23.00 for example, in addition to the tuesday evening?

  2010-10-31 12:31:41 Adam: to Pedro: Regarding the king and the corner, you will find there are very different game dynamics according to the rules governing the board edge. Put simply, if the king is allowed to be captured at the board edge, then he can suddenly be captured with two players using the corner as a third man (providing the corners are set to be hostile to white pieces). If the board edge is not hostile, he is safe standing next to the corner, unless of course the rules allow king capture with two men, and the corners are hostile to white. This is exactly the point I raised in my thread dated 2010.08.14. as each variant requires very different strategy.

  2010-10-29 22:46:23 crust: Hola pedro - Im not sure what you're asking exactly. Do you want to e-mail me at anomalocharis@hotmail.com?  I'll try and help if I can.  crust

  2010-10-29 21:09:33 crust: hello MaC - thanks for game - I lost chat window during our last game - I like your idea of a regular training session - sadly I can't do tuesday - got chess club!

  2010-10-29 10:27:54 Pedro: Sorry Crust, i lost my chat window, and i can´t talk with you during the game.¿Could you explain me the rules for the king, when he is near the corner?My english is very bad, sorry.Bye.

  2010-10-29 09:46:41 MaC: Dear all,
I love this page to find very good hnefatafl-gamers all over the world. Unfortunatly I often waiting unsuccesfully for an opponent in the evening times.
May be we could arrange something like an official training time. I propose: Tuesday 19:00 - 21:00 GMT+1 (danish time)

  2010-10-23 13:58:35 Pedro: Ok.Thanks for the games, you play very well Crust.

  2010-10-17 16:11:28 crust: Pedro - thanks for games -  I lost the chat window half-way through, so I'm sorry if it looked like I was ignoring you - I couldn't see your messages.

  2010-10-02 20:01:21 Nielsen: The computer now plays the white side better than before, and test games against the computer indicate that on the 9x9 board the Trebeta rule is after all not necessary. It is rather difficult to beat the white comp. even without the Trebeta rule to help white.

  2010-10-02 15:25:32 Pedro: ok, Adam.I suggest to play with time, like chess.With 30 seconds extra for one move.This is Fischer´s system.

  2010-10-01 22:09:50 Adam: Pedro - I suspect Crust's book will be the first dedicated to the game. Meanwhile, I would say that this website is a great place to discuss tactics. Strategy varies somewhat from rule set to rule set, though there are plenty of common factors. Just  post up any specific questions or strategy ideas. : )

  2010-09-30 18:55:35 crust: Pedro - I am writing it!  If you want a preview, e-mail me at anomalocharis@hotmail.com

  2010-09-30 17:41:08 Pedro: Thanks Adam, I understand your explication.
Do you have any book to explain strategy of this game?

  2010-09-29 16:38:13 Adam: as in chess three repeat moves means a draw. The forced draw is a very important factor in hnefetafl, giving white a chance at breaking blacks defence if black decides to divert forces to preventing a forced draw. There are a variety of castles white can build, one with as little as four men plus king on the board edge. The simplest is a two move opening E5 to D5, followed by E6 to E4 if allowed by white. Then the cowardly king can shuffle back and forth, forcing a draw.

  2010-09-27 16:56:20 Pedro: I have another case.The king attacks one corner and a defender stopped him, suddenly the king attacks other corner and the same defender stoped his way too.White and black repits this moves.Is that draw?

  2010-09-27 16:48:44 Pedro: What happen if white build a castle at the firs stage of the game?.He only needs 8 soldiers on closed formation and two squares in the centre of tis formation.One square for the king and the other for the next move.The king repit his moves and it isn´t imposible to captured any soldier.Is that draw?

  2010-09-16 19:09:56 Niding: Very interesting to find other people playing hnefatafl. In my (limited) experience the following rules give a balanced game.
1. The king is weaponless.
2. The king wins when he reaches the edge, not just the corner.
3. No special rules for any squares, except perhaps the throne (have only tried the variant then only the king can pass the throne).
4. The king has to be surrounded on four sides (or three plus the throne).
I am very interested in trying the rules out.

  2010-09-15 22:06:19 Nielsen: ... The first four rule sets are all used in real by hnefatafl player groups somewhere in the world. As for Trebeta there's more to it as the Trebeta Living History group seems to capture the king from two sides also in center.

  2010-09-15 22:05:01 Nielsen: Though it is possible to experiment freely with combinations of rules details with the options window, just a couple of rule sets were used in real by the players on this site. A few players chose the "Scandinavian" rules set, could be because it is the default choice. Two players chose the Fetlar rules set, could be because the Fetlar rule is necessary in a masters' game. One player experimented with the Trebeta rule and the Unst rule. All rest of the players chose the "Outside Scandinavia" rules set.
  Perhaps the rules sets could be seen as stages from beginner to master:
beginners - Scandinavian rules,
experienced players - Outside Scandinavia rules,
masters - Fetlar rules,
beyond masters - Unst rules!
This is all for the 11x11 board.
  On the 9x9 board it seems in my opinion that the Trebeta rule becomes a necessity for white to balance black, the king being captured from two sides, but I need more test games to try it out.
  The first four rule sets are all used in real by hnefataf

  2010-09-13 13:12:16 crust: Fascinating stuff.  It does seem to me that Fetlar rules (with the strongest King) give the most balanced play for experienced players, but beginners often find that white wins more often than black.  If so, I would prefer to redress the balance by giving black some help with basic strategy, rather than changing the rules to handicap white by weakening the King.  Of course, there's no substitute for practice and experience...

  2010-09-12 11:40:15 Adam: ...rth between two very different gaming styles. It makes it hard to imagine mastering the game like that, they are different games. it would be easier to adjust the brain if the corners appeared differently with the rule variations (placing white pieces on them for example to indicate friendliness to whites.) But that is exactly what I mean by it becoming 'unwieldy' and inelegant. the decorations on the saami board point to this idea, perhaps making it clear which squares are friendly to who.

  2010-09-12 11:39:33 Adam: All good points.For me the 11x11 board feels like an open ended strategy game, while the 7x7 feels like a child's puzzle (like noughts and crosses) and the 9x9 somewhere in between, like a training board. The 19x19 alea evangelii is absurdly easy for the multitude of attackers using basic hnefatafl rules. the 13x13 I've not tried. Perhaps the discrepancies in starting positions indicate that the game started with a variety of tactical troop arrangements that players could choose from before beginning? I still have a problem with altering the taking rules for the corners and board edge, simply because the end game becomes so totally different, demanding a different way of thinking and whole new strategies that would be useless with other corner rules. I suggest people try playing two games simultaneously with different corner rules. It is remarkably difficult as the brain thinks its playing the same game, yet the corner dynamics are so different that one is forced to switch back and fo

  2010-09-09 21:44:51 Nielsen: And also: when a rules set is balanced on one board size, the same rules set is not necessarily equally balanced on another board size.

  2010-09-09 16:20:12 Nielsen: I think the various rule details are an effective way to adjust handicaps in uneven matches. But besides this, there is also the situation where you often play against the same opponent and maybe reach a point where you think you have "solved the game - my best strategy is this, your best strategy is that and then the game goes like this". In such a case you can bring new variety into the game by changing the board size or change among more rule variants.

  2010-08-14 14:31:28 adam: ran out of space! ...I find this particularly the case with alterations to the kings squares rules. Altering rules according to need to handicap makes the changes more meaningful. Id like to hear what other players think about this interesting and onging problem.

  2010-08-14 14:27:04 Adam: Hello forum. I think its time to start off another forum discusion. I've been playing Hjuke at the 9x9 trebeta rules, and must admit im undecided as to the rule set being balanced or not. One thing I would say though, is that in board games we find a simple model of the world, and so any rule ought to correspond with something in the reality that the game represents. The pieces represent soldiers or military units clearly enough. The throne is a starting point, affording varying degrees of castle-like protection according to rule set. the corners represent escape routes, or friendly safehavens. As safe havens it makes sense that they would be hostile only to attackers. But I would have expected this to be the case in all variants. My personal conclusion is that rule variations are  useful to handicap stronger players in uneven matches, much as in the japanese game Go. To have so many rule variants otherwise makes the tafl game family unweildy and somehow unsatisfying. I find this part

  2010-08-05 02:55:35 Claudio: Parabens pelo site adoro Tablut.....sou do Brasil

  2010-08-03 11:53:50 crust: I'm still world champion.  All too easy...  ;-)

  2010-07-23 13:08:58 ANDI: :-(

  2010-07-21 23:04:27 Nielsen: No.

  2010-07-20 15:27:15 ANDI: Mr. Nielsen, your game is very nice, is there a downloadable version of it?

  2010-06-30 22:32:11 crust: Thank you Mr. Nielsen for this amazing website.

  2010-05-26 19:52:05 crust: To all hnefatafl players!  The world championship of hnefatafl will be held on Saturday 31st July 2010 on the island of Fetlar in Shetland, UK. It will be a quickplay tournament with 10 seconds per move. Winner gets title of "Hnefatafl Grand Master"

  2010-05-19 18:21:17 Nielsen: NB. The chat function sometimes freezes for a few minutes, so if your opponent suddenly does not answer this is the reason.

  2010-05-18 18:49:59 Nielsen: Thanks to Crust for drawing my attention to the hammer and anvil rule on the Shetland island Unst. This rule is now an option.

  2010-05-17 17:17:38 Nielsen: On the various rulesets -
After many test games here it seems that when two skilled players (considering the number of games I lost this would not include myself...) - the Scandinavian variant (2-side king kill) is the hardest to play for white. The Millar gambit is a must if white is to have a chance, and it also helps to let white begin and to start with ordering 2 (white men closer to corners). The "Outside Scandinavia" variant (4-side king kill) is less difficult to white and the Shetland variant even more. The 4-side king kill still does not make the game all too unbalanced in favour of white as white may well loose. As for the Ashton center square I don't know if it helps white or black more or maybe both.

  2010-05-16 01:55:35 leidulfr: Thank you Adam, I'll think it over.

  2010-05-14 06:31:00 Adam: to leidulfr: In essence its an opening move for white, regardless for how black opens, providing the move is attacking one of blacks men on F2, F10, B6, J6. So if whites first move can be E5 to E2, thats the Gambit as long as black still has a man on F2. See how it affects black. Its really no more complex than that.

  2010-05-14 01:13:20 leidulfr: to Adam: Could you give a concrete example, please?

  2010-05-13 20:57:37 Adam: to leidulfr: The Millar Gambit is whenever white opens by offering a sacrifice by advancing from E5 E7 G5 or G7 outwards to the rows of black pieces, eg E5 moves to B5 or E2. Black can usually respond by taking the piece, (Gambit accepted, A4 to B4 or D1 to D2 respectively) or by ignoring it and continuing to build their fence (Gambit declined). Its basically tossing a grenade into the attackers ranks and it makes effective barrier building very difficult for them.

  2010-05-12 08:24:13 Nielsen: It is now possible to offer a draw. Thanks to Crust for pointing out the importance of this feature.

  2010-05-11 16:58:38 leidulfr: Adam, I can't understand  your gambit. Could you explain it again? Thank you.

  2010-05-10 23:10:19 Nielsen: The Shetland rules should function now in the Hnefatafl over the internet.

  2010-05-03 22:59:32 Nielsen: The computer indeed looses points when it is beaten or wins points otherwise. As the computer's human opponents are unidentified, they are all ranked 1500 in the computer games.

  2010-05-03 22:45:47 Adam: A question about ranking: does the computer get points knocked off when we humans beat it? Its looking very smug up there as black.

  2010-05-03 22:32:57 Adam: Its says in the initial ordering note: "Ordering 1 has the characteristic, that if black begins, black can block the game by occupying the squares B2, B10, J2 and J10 in the first four moves." But thats not true if white responds with pieces in for example: G7(to)G10 and F7(to)J7. This is an extension of an aggressive opening sacrifice move invented by a friend of mine and I named it Millar's Gambit after him. Its a powerful opening for white.

  2010-05-03 22:14:42 Adam: I think the thing that makes it almost impossible for the king to win in this (excellent) online hnefatafl is the hostile corners, allowing the king to be taken against the corner square. Personally I find the king being taken by two players makes the game far too hard for the king for a balanced game, and with the hostile corners it seems overly hard on the king.

  2010-04-24 13:21:57 Nielsen: Still an open riddle: Can someone find a good way for the defenders to win against a very skilled human opponent in this game:
11x11 board, initial ordering 1
king killed from 2 sides
attackers move first

  2010-04-23 23:17:29 Nielsen: It is now an option on the invitation whether white or black moves first.

  2010-04-22 18:18:15 Darkont: I say about 4-side version.
this variant more difficult, but more historical.

  2010-04-22 16:19:55 Nielsen: To Darkont - The reason is the 2-side king kill game. In that game it is hard to play the defenders against a skilled human opponent. And it appears to be even impossible to win with initial ordering 1 if the attackers move first and do the first 12 moves a certain way. The computer does not use the trick but with a human opponent the defenders hit the wall.
  If however the defenders move first they have a better chance and with initial ordering 2 even more.
  But for the 4-side king kill game the defenders' game is easier and attackers can move first like the rules say.
  At some time the program will be modified to do this for the 4-side king kill game though it will complicate the program. If anyone can demonstrate that the defenders also win the 2-side king kill game when attackers begin, the program can be modified for this also.

  2010-04-22 13:11:31 Darkont: To Nielsen - thanks for you quick reaction. Question,  why in to rules attackers side moves first, in to game first moves king side?

  2010-04-15 19:41:54 Nielsen: 4 side capture of the king will be added as an option to the online version, it could take a week or two before it is ready.

  2010-04-15 18:28:40 Darkont: add in to online version 4 side king for win.

  2010-04-06 21:30:44 Hjuke: Question: Does white have a really fair game against a skilled opponent? Is there a good strategy for white to win?
And here a structured forum for the structured discussions.
Photo gallery

Se more photos here.
Example of a Hnefatafl game using Fetlar rules:
Another youtube clip of a Hnefatafl game.
More game animations here.
The unofficial tournament over the internet July 26th - August 15th 2011 is completed
and the

Unofficial Hnefatafl Grand Master over the internet 2011 is
crust, alias Tim Millar, Somerset, UK.

This is not a great surprice, as Millar is also the official World Champion from the Fetlar championships 2009 and 2010.
A big thank you to the brave Hnefatafl players who participated in the tournament!

You'll find the tournament page here with animations of all the tournament games.
Links to more information on the Viking board game Hnefatafl.

Try also the Sami board game, Tablut.
Many thanks to Gary and Christa (Germany), Ludovic Antoine, Nikolas Lloyd, Sten Helmfrid, Olga Mudrichenko, Dmitrij Polovinkin, John C. Ashton, Tim Millar and Adam Barkley for their contribution to this site.
Nefatavl is also known by the names Hnefatafl, Hnefetafl, King's Table, tafl og tablut (a close descendant of the ancient hnefatafl).
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Updated 12.5.2012