Play the Viking board game Hnefatafl online | Viking Chess | Tablut | Nefatavl

Play Hnefatafl Online.

The Viking board game.
Coming tournaments:
Sea battle Lewis 11x11, test starting June 15th 2019
Hist. Hnef. 15x15, starting July 1st 2019
Sea battle circle 9x9, starting July 15th 2019
Hist. Hnef. 7x7 (Scottish Ard Ri), starting Aug. 1st 2019
Sea battle circle 11x11, starting Aug. 15th 2019
Go to the Tafl Against Humans page to join; the invitation is open for 7 days.
Tafl against humans.
Тавлеи против людей.
(Use button in top panel.)
Rasmus Holbroe vikings
Artist: Copyright © Rasmus Holbroe (Jan. 2016).

Tafl against the computer.
Small forum.
Code of Conduct. You should not post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful or threatening material. Doing so may lead to you being immediately banned for a period of time.

  06-18/20:03 OdinHimself:  Outstanding!

  06-17/21:22 mmagari:  Dear friends, I present my latest work:https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/06/la-cattura-della-lunar-creatura-di.html
thanks

  06-15/07:54 Hagbard:  True; corrected; thank you!

  06-15/01:31 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard I think there may be a bug in the game engine's detection of white being surrounded. In the recent MasterLuke/ChaolAibhne game of Tablut I think move 45 should have ended the game according to rule 7b.

  06-10/23:59 chuck ward:  World Championship Tournament 2019!!!!!

  06-10/19:51 Hagbard:  Proposal for World Championship Tournament 2019:
http://aagenielsen.dk/wtfturnering2019.php

  06-06/20:04 Hagbard:  There've been these versions of the text:
  
Linné's diary:
14. "Arx potest intercludere, æque ac trio[tertio?], ut si miles in 2 et hostis in 3 est, occiditur4."
Olli Salmi translation:
14. "The fort can block, as a third [piece], so if there is a soldier in 2 and enemy in 3, it is killed."

Sten Helmfrid:
"The four corner squares are hostile to all pieces, which means that they can replace one of the two pieces taking part in a capture. The throne is always hostile to the attackers, but only hostile to the defenders when it is empty."

ChaolAibhne:
"The empty throne square is hostile, which means that it can replace one of the pieces taking part in a capture."

  06-05/14:50 ChaolAibhne:  Could I make a suggestion for simplifying the explanation of the hostile throne in the rules for historical hnefatafl? Currently it says: "The throne square is hostile, which means that it can replace one of the two pieces taking part in a capture. The throne is always hostile to the attackers, but only hostile to the defenders when it is empty." There seems to me to be some unnecessary distinctions being made between attackers and defenders and between an occupied and an empty hostile throne. Rather the throne itself is hostile only when it is empty and then to both attackers and defenders. When the throne is occupied (by the king) it is not the throne itself that takes part in a capture, but rather the king, and that is already covered in the explanation of regular capture. There is also the problem that the empty throne is said to replace one of the two pieces taking needed for a capture, but of course it would be four when capturing the king. So I propose that the quoted text could be replaced by this simpler and more accurate sentence: "The empty throne square is hostile, which means that it can replace one of the pieces taking part in a capture."

  06-04/12:29 OdinHimself:  @Agmundr: Mine is Shield wall! \m/ \m/

  06-04/08:43 Agmundr:  Hail to all! Some of you may know that Amon Amarth has released a new album "Berserker"! \m/ My favourite song is "The Berserker at Stamford Bridge"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srZJpwtaArQ May you all have a great summer with a lot of interesting and good games! Skål! 🍻

  06-03/15:39 Hagbard:  The large forum is opened for some days for new registerings.

  06-02/13:34 Hagbard:  x2 would cover it -

  06-02/12:45 Khan Asparukh:  @Hagbard: is there a chance to make time control in which the free time to move is no less than one day and the buffer is not less than 10 days and to be rated?

  06-01/21:15 Hagbard:  - When a game lasted for a long time already, the free time per move is only 1 hour, then time is taken from the buffer.

  06-01/20:14 Khan Asparukh:  @Hagbard: when the  runs  Free time per move it should not run out of buffer time.I think this is not the case at the moment

  06-01/15:13 Hagbard:  ok

  06-01/15:08 chuck ward:  @ Hagbard. I did not realize the tournament was 13x13. I have no interest in playing, please take me out of it. Sorry if it messes with things.

  06-01/11:46 Hagbard:  - and tournaments are timed x2.

  06-01/11:42 Hagbard:  Normal timing:
Free time per move: 0.5 day. Time buffer 3 days.
If you move faster than the 0.5 day, then half of the saved time is restored to your time buffer. The buffer cannot exceed 3 days, though.
If the game exceeds 6 days, then in the period 6-12 days the free time is gradually reduced from 0.5 day to 1 hour. However, if it's a game of very many moves (fx. on large boards), then the "long game threshold" is increased accordingly.
If you are flagged for timeout, it will not happen until after 13 hours since your last move.

x2 timing: All this x 2.
x10 timing: All this x 10.

When your time buffer is less than 2 days, you'll see a blue warning.
When you're less than 1 day from timeout, you'll se a red warning.

  06-01/11:18 Khan Asparukh:  @Hagbard:can you write the times of the three types of game controls at the moment Timing,Timing X2, Timing X10 because I think there are still some changes

  05-29/17:20 Steiger:  Without a doubt!)

  05-29/06:33 OdinHimself:  @ Steiger: Where? When? Is it true? :)

  05-28/20:44 Steiger:  Hooray, Сrust is back!!!

  05-27/21:09 Hnefihunter:  @mmagari: nice art)

  05-27/20:57 mmagari:  Hello, I present my latest works of art from my blog https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com, thanks for your attention :

https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/05/max-richter-di-marco-gandolfo_27.html
https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/05/il-denaro-non-dorme-mai-di-marco.html
https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/05/il-rassicurante-sorriso-dei-poteri.html
https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/05/richie-hawtin-di-marco-gandolfo.html
https://marcogandolfoworks.blogspot.com/2019/05/le-liberta-individuali-di-marco-gandolfo.html

  05-19/10:32 Hagbard:  Daffodil and Bean changed mode.

  05-18/20:33 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard Could you please set child mode for the accounts Daffodil and Bean. That will mean they can play others than just me. From what I understand Riiem has several students who would be keen to join. So I think you can be assured that your efforts have been of use.

  05-18/12:43 Hagbard:  yes if there are existing child aliases, they can be manually changed into child mode.

  05-18/11:41 ChaolAibhne:  Or were you meaning for to me tell you the names of existing accounts that would want child mode?

  05-18/11:28 ChaolAibhne:  Yes, it would be useful to have the option of child mode for existing accounts. Thanks.

  05-18/01:00 Hagbard:  It's an option at new registerings. But if you need it for an existing, please tell

  05-18/00:30 ChaolAibhne:  Great news that child mode is now available. Is the option only presented for new users as I don't see it in my settings?

  05-17/08:26 Hagbard:  Child mode introduced with no chat. However I still believe that it will not be of much use -

  05-15/20:05 Riiem:  Awesome update to come!!!

  05-15/12:52 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard Thank you. Let's pass this game we love on to the next generation!

  05-15/12:45 Hagbard:  I'll have a look at it soon.

  05-15/12:23 ChaolAibhne:  Ah, I see. I would lean to letting the child decide whether to take on the challenge of playing many simultaneous games in a tournament. I know children who would like to do that. But the safeguards we've been talking about would need to be in place.

  05-15/12:11 Hagbard:  No not difficult to implement, difficult to the children, 20 simultaneous games against adults -

  05-15/11:30 ChaolAibhne:  OK, if no tournaments makes it easier to implement a child mode, could we go for that for just now? As I said, I'd be happy to help implement it.

  05-15/11:16 Hagbard:  Just that tournaments with all adult opponents might be too difficult.

  05-15/11:00 ChaolAibhne:  I think no game chat and no chat forum would be enough for a potential child mode, but perhaps I've missed something –  what is the thinking behind no tournaments? And, yes, of course it's possible that a child might deliberately subvert the instructions of their parent or teacher and register under a different alias, but that's a different scenario from the more basic one that I am thinking of.

  05-15/10:16 Hagbard:  Perhaps child mode could be: no game chat, no chat forum, no tournaments.

  05-15/10:07 Hagbard:  If there were fx. a "Child mode" option, then the child could choose the mode or not, voluntarily. If parents or teachers register the child with the mode active, the child could register another alias without it. So wouldn't it be difficult how to make the idea work properly?

  05-15/09:46 Riiem:  And @Hagbard, there is some kids that played here during your 9 yrs of existence! But they played on my  account during special class! I even used one of our game to have a group play on the class screen, we were studying wich moves was the bests all together xD

  05-15/09:43 Riiem:  That would be great! As an elementary teacher, i teach Tafl to all my students and i have the same issue, i can't give website that contains chat to the parents, but im pretty sure that some students would love to play online. (There's some 7 yrs old kids that play pretty well for that age :) )

  05-15/09:35 ChaolAibhne:  Among the people that I have been introducing the game to are some children, but their parents would be hesitant to let them play online if there is a chat facility. I'd be happy to help with implementing the option if the codebase is available somewhere.

  05-15/08:27 Hagbard:  It could be done. However, on the internet Hnefatafl seems to be very much an adult game. I'm aware that in the game clubs and markets in Ukraine, Norway and UK also children meet the game. But during the 9 years of human-against-human games on this site there were no children. I guess that they are busy at video games.

  05-15/01:36 ChaolAibhne:  With the possibility of children joining this community, could there be an account setting to disable the in-game chat facility?

  05-13/09:50 Hagbard:  Registering of aliases from the same computer is limited to two. Unfortunately the limit also disturbs cases like this where you simply want to show the game to family and friends and start them up. That is not the intention, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

  05-12/23:35 ChaolAibhne:  Earlier today I was trying to help someone new get signed up, but after entering their name and password and clicking the button to invite someone for a game they kept getting taken back to the original page. Is there a problem just now with signing up? Prior to that I had managed to help someone else get signed up and playing.

  05-12/20:04 Hagbard:  Rules for Saami Sáhkku:
http://www.varjjat.org/govat/doc/norsk.pdf
Dice for playing the first variant:
http://aagenielsen.dk/terning_sahkku.php

  05-08/09:52 branan:  Nope. Just saw that on wikipedia.

  05-07/23:23 Hagbard:  Very many attackers on such a small board. Do you know the game balance?

  05-07/22:52 branan:  Oh. I believed Ard Ri should start like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ard-Ri_board.svg

  05-07/19:37 Hagbard:  yes same setup, the difference is that brandubh has forbidden corners

  05-07/18:16 branan:  @Hagbard: Ard Ri illustration on rules page (http://aagenielsen.dk/tafl_rules.php) is not the good one: it's brandubh board setup twice instead.

  05-06/17:59 Hagbard:  The large forum is for a few days opened for new registering.

  05-04/01:09 jrton80:  ok, I lost the thread there

  05-04/01:04 jrton80:  (Yes, I am joking but I still think it funny enough to share) @Hagbard, Bug? What bug? It was a tactic that a lot of people did not see coming (including myself a few times damn you Bogd Khan. Ok, ok, that was more than a little embarrassing since I tagged Bogd Khan with it first) as Casshern's post whom I suspect is really a well programed AI (does a blue balloon sound familiar to anyone? although I think of Casshern as a Green Balloon, idk why) who you programed just to mess with the rest of us. Now I have to rethink Soooo many things. Very inconvenient to have to think and all.

  05-01/16:48 Hagbard:  http://www.danskekommuner.dk/Nyhedsarkiv/2019/Maj/01/Vikingeborge-skal-vare-verdensarv/

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/regionale/hovedstadsomraadet/vikingeborge-skal-have-samme-status-som-pyramiderne-og-venedig

  04-30/21:19 Hagbard:  Old Hnef. Master tourn.:
#2: Kllimm. #3: Agmundr and Jrton80

  04-24/07:08 Hagbard:  Bug fixed

  04-21/08:17 Hagbard:  @ChaolAibhne: It was tested as an experiment. a9 was captured by a8 and b9, but not a8 by a7.
The rule was active for a period in many games, and it turned out to be superfluous; because in all the games corner pieces never occured to be captured this way.
There is in real games no need for a rule detail like this, so for simplicity the idea was dropped:
http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38&p=1108#p1011

  04-20/13:15 ChaolAibhne:  The summary for Sea Battle 9*9 (Imperial Contest) games says that a piece can be captured "on a corner square", but I see no mention of this in the rules. Does it mean that a piece on a9 can be captured by a8 and b9, or that (as in brandubh) a8 can be captured by a7?

  04-18/19:29 Khan Asparukh:  @Bogd Khan:would you share identical moves that have been so far in previous games? Edmond Dante thinks you're making a mistake with that? you may need to rethink the rules of the varieties.

  04-18/08:20 Hagbard:  The bug is not an easy one but it must be fixed.

  04-18/00:44 Bogd Khan:  This happens to me for third time...will this rule continue in the future?

  04-17/21:02 Khan Asparukh:  :)

  04-16/21:00 branan:  @Hagbard: thank you for putting the pdf I've translated on your website!

  04-16/07:30 Hagbard:  The move is not correct. It is as you write. The commander did not capture and so should stop after the one move, the jump.

  04-15/20:39 Khan Asparukh:  the commander does not move like a king.we do not comment on the king.in this case we do not have a berserker move because the commander does not capture and is
 not entitled to a second move

  04-15/20:33 Khan Asparukh:  @Hagbard:I did not understand your position on this case? Is the move correct or not?

  04-15/11:21 Hagbard:  David Zolli, France, translated the Brandubh rules into French for print.
Zolli writes: "I'm a french Brandubh player and I took some time to translate and annotate the rules you put online in a single printable page (attached bellow)."
Thank you very much!
http://aagenielsen.dk/regles_brandubh.pdf

  04-14/22:00 Hagbard:  @Khan Asparukh: Sorry, there must be a bug in the program. The commander did not capture, only jumped, and so should not move again.
The same with the king: if the king captures a piece, and then in the next move can go for the win in corner, he can move again.

  04-14/16:11 Khan Asparukh:  read slowly, understand it, and then give a logical answer if you have one

  04-14/16:08 Khan Asparukh:  @Bogd Khan:I'm afraid you did not understand and comprehend the writing

  04-14/15:40 Bogd Khan:  In my case this is a winning move. The same way the King can jump and finish to the edge. I saw this many times in Berserk Hnefatafl games...nothing new

  04-14/13:41 Khan Asparukh:  only the king can continue the movement without capturing,in a jump only to a corner square

  04-14/13:37 Khan Asparukh:  @edmond-dantes:want to ask you,because he does not have access to the forum,he argues that the capture of the king in  Berserk game  jrton80 / Bogd Khan is not the rules.
for there to be a berserk move there should be a snatch of a piece.in this case the commander J4 does a jump but there is no capture and no right of a berserk move?????

  04-14/13:09 Khan Asparukh:  .

  04-12/23:10 Bogd Khan:  Skål 🍻

  04-12/08:14 OdinHimself:  Bulgarian Vikings, unite! :)

  04-12/00:36 Hagbard:  Congratulations to Bogd Khan, who won the Old Hnefatafl Master tournament.

  04-11/18:33 OdinHimself:  Thanks brother! :)

  04-11/18:01 Steiger:  @OdinHimself: great video and photos!

  04-11/13:44 OdinHimself:  Skål brother! 🍻

  04-11/11:10 Agmundr:  @OdinHimself: That's a deal! I'll sail my longship around the coast and meet you in Biorgvin with barrels of mjød! 🍻

  04-11/10:33 OdinHimself:  @Agmundr: Here is my offer for you viking: Next time I'll come ahead and take some new tafl-photos at the realms of Blashyrkh, near Bergen, Norway. You'll bring the mjod and we'll set a bonfire, have some meat and I'll take my big sounding horn and my jaw harp as well. We must have also Steiger with us, this is obligatory! I think this is going to be the beginning of the new Tafl Viking Age! :)

  04-11/08:39 Agmundr:  @OdinHimself: Nice pictures and a beautiful taflboard in it's natural environment. You should had a bonfire and some mjød to! :) Skål Viking warrior! 🍻

  04-11/08:38 OdinHimself:  Ho ho ho... :)

  04-11/08:10 Hagbard:  - the photos added in the gallery.

  04-10/23:27 Hagbard:  Lucho Panchev tells today that he received the 2nd prize from Russia and sent 12 photos, soon to be in the gallery.

  04-10/08:32 Hagbard:  Very wild people, both videos -

  04-10/08:15 OdinHimself:  @Steiger: This is Bulgaria. The so called "Kukeri". Similar to the Austrian "Krampus". It is believed, that they scare, hunt and keep away the evil spirits from people's houses and lifes. I'd recommend you to take a look at the "Nestinari". The people who do the "Fire dance" on a glow. They are highly devouted and well-trained to walk on the living fire of the wooden coals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJBTtjXyyQ8

  04-09/18:44 Steiger:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjm5o0ZxLyg

  04-06/08:01 Hagbard:  x2 timing = all timing parameters x 2. That is, twice as much time for the game.

  04-05/22:28 ChaolAibhne:  Does the x2 timing for a game mean that you have to play twice as fast or that you get twice as long for a move? I've created game invitations assuming the former (having seen mention of options for quick play), but thought I'd better check.

  04-05/18:29 OdinHimself:  Ur askan ett rike!!! Drink the Bragarfull till bottom!

  04-05/16:31 Agmundr:  Good luck to all joining the Old Hnefatafl Master tournament! May it be many spectacular battles and a victorious warrior master will rise up from the ashes of the battlefield! The Valkyries will watch over and make sure the dead warriors will dine by Odins table in Valhalla! Skál warriors! 🍻 https://i.pinimg.com/originals/51/6c/b9/516cb9d0f642cb2a7b0f45fdbf23a7e1.jpg

  04-05/11:59 Hagbard:  For the large forum it's necessary to register separately. New registering is usually blocked, because of amazing spam robots which can do anything and register like piece of cake.
When requested, like now, new registering is opened for some days.
So please try again now and register for the large forum.

  04-05/11:53 Hagbard:  Yes that's it. The file should probably be rebuilt showing the other timestamp instead, to be more useful.

  04-05/11:25 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard: Thanks, I've got it) The search  in a game archive based on  on  start date of game. But there is end date in a file with openings.  Why can’t I login the large forum?

  04-05/10:24 Hagbard:  Found it:
mmagari / tonythebook. Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh), 23 moves, 2017-01-25 09:59:19, white won (mmagari)

  04-04/17:10 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard:  I tried to find a particular game based on timestamps in games archive. It turned out, timestamps in file with openings and games archive don’t match. For example, 51 (Irish Brandubh) last session: d2-e2/c4-c2/d7-c7/c2-b2/, 23, white won, 2017-02-05 17:45:14. There are no games in games archive on this date. How does it work?

  04-04/07:57 Hagbard:  There is a file with openings of all games. You could search in the file for "b5-b3/d5-d6", and you'll find the timestamps of all games with this opening:
http://aagenielsen.dk/tafl_openings.txt

  04-03/15:21 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard: Is it possible to add a search the openings in order to improve the user friendliness of games archive? For instance, for search good game from Saami Tablut user would just type b5-b3 d5-d6 or another opening.

  04-01/12:43 Hagbard:  Congratulations to Animals, who won the Brandubh Master tournament.
#2: Steiger. #3: Hnefihunter

  03-29/06:55 Hagbard:  A user requested the large forum here opened for new registering, it's open for some days.

  03-28/20:00 tuireann:  Registration is closed at this time. The site isn't even fully functioning yet.

  03-28/13:53 ChaolAibhne:  @tuireann I couldn't find contact details on beta.playtaflonline.com. Can I get in touch about my attempt to register there?

  03-27/22:31 Bogd Khan:  Thank you Hagbard and OdinHimself

  03-27/21:19 Hagbard:  Part of Trelleborg Viking Fortress will be reconstructed:
https://www.slagelse.dk/nyt-og-presse/nyheder/2019/marts/trelleborg-faar-15-millioner-kroner-til-at-genskabe-borg

  03-27/16:56 OdinHimself:  Hail Bogd Khan, great Bulgarian warrior!!! :)

  03-27/11:33 Hagbard:  A report about northern light:
https://www.dmi.dk/fileadmin/Rapporter/TR/tr08-08.pdf

  03-26/19:29 Hagbard:  Congratulations to Bogd Khan who won the Fetlar Master tournament!
#2: Kllimm. #3: Jrton80

  03-26/08:02 Hagbard:  Fetlar, Bogd khan / Kllimm:
White built a draw fort at the board edge. The software might not detect it, in which case the game is ended by both players offering a draw.

  03-24/12:50 OdinHimself:  @Hagbard: It looks more like sunset, but it's beautiful. :)

  03-24/09:39 Hagbard:  Much like this photo, which someone took at an earlier occasion:
https://cdn.simplesite.com/i/71/6c/284008258383932529/i284008264512082788._szw1280h1280_.jpg

  03-24/08:05 Hagbard:  Saw it for the first time in my life; I've been very annoyed for the many times the news afterwards informed that it was there and I missed it.
The sight was not like your pictures, though, because it's distant seen from Denmark. The sight was like sheet lightning in summertime (silent blinks from distant lightning). A brilliant, colored light (yellowish-reddish) covered part of the sky in the northern horizon; not blinks but a steady, brilliant light for 5-10 seconds and then fading away. Then a pause, then returning.
Never seen it before. TV had in the early evening informed that there was a chance.

  03-24/07:14 OdinHimself:  @Hagbard: You should add to the Code of conduct also "irritating material". lol Teasing people who don't have the chance to see Aurora Borealis is slightly dirtily. :)

  03-23/22:48 Hagbard:  Seen distant northern light tonight!
Full contents of the small forum.
World Tafl Federation Hnefatafl Championship tournament 2018.
Hnefatafl is also known by the names Nefatavl, The King's Table, The Viking Game, Viking Chess, Tablut or simply Tafl.
History of this site.
Comments on Hnefatafl.
The origin of the Viking board game Hnefatafl and the Berserk rules.
Links to more information on the Viking board game Hnefatafl.
Tafl Shops.
Viking word of wisdom: The Hávamál.
(Havámál på dansk).
Здесь можно играть в тавлеи и против компьютера, и против людей. Можно использовать кириллицу.
Many thanks to Adam Bartley ("Adam"), Tim Millar ("crust"), Gregory Binns ("Torc"), John C. Ashton, Nicolas Cartier, Jonas Lööf ("conanlibrarian"), Olli Salmi, Damian Walker ("cyningstan"), Sten Helmfrid, Rene Gralla, Olga Mudrichenko, Gary and Christa (Germany), Ludovic Antoine, Nikolas Lloyd, Jeffrey Westcoat ("Sigurd"), Rasmus Holbroe, Thore Nissen, Lucho Panchev ("OdinHimself"), Alexander Steiger Dis ("Steiger"), Dmitry Pashkov, Delray Curtis ("jrton80") and David Zolli for their contribution to this site. And not least the more than 400 players the world over who played here more than 15000 real tafl games humans against humans and thus created a vast, practical experience with this intriguing, historical board game.
Updated 16.6.2019