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

Play Hnefatafl Online. The Viking board game.
World Championship Tournament started September 15th 2020.
See the tournament page.
National Tournaments started July 1st 2020.
See the tournament page.
Play tafl against humans.
Тавлеи против людей.
Rasmus Holbroe vikings
Artist: Copyright © Rasmus Holbroe (Jan. 2016).

Tafl against the computer.
Coming tournaments:
Sea battle tafl 11x11, starting Oct. 10th 2020.
Simple Tyr 13x13, test starting Oct. 18th 2020.
Go to the Play Tafl Against Humans page to join; the invitation is open for 7 days.
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.
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  10-24/18:30 Draganov:  Time addition would be good too because it is not good when the game is over due to time-out. Adding 15 second per move will resolve this problem.

  10-24/18:29 Draganov:  Tafl game is asymmetry, so probably it would be a good idea to use asymmetry clock. The black could have 50% more time than the white. In case of a blitz game it would be like 15 minutes for black and 10 minutes for the white.

  10-23/15:00 Hagbard:  First Copenhagen game finished: Fastov / Cacreal

  10-22/19:28 MasterLuke:  @mihkkal: You know, I think you could be right about the order of the moves... It's worth trying. But as it is, I find it difficult to convince people to play tafl in real life, let alone three... Some genius should make it work online to try out :)

  10-22/17:42 unhandyandy:  Oops, thanks

  10-22/17:39 Hagbard:  It's on page two, More Variants. Both Brandubh 1 and 2.

  10-22/17:32 unhandyandy:  Why is Brandubh no longer available?!

  10-22/13:05 Abbas Agraphicus:  @Adam: right, I see

  10-22/12:00 mihkkal:  @MasterLuke Old topic by now but someone reminded me of 3 player Tablut and so: Yes
Attacker 1 - Attacker 2 - Defender has a certain logic to it I think but I guess it does make the game much more difficult for Defender. The Attackers have a disadvantage from being split between two players that don't communicate but still it may be too much for the Defender if two Attackers get to move between every time one Defender moves? That's the reason maybe Attacker 1 - Defender - Attacker 2 - Defender etc would work better for a balanced game... maybe. I don't know.

  10-22/11:45 Adam:  @Abbas Agraphicus: Lightning Hnefatafl is great fun, though I have a suspician that any tournament using any time limit system would end up with an aweful lot of white wins. White has four targets to attack (plus exit forts) and one to defend, while black has one target to attack and four (plus exit forts) to defend. So its a good deal easier for black to slip up catasrophically under time pressure.

  10-21/11:13 Abbas Agraphicus:  @Adam: Yes, of course a ticking clock will always be an additional pressure on black. But in a context of official live tournaments, where a time limit of some sort is unavoidable, it could be a fair compromise.
Obviously that should be somehow tested to understand what is the right average time needed to do a move.

  10-21/10:31 Adam:  @Abbas Agraphicus: That is an excellent suggestion. In fact, I beleive I am right in saying that the first ever Hnefatafl World championship, held in Fetlar, used a gong to tell everyone time was up for their move, if I remember rightly! I suspect black will still be at a disadvantage with time pressure. But it neatly solves the problem of time running out for black.

  10-21/10:25 Adam:  @Hagbard: It sounds ike a job for this community then! I suppose some digging for original sources is in order, if our experience with tafl rules is anything to go by. Damian Walker has a nice page on the two games. Its graeat as the diagram there looks like a hnefatafl rule image.

  10-21/09:52 Abbas Agraphicus:  @Adam: Looks like half an hour of time is a big limitation when it comes to matches where black is conducting and needs to adjust the formation to encircle the opponent or something like that.
What about just putting a limited amount of time for the players to do each move?

  10-21/07:23 Hagbard:  Lead in Sáivu: Casshern 3 pt.

  10-20/12:45 Hagbard:  (True, I used elements of described Ludus Latrunculorum rules for the Berserk Hnefatafl and made the game work. But Latrunculi rules used for Latrunculi, as they are described, do not look like something, which would work well.)

  10-20/12:38 Hagbard:  @Adam: I had the same thought, now that a series of games other than tafl had been implemented, Saami & Hex. It seemed natural to expand with the closely related ancestor of tafl, and I searched the web for information on Ludus Latrunculorum and found many various rules sets, all of them looking very bad in my opinion. None of the rules looked well functioning to me. Petteia I haven't looked into.

  10-20/12:19 Adam:  @Draganov: Yes, the clock really stirred things up! Years ago I toyed with the idea of making a tafl clock with two hour glasses fixed togther in a frame at 90 degrees to each other, just to prove that in theory, the vikings could have used one! But joking aside, while the chess clock was great fun, it does run into a problem with the game's asymmetry. It might work better with historical hnefatafl, but even then the difference in goals still skews the effect of time pressure. Its an interesting problem, I'd like to hear if anyone else has had a go at tafl with a chess clock.

  10-20/12:13 Adam:  @Hagbard: an interesting question came up on the WTF fb page: "Is there ludus latrunculorum, petteia championship - seems like those games are highly flawed and they always result in draw or stalemate" - Cyningstan talks about these games, and I know Beserk Hnefatafl owes a lot to Ludus. As other ancient games are now being looked at here, might it be an idea to put these ancient games through the grinder and see what comes out?

  10-19/12:01 Draganov:  Anyway, it was a great day for the Hnefatafl game.

  10-19/12:01 Draganov:  I hope that the Hnefatafl game will become more and more popular. It would be a good idea if chess clock is included but with time addition. For example adding 15 seconds after the move is done. Actually Adam had winning position in the first game with the black pieces but timed out. If there were time addition he should probably won.

  10-19/11:56 Draganov:  Here is the match between Adam and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8MBAWfBPk

  10-18/19:33 ChaolAibhne:  Thanks, @Hagbard. That seems to me to be fairest to the other contestants.

  10-18/15:54 Hagbard:  done

  10-18/14:48 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard. Partway through the Sea Battle tournament I found myself unavailable and a few of my games timed out. Rather than rejoin now and possibly skew the results, would it be possible just to cancel my current games and treat it as if I hadn't taken part?

  10-17/18:16 Hagbard:  First move: OdinHimself

  10-17/17:29 Hagbard:  May Thor grant you strength and courage on your way.

  10-17/11:57 Hagbard:  Round 1 finished.

  10-14/18:12 Hagbard:  Speaking as umpire:
Fastov, Luizz, Animals, Xerxes, Draganov and Steiger together with
Odinhimself, Bogd Khan, sqAree, Adam, cacreal and garun19 qualified for Copenhagen Round 2.
The Copenhagen Round 2 starts Oct. 17th at 18 o'clock Danish time.

  10-14/18:12 Hagbard:  It could take a long while, before the last group of Copenhagen Round 1, Vinland, finishes.
Any other outcome of the last two games than 1-0 in both games would immediately qualify Luizz for Round 2.

If the outcome is 1-0 for both games, then Luizz, L716 and Holidayinnes all have 6 points.
The three players' games against each other are in this case all pairwise even.
Next criterium is the Sonneborn-Berger score, which in this case would be
Luizz 26 points,
L716 18 points,
Holidayinnes 18 points,
that is, also in the case of 1-0 for both games, Luizz would qualify for Round 2.

In any case, Luizz qualified for Round 2.

  10-14/15:46 Hagbard:  The Hex 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Casshern, #2 Chaolaibhne, #3 Frenir

  10-13/08:17 Hagbard:  The Saami Daabloe 11x9 tournament finished with #1 Mihkkal, #2 Hagbard, #3 Bender

  10-12/15:09 Hagbard:  First game finished: Mihkkal / Steiger

  10-12/14:21 Hagbard:  @Adam - Fjordlandet tourist promotion, it competes for a prize

  10-12/12:31 Hagbard:  https://www.tv2lorry.dk/sondagsmagasinet/vikinger-og-verdensarv

  10-12/11:53 Adam:  @Hagbard - what a wonderful video!!

  10-12/11:47 Hagbard:  https://www.tv2lorry.dk/roskilde/gammel-video-fra-vikingeskibsmuseet-eksploderer-paa-nettet

  10-12/11:42 Hagbard:  @Adam: that is strange. 840K doesn't sound as excessively much. If it is impossible, then you could mail the file to me, and it can be added to your forum post an alternative way

  10-12/11:30 Hagbard:  https://www.cifft.com/film/fjordlandet-let-the-saga-begin/

  10-12/10:45 Adam:  @Hagbard - I'm trying to attach an image file in the chat forum, its only 840K, but its telling me the file is too large. Am I doing something wrong?

  10-11/22:42 Abbas Agraphicus:  Ok, got it, thank you very much.

  10-11/22:16 Hagbard:  On the basis of the general ratings.

  10-11/21:59 Abbas Agraphicus:  Is the "expected rating change" calculated on the basis of the general ratings or the separate ratings (of the specific verion you are playing)?
(I hope I explained myself)

  10-11/17:57 Hagbard:  Yes. By the way the forum is also opened now for new registering.

  10-11/14:56 Abbas Agraphicus:  @Hagbard, I have a question about ratings, can I ask it here? It seems I cannot login in the forum...

  10-08/17:08 Steiger:  Good luck to all!

  10-08/17:07 Hagbard:  First move: Steiger

  10-08/17:07 Hagbard:  May Thor grant you strength and courage on your way.

  10-08/08:54 Hagbard:  Steiger qualified for Round 2 (Gàrðaríki).

  10-07/11:10 Adam:  @myself, mind you, that would mean the advantage was still to white...so the repetition should be counted as a white loss. You guys are geniuses.

  10-07/11:04 Adam:  @Casshern, this is an argument that holds water, the very essence of the game. In chess the repetition rule (which incidentanly is based on position, not movement, so much for my previous comment!) results in a draw. In Tafl it is a loss, due to this essence of the game. @Jrton80, I agree, the Ytreza example was as full of holes as an old Viking's shield. But I enjoyed the idea of a longer looping sequence. I agree that noone has proved that black can force a repetition. However noone has proved that they can't either, which is rather the point of all this. I have decided to set myself the challenge of creating a board situation where black could force a draw by repetition. I doubt I can manage it. In the mean time, here is a suggestion: We could ammend the rule as has been suggested to a white loss, and ammend it further should a case of black forcing a repetition come up in game play. But wait!! That is precisely what has just happened (ChaolAibhne vs mmgaari), IF we agree that repetition is based on position as in chess, and NOT on a cycle of moves as I suggested below. IF repetition is based on position, then black CAN force a draw by repetition. Something an extremely cunning white player (mmgaari) could take advantage of if black is not paying attention. This is all very academic, but I see in Chess federation rules that the whole repetition business requires claims, checking of move history and confirmation by witnesses. Its a tricky business. It seems to me the onus in Chess is very much on the other player NOT to get themselves into a permanent checking position. But then, my eyes too are old and bent...

  10-07/10:22 Adam:  Speaking as umpire: Hnefihunter, L716, Mihkkal, Steiger, Ded fomich and Cacreal together with Casshern qualified for Saami Tablut Round 2 (the Tablut Final). The Tablut Final starts Oct. 8th at 18 o'clock Danish time. Good luck!

  10-06/22:24 Jrton80:  I too remember Ytreza's thought experiment and I never bought into it. First, there were just too many logical gaps in what I read that I could not take it seriously. Second, I still have yet to see proof it is possible. I am not playing that phone app anymore since it calls Black repetition (well, that and the screen it too small for my old eyes), and no matter how many times I go through the the game, I am still not seeing it as black doing the repetition.

In My opinion, Black forcing a repetition is not a real thing. It has been a while now and I still have seen nothing to change my mind.

  10-06/20:36 Hagbard:  First Copenhagen group to finish all games: Fornebei

  10-06/16:59 Hagbard:  The Saami Cuhkka 5x5 tournament finished with #1 Mihkkal, #2 Bender, #3 Hagbard

  10-06/16:37 Hagbard:  hex fixed

  10-05/22:59 ChaolAibhne:  Thanks, Hagbard

  10-05/22:03 Hagbard:  That sounds not good. I'll find out why tomorrow.

  10-05/21:03 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, in my game of Hex as black with Jrton80 I'm unable to send my winning move - when I play my piece the system tells me that the move wins but doesn't provide a button to send it

  10-05/16:55 Hagbard:  Tablut Round 1 finished all games.

  10-05/15:40 Hagbard:  To umpire Adam:
Requested that Hnefihunter, L716, Mihkkal, Steiger, Ded fomich and Cacreal together with Casshern qualified for Saami Tablut Round 2 (the Tablut Final),
and that the Tablut Final can start Oct. 8th at 18 o'clock Danish time.

  10-05/15:22 Hagbard:  Looks like Hnefihunter and L716 qualified for Round 2, 7 pt. and 6 pt. (Rágo)

  10-05/10:51 Hagbard:  The discussed game is turned into a black win and ratings adjusted.

  10-05/09:58 mihkkal:  Thanks for the games and the congrats @ChaolAibhne!

  10-05/07:53 Steiger:  @ChaolAibhne, thanks for a great games and for congrats. Glück auf!

  10-04/22:20 ChaolAibhne:  Congratulations @Mihkkal and @Steiger. I'll need to work on my Tablut game for next time!

  10-04/22:17 ChaolAibhne:  There appears to be a consensus agreeing with my contention that it is actually white that initiates the repetition in my game with mmagari of Brandubh 2; that is, the system is not detecting repetition in the way that the rule intends. @Hagbard, is there a possibility of returning our game to the point just prior to the when the system ended it and resuming it on the understanding that white must find an alternative to the repetition? Otherwise I would be happy for the game to be treated as null and void and for our previous ratings to be restored.

  10-04/22:03 Hagbard:  Looks like Mihkkal and Steiger qualified for Round 2, both 6 pt. (Huhttán)

  10-04/21:09 casshern:  What we are talking about is the very essence of the game. The set up with black on the edge and white in the center, makes it so that white has to get past black. The point is that the king cannot do it on his own. He needs the help of his men to create and advantage to escape. Miller’s Guillotine proves that this can be done. And that is the point here. The responsibility of creating an advantage and not falling into a repetition falls on white. Be definition, black strategy is to repetitively and perpetually block white from getting past.

An issue I can see, is if black were to create an advantage for the win and either intentionally didn’t got for the win or lacked the skill to complete the win. And as the rules state, draw forts are a lose for white. So a repetition caused by a draw fort is still a lose for white. White should just resign or continue to try to create an advantage for a win than to create a repetitive position.

  10-04/14:30 Adam:  The repetition topic seems to be a bit spread around in the forum. I’ve had a read, and unless someone can prove that black can't force a repetition situation, the rule ought to apply to both. The idea that the game is already asymmetrical is not a good argument for the rule to only apply to white. On the contrary. I enjoyed the situation Ytreza proposes. Black needs to do something else when the cycle completes a second time. To clarify, I propose rule 8 read this: ’Perpetual repetitions are forbidden: the player who starts a repeating sequence of moves must find an alternative move to prevent a third cycle beginning, or else lose the game.’

It seems that the only reason this is a problem, is figuring out how to get the computer to recognise the repetition correctly. So no reason to change the rule. A human umpire can figure out cases of dispute when they crop up.

  10-04/08:34 casshern:  Please forgive my ignorance here, as I do not play Brandubh. Although move 15 is an attack on a white piece, white could move f3-g3 or king to d3. Not sure if either of these moves is strong or if white is simply in a losing position. The move repetition clearly starts on move 16 when white moves f3-f2 and black has to protect the piece while still trying blocking the corner (reacting to the aggressor).

I have gone into more details of my opinion on this matter in the large forum. If anyone would like to read and respond with their thoughts.

  10-04/07:20 Hagbard:  - The origin of the current rule phrasing is, by the way, the Foteviken Museum in Scone.

  10-04/07:18 Hagbard:  - And I believe that some of Ytreza's thought experiments last year also aimed at demonstrating, that it definitely cannot always be decided for a repetition, who is the "aggressor". This is a problem for a rule phrasing which presumes, that an aggressor is always known.

  10-03/20:57 Hagbard:  @Adam: I saw the replay again, and it is as you say. White is the first to attack with move 16, and black's move 17 would thus be an escape from the attack more than a break through attack of its own. Although in another game black could kill two birds with one stone and do an escape and attack at the same time.
The computer only looks for break through attempts and not for capture attempts, and therefore it didn't spot the white attack.
The matter of repetition and who did it has been a difficult subject always. Unhandyandy suggests in the large forum to simply let repetitions be black wins.

  10-03/18:33 Adam:  @Hagbard, sorry, i disagree. I think its pretty clear. The rule says: Perpetual repetitions are forbidden. The player who causes the repetition must find an alternative move or else he loses the game. ChaolAibhnes move 15 creates the board pattern that ends up being the repetion that the computer spots, but it's not a repetition of ChaolAibhnes previous moves, as the computer is counting move 15, which isnt part of the repeated sequence. Even if white is reacting to move 15, white is starting the cycle of repeted movement here. Now, I think the rule ought to be spelled out more clearly, a repetition of movement , not a repetition of board pattern, which just happens to be how the computer spots a repetition, and in this case eroniously. A repetiton of board pattern is clearly not what the rule means. What if a board pattern was repeated that last happend 20 moves ago after much else has happened and pieces within the pattern have been exchanged? It would be absurd.

  10-03/16:22 Hagbard:  NB. See also the large forum on this.

  10-03/15:55 Hagbard:  Is there a repetition? Yes indeed! Who causes it? That is uncertain here, both could be causing it.
Is black moving back and forth to break through or to avoid being captured? It is not obvious that it would be an advantage to break through, but who knows the player's plan? The computer does not know the player's plan and neither would an umpire.
Is white moving back and forth to block black from breaking through or to capture the black piece? Also noone knows.
I suppose that an umpire should call this situation a repetition from both sides and a draw!

  10-03/10:44 Hagbard:  @ChaolAibhne: I've had a look at the game.
The comp detects that black attempts to break through from line E to line G by consistently moving a black piece e2-e3-e2 etc. (attacking), and a white piece consistently blocks the way for this black piece by moving f2-f3-f2 etc. (defending). After a number of repetitions of this pattern, the blocking (defending) side won.
But as you write, what is going on can also be seen in a different light: the white piece consistently attacks the black piece to be captured, and the black piece consistently evades this attack.
The comp detects for the first case (side stepping for break through), but not for the second case (side stepping for avoiding capture).
Interesting example!

  10-02/20:14 durzzan:  Deregisters from the World Championship Tournament 2020.

  10-02/17:47 Hagbard:  @Adam, ChaolAibhne and Jrton80: I'll attend to these things soon. Right now I'm occupied by a number of nasty positions in the tournament -

  10-02/16:41 Adam:  @ ChaolAibhne - after looking carefully, I agree with you, the computer is seeing a reapeat of a board position that you first set up on move 15, but what is not being repeated in your final move is 'how' that position came to be. So I would argue that the computer should be overruled in this instance. @Hagbard - from a programming perspective, could the computer be told to look for a board position which has been repeated in the same 'way', not just repeated visually? as in: IF 'board position' AND 'move that led to board position' are repeated 3 times end game. (in my VERY clumsy pseudo code). Or maybe all the pieces could be given an identity, such that a repeat of a single piece shuffling could be detected? This would also deal with detection problems when white shuffles as black does lots of different moves.

  10-02/13:47 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, in my game as black against mmgaari at Brandubh 2 I've just been surprised to have the system impose a loss on me on the grounds of repetition. There had warnings about repetition, but it wasn't specified who was doing so; it was only after I had lost that a message said that it was black. I assumed that it was white that was being warned. My move 15 threatened an attack on one of white's pieces and his response threatened one of mine. My move 17 had no direct threatening aspect to it. Is it not white's move 18 that should be judged as the start of the repetition?

  10-02/09:35 Hagbard:  First group to finish all games: Virihávrre

  10-01/20:14 Jrton80:  Is it just me or is the replay on the Saami Daabloe 11x9 a bit bugging?

  10-01/17:27 Steiger:  @Adam, I got it, thanks! Anyway, it was a great performance.

  10-01/13:05 Adam:  @Steiger, it was down to the wire, but it was me that timed out. It illuminated an interesting problem, which is that the asymmetry of the game means that the chess clock doesn't really work for Hnefatafl. As we know, white wins happen in far fewer moves on average than black wins. Not that I am complaining of course, he took advantage of it fair and square. It's a pity though as the clock pressure really adds something to the game.

  10-01/10:49 Hagbard:  Gàrðaríki second lead: Tomdraug 6 pt.

  09-30/08:57 Hagbard:  Qualified for Round 2: Fastov 8 pt. (Vinland)
Second lead in Vinland: L716 and Holidayinnes 5 pt.

  09-29/22:49 Hagbard:  Looks like first to qualify for Tablut Round 2 as second winner is Cacreal 4 pt. (Virihávrre)
First Tablut group to find both winners for Round 2: Virihávrre.

  09-29/17:31 Steiger:  @Adam, strange, I think you'd won first game as black to, 'cos Johan Sebastian has time out. No?

  09-29/15:38 Hagbard:  Looks like Ded Fomich is first Tablut player to qualify for Round 2, 6 pt. (Virihávrre)
Second lead in Virihávrre: Cacreal and Agmundr 3 pt.

  09-29/14:21 Hagbard:  First to qualify for Round 2 as second winner: Xerxes 9 pt. (Fornebei)
First group to find both winners for Round 2: Fornebei.

  09-29/13:18 Adam:  Thanks guys, it was a great day for Hnefatafl. My oponent Johan Sebastian was very sporting. I am hoping that some form of the live stream footage will soon become available at which time I will put out a link. It was a great way of raising awareness for the game, combining local university research, the local museum, the Norwegian chess federation and the Tafl Federation. It was all thanks to one of our newer players 'Jules' from Holmestrand in Norway who organised the event for the University. After the display match the public were invited to play Copenhagen rules in the smoky atmospheric Gildehall, so Tafl's ancient roots and bright future were woven into the same day. By the way, for those wondering, the result was 1:1 - I lost as black as JS made brilliant strategic use of his lightning chess skills (we used a chess clock to ensure the days schedule could be followed) and then I won as white, after JS tried to break my guillotine by ramming all of his men into it, which when the clock is ticking is pretty nerve wracking I can tell you!

  09-29/07:26 Hagbard:  Lead in Virihávrre: Ded fomich 4 pt.

  09-28/11:22 Hagbard:  It was live streamed. I've searched for some archive of it but in vain. Adam's opponent was 3rd strongest chess player in Norway.

  09-28/10:35 OdinHimself:  Please, add link to see the game!

  09-28/09:55 Hagbard:  The good old guillotine! Congratulations, Adam, on a fine show!

  09-27/15:08 Steiger:  The guillotine rules!!!

  09-27/15:05 Steiger:  Congrats, Adam!!!!

  09-26/16:20 OdinHimself:  We raise our swords for Adam!

  09-26/10:26 Hagbard:  Live streamed tomorrow:
https://www.usn.no/forskning/forskingsdagane/kalender/hnefatafl-hjernetrim-for-vikinger

  09-25/12:10 Hagbard:  Lead in Virihávrre: Cacreal, Ded fomich and Agmundr 3 pt.

  09-24/18:26 Hagbard:  Qualified for Round 2: Animals 11 pt. (Fornebei)
Second lead in Fornebei: Jrton80 and Agmundr 7 pt.

  09-24/18:23 Hagbard:  First to finish all games: Scuppa (Gàrðaríki and Virihávrre)

  09-24/15:08 Hagbard:  Lead in Huhttán: Mihkkal 4 pt.

  09-23/16:52 OdinHimself:  Go Bulgaria, go!!! :)

  09-22/18:17 Hagbard:  First to qualify for Round 2: Draganov 7 pt. (Gàrðaríki).
Gàrðaríki second lead: Steiger and Scuppa 4 pt.

  09-22/13:21 Hagbard:  Lead in Fornebei: Animals 6 pt.

  09-22/10:18 Hagbard:  Lead in Vinland: Fastov 6 pt.

  09-20/08:41 Hagbard:  Copenhagen tournament, speaking as umpire:
Gungnir and Arevidar never showed up for the tournament and the games have timed out.
Removed from the tournament.

  09-18/22:09 Hagbard:  Lead i Vinland: Holidayinnes 4 pt.

  09-18/19:18 Hagbard:  Lead in Vinland: L716 3 pt.
Lead in Virihávrre: Cacreal 3 pt.

  09-18/18:04 Hagbard:  ;)

  09-18/15:11 OdinHimself:  @Hagbard: I must come and see with my own eyes, touch with my own hands, feel the viking spirit, only then I will be happy :)

  09-18/11:00 Iarann:  Deregisters from the World Championship Tournament 2020.

  09-18/10:58 Hagbard:  New in gallery: A new visit to the Royal Viking Hall, Denmark, and photos of the Norden Tournament prize.

  09-17/23:47 Hagbard:  Lead in Fornebei: Jrton80 3 pt.

  09-17/22:26 Hagbard:  Lead in Rágo: L716 4 pt.

  09-17/20:09 Hagbard:  The Simple Tyr 15x15 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Jrton80, #3 Masterluke

  09-16/22:56 Hagbard:  Lead in Garthariki: Draganov 3 pt.

  09-16/21:37 mihkkal:  Congratulations!

  09-16/10:06 Hagbard:  The Sea battle T circle 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Xerxes, #3 Masterluke.
The Saami Sáhkku 3x15 tournament finished with #1 Hagbard, Hnefihunter and Mihkkal

  09-15/18:22 Hagbard:  First game finished: Scuppa / Draganov

  09-14/22:45 Hagbard:  First move: Jrton80

  09-14/22:36 Hagbard:  May Loki give you laughter as you go.

  09-14/18:42 Agmundr:  @OdinHimself: Thanks for the good words my viking brother! I would fight by your side at any time! 🍻

  09-14/18:19 OdinHimself:  @Agmundr: Skål, viking brother!!! If I have to choose with whom to fight side by side until death, it would be you, the purest and most unadulterated viking of us all! Sheilds up and march forward, face death and enter the Golden hall!

  09-14/17:43 Agmundr:  Warriors of the world! Its time to sharpen your swords and axes! Good luck to everyone, and raise your horns for a toast! Skål! 🍻

  09-13/11:15 mihkkal:  How does one solve a tie in a Sáhkku tournament? There may be a plan in place for this potential issue already, here at Aagenielsen.dk, but in case not there are two ways that have been established through modern offline cups. 1: The tied players face off in a match of Tie-Breaker Sáhkku, a special variant invented to solve ties quickly. This was invented before the first open Sáhkku Cup but has never been utilized in practice, since there has never been a need for it. Here, it would necessitate programming a new and entirely modern Sáhkku variant, so probably not an optimal choice  2: Counting surviving soldiers. When Sáhkku is used for betting, the number of surviving soldiers on the winning team has been used to calculate how large the sum won has been.  So, it pays to win by a good margin, that is with many surviving soldiers. Inspired by this, cup play has also used this principle to differ between players. Two players are ranked equally because they won against another player? The player that retained most soldiers in their match is deemed best. Two players are ranked equally because they lost against another player? The player that killed the most soldiers on the other team is deemed best. If using this principle (survivor count) as a tie breaker, I guess one way of implementing it here could be to look through all final board positions of the tied players throughout the tournament and see who, in total, had the largest number of surviving soldiers. That's a bit of work though. Another option is of course to allow the tournament to end with several winners

  09-13/10:21 ChaolAibhne:  Thanks @Hagbard. Could you undo my move as well.

  09-13/06:55 Hagbard:  It can have a Send Move button first thing.

  09-13/01:51 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard. In my game of Hex against you I accidentally tapped the board and my move was immediately submitted without confirmation (I was attempting to zoom the board to fit the screen of my phone). If confirmation isn't a feature for this game then I'll probably have to cancel it, as it will be too easy to accidentally make a move on my phone.

  09-11/21:03 Hagbard:  3 days till the tournament!

  09-10/23:58 Tjierrek:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  09-10/21:23 mihkkal:  A running-fight game to be precise. That is, a mix between a race game and an elimination game. The two teams are in Sámi referred to as "men" vs. "women."

  09-10/20:35 Rossomaha:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-10/20:33 Rossomaha:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-10/19:24 garun19:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-10/18:08 Hagbard:  I believe that the correct term should be "race game" but I dare not say such words in these times...

  09-10/17:47 ChaolAibhne:  "Sáhkku is a racing game houndreds of years old". Dog racing? ;-)

  09-10/16:02 OdinHimself:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-08/10:25 Scuppa:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-08/10:24 Scuppa:  Deregisters from the World Championship Tournament 2020.

  09-07/18:20 Draganov:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-05/14:44 Fraech:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-03/22:48 AreVidar:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-03/20:49 MasterLuke:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  09-03/09:14 test1:  test

  09-02/14:12 MasterLuke:  @mihkkal: Very interesting... Now that you mention it, I didn't include a playing order in my rules, but I guess Attacker 1, Attacker 2 and then Defender would feel most natural. Like the regular 2-player game, the attackers always begin. Otherwise they wouldn't be attackers, no? And indeed, one of the special treats of this concept is the possibility to 'work together'... up to a certain point, that is. Near the end, I guess the attackers will work against each other for absolute victory. :)

  09-02/11:36 mihkkal:  @MasterLuke I remember a group once improvised 3-player Tablut at board game evening at Oslo Sámi House. But it was pretty different. As I remember the rules and setup was the same as usual but the atrackers were divided up between two players. I'm not sure if the the turns went Attacker 1 - Defender - Attacker 2 - Defender etc or Attacker 1 - Attacker 2 - Defender etc.  In any case it was interresting due to the obvious challenge to Attckers: communicating your plans to your partner without the Defender catching on.

  09-01/14:12 MasterLuke:  I keep having those ideas: maybe they work, maybe not... after 3-player Talf, Scrabble-Tafl, here is 'Throne-Tafl'. see http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=129&p=1482#p1482
I promise this is the last one - for now :)

  09-01/10:36 Agmundr:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  09-01/10:35 Agmundr:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-31/09:50 MasterLuke:  I really love the versatility of the basic Tafl-moves and concept... so another crazy (?) idea came to my mind: check this one out! http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&p=1481#p1481

  08-31/08:36 mihkkal:  I see Sáhkku now has implemented the modern "begin with three pieces activated" rule. A good choice imo. Tilts the chance-skill balance more towards skill. Without it you can effectively lose a game just by not getting enough X'es in the beginning.

  08-29/00:40 Jrton80:  @ChaolAibhne I often fall asleep with visions of my next moves in my head - I don't see the problem

  08-28/21:31 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard: Ok. Takk!

  08-28/20:54 Hagbard:  @Hnefihunter: It is when you've used your three dice.

  08-28/20:46 mihkkal:  @hagbard Thanks!

  08-28/19:47 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard,The button Check my games is not displayed while playing Sáhkku.

  08-28/19:38 Hagbard:  thank you, fixed

  08-28/16:19 mihkkal:  There may be a bug in Saami Sáhkku. When I try to activate a soldier in a way that also pushes/recruits the king (because the king is immediately in front of the soldier to be activated) - the board doesn't load to reflect the new situation, leading to an inability to do the next move, and resultantly the turn needs to be restarted. In effect, activation+recruitment in one move becomes illegal - but it isn't.

  08-27/06:49 casshern:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-27/06:48 casshern:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-26/08:18 Steiger:  @MasterLuke, thank you! Making taflsets gives meaning to my existence.

  08-25/22:26 MasterLuke:  ... and they're very, very beautiful!! Congrats to Alexander ;)

  08-25/20:53 Hagbard:  New in gallery: photos of new boards from Alexander Steiger Dis.

  08-24/19:09 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, what do you think of the idea of automatically posting a notification to the small forum whenever someone posts to the large forum? For example:

MasterLuke has posted to "I've started to draw a few graphics for aagenielsen.dk" http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=120&start=160#p1477

  08-24/13:36 ChaolAibhne:  @MasterLuke, it is often a fine dividing line ;-)

  08-24/11:15 Hagbard:  ;) Does sound ominous! It was an unfortunate side effect of developing two new Saami games. It did not affect anything.

  08-24/10:01 ChaolAibhne:  Did I dream it as I fell asleep last night, or did Tournament 183 temporarily leap to having 14 participants and become an unrated *10 game? If the former, does that mean there is no hope for me if tafl is now appearing in my dreams?

  08-23/20:29 MasterLuke:  Check this out: a stroke of genius or maybe I'm a complete fool? http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=127&p=1478#p1478

  08-23/08:10 Hagbard:  The Tyr-3 15x15 tournament finished with #1 Jrton80, #2 Bogd khan, #3 Ded fomich

  08-21/23:25 Waegn:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-21/23:12 Hagbard:  There's not written a replay for the Sáhkku and the moves are not archived.

  08-21/22:31 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, the replay facility for Sáhkku doesn't seem to display correctly, instead showing a Copenhagen-style board

  08-21/18:17 Hagbard:  New in gallery: photo and greeting from mihkkal.

  08-21/12:49 Hagbard:  Thank you! There is the thing of a piece's direction, a special characteristic of sahkku. Well, moving direction is part of all racing games, I suppose, but it's a speciality of sahkku that two neighbouring pieces can move in different directions.

  08-21/11:25 MasterLuke:  @Hagbard: I designed some pieces for the new sahkku game... Worth integrating in the game lay-out? See http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=120&p=1468#p1468

  08-21/09:51 Hagbard:  And I noticed that it was chosen for the Saami game box

  08-21/09:50 mihkkal:  @hagbard I'm stoked! Sørsamisk Dablo is one of my favorite games.

  08-21/09:35 Hagbard:  I'm working on the Sørsamisk.

  08-21/09:28 mihkkal:  @Hagbard I understand. It's so good to finally see a Sáhkku game for online play! And Dablo would be fantastic. Are you working with the South Sámi Dablo or Coast Sámi Dablo?

  08-21/09:24 Hagbard:  The feature of using the dice ordered from low to high values is from the Ráisa sahkku and helped the programming.
Now I attempt to make a Dablo also, and after that succeeds, I'll return and have a second look at the dice -

  08-21/08:10 mihkkal:  One thing though: in the G/V variant of Sáhkku you may use your dice in any order you want. As far as I understand, the game is here implemented so the dice have to be used in a specific order. Is it possible to change this?

  08-21/00:18 mihkkal:  The Gávkevuotna/Vuovdaguoika variant is an interesting choice. The more popular ones currently are Lágesvuotna (used for tournaments) and Máze (easy to (
learn). But I'm happy to see Gávkevuotna/Vuovdaguoika getting attention, for two reasons. Firstly: It is most authentic. This variant is not reconstructed from written sources but taught from player to player. Second: This variant may have the oldest roots, seeing how it has been found independently in two different locations (Gávkevuotna and Vuovdaguoika.

  08-20/22:05 MasterLuke:  OK, thanks Hagbard. Not sure if I understand it completely. But I guess it will be clear once we're playing... :)

  08-20/20:16 Hagbard:  It is on page one of the game list now. It's described in Wikipedia as Vuovdaguoika or Gávkevuotna sáhkku:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sáhkku#Vuovdaguoika_or_Gávkevuotna_sáhkku

  08-20/20:08 MasterLuke:  @Hagbard: are the rules somewhere to read in English? I'm very curious about this game. Strange, just a few minutes ago I saw it listed under 'Play against humans' but now it's gone... (??)

  08-20/16:10 Hagbard:  These:
https://result.uit.no/reaidu/vuovdaguoika-bircun/

  08-20/16:00 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, which rules are you using for Sáhkku? (The Wikipedia entry mentions several variants.)

  08-20/11:57 Scuppa:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-20/11:57 Scuppa:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-20/11:56 Scuppa:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-20/00:40 tomdraug:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-20/00:37 Tomdraug:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-18/17:43 Hagbard:  The Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Casshern, #2 Chaolaibhne and L716

  08-16/19:27 Adam:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-16/15:01 OdinHimself:  @mihkal: Great, finally to hear something about hnefatafl from the vikings.

  08-16/12:59 mihkkal:  @Steiger I'm not involved in the production, just bringing the good news here :-)

  08-16/08:14 Steiger:  @mihkkal, well done!

  08-16/00:01 mihkkal:  Go to "Tidspunkter", then "Vikingene spilte prehistorisk sjakk." The broadcast ends with the statement: "Vi sees på Aagenielsen.dk" ("See you at Aagenielsen.dk")

  08-15/23:56 mihkkal:  Norwegian Public Radio about Tafl in the past and present! In Norwegian. 
Link: https://radio.nrk.no/serie/studio-2-p2/MKRD04016120

  08-15/04:09 Jrton80:  I looked at the new Tyr documentation - I love the Berserk move graphic - I got a real kick out of that.

  08-14/17:09 casshern:  @Germany: Speaking as umpire: Konstantin Jaehne ("sqAree") has won Germany Tournament to become the Germany Hnefatafl Champion 2020! Final results are 1st place sqAree with 4 points and 2nd place Luizz and Haio tied with 1 point each. Congratulations sqAree and thank you to all participants!

  08-14/00:03 Hagbard:  New in gallery: photos from Luk Martens.

  08-13/22:55 MasterLuke:  @ ChaolAibhne: Indeed, simple Tyr is conceived in relation to Tyr like 'Simple Tafl' is related to Historical Tafl. It's not the definitive version of Tyr, it will exist alongside 'regular' Tyr. That being said, I'm not quite sure which variant of Tyr will be the ultimate one: Tyr 1 (jumping commanders only), Tyr 2 (jumping commanders and king) or Tyr 3 (jumping commanders and king also jumping over own men). I'll make a decision once more test games or tournaments are played. In that respect, I'd be very happy with any feedback of the players.

  08-13/00:49 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, nice work on the rating timeline! It's interesting to see my own progress over time and of others. Thanks for the quick development!

  08-12/22:58 Hagbard:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-12/22:13 Gungnir:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-12/17:47 mihkkal:  @hagbard @chaolaibhne Thanks for the interesting new function!

  08-12/13:30 Hagbard:  Timeline of rating: bottom of Games Archive Search page:
http://aagenielsen.dk/visallespil_soeg.php

  08-12/13:29 Hagbard:  Simple Tyr is Tyr without special pieces.

  08-12/10:21 ChaolAibhne:  What's Simple Tyr? The intended definitive version of Tyr or another step on the way?

  08-11/18:53 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard, could I make a request for a feature to display a timeline of a player's rating?

  08-10/16:06 Beartooth:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-10/16:05 Beartooth:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-09/09:03 Hagbard:  @North America. Speaking as umpire:
The North America tournament finished with the result:
#1 Cacreal: 12 pt. (full house), #2 Garun19: 9 pt., #3 Jrton80: 8 pt., #4 Brench: 6.5 pt., #5 Holidayinnes: 4.5 pt., #6 Waegn: 2 pt., #7 Corbeau: 0 pt.

  08-08/08:06 Hagbard:  The Sea battle-2526 9x9 tournament finished with #1 Casshern, #2 Chaolaibhne, #3 Xerxes

  08-08/07:57 Hagbard:  @Steiger: yes later

  08-07/17:16 Steiger:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-07/17:15 Steiger:  @Hagbard, waiting for pictures!)

  08-06/22:36 Tomdraug:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-06/22:12 Archibald K.:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-06/20:02 Hagbard:  The Tablut/Dablo/Sáhkku game set arrived! Four boards and sets of pieces integrated in one box and very elegantly produced, a thousand thanks!

  08-05/15:51 Ded Fomich:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  08-04/17:11 Fraech:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  08-03/06:53 Archibald K.:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-30/22:38 fastov:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-30/14:44 Haio:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-29/08:53 OdinHimself:  @Gardariki: Speaking as umpire - official ranking as follows: 1st place and title for Ded Fomich with total score of 7 pts. and only one loss, 2nd place for L716 and Steiger, both equal results with 5 pts. and 3rd place for Hnefihunter with total of 3pts. Congratulations to the top 3 winners!

  07-29/07:44 Haio:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-28/21:49 animals:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-28/21:49 animals:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-28/21:49 animals:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-28/16:05 Hnefihunter:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-28/04:13 holidayinnes:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/23:51 cacreal:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/23:51 cacreal:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/21:36 MasterLuke:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/18:50 Luizz:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/18:35 Steiger:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/18:34 ChaolAibhne:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/18:17 Bogd Khan:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/18:17 sqAree:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/17:20 xerxes:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/17:20 xerxes:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/17:14 mihkkal:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/15:23 Jrton80:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/11:19 L716:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)

  07-27/11:19 L716:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/10:54 test1:  Deregisters from the World Championship Tournament 2020.

  07-27/10:53 test1:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Saami Tablut)

  07-27/10:53 test1:  Registers for the World Championship Tournament 2020. (Copenhagen)
Full contents of the small forum.
Train your brain like a viking. Science Days in Norway Sep. 27th 2020. (Click on the image!)
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.
Art on 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).
World Tafl Federation Championship 2019 started Sep. 15th 2019.
See the tournament page.
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"), David Zolli ("branan"), Luk Martens ("Masterluke"), Marian Luck ("themightyglider") and Mikkel Berg-Nordlie ("mihkkal"). for their contribution to this site. And not least the more than 400 players the world over who played here 28000 real tafl games humans against humans and thus created a vast, practical experience with this intriguing, historical board game.
Updated 19.10.2020