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

Play Hnefatafl Online. The Viking board game.
Play tafl against humans.
Тавлеи против людей.
Rasmus Holbroe vikings
Artist: Copyright © Rasmus Holbroe (Jan. 2016).

Tafl against the computer.
January 26th 2020 at 19:30 in Bulgarian National Television channel 2: Hnefatafl International Master Lucho Panchev ("OdinHimself"), Bulgaria, tells about Hnefatafl:
Watch the programme here!
Coming tournaments:
Sea battle-204577 11x11, starting May 13th 2020. New game pieces!
Tyr 15x15, test starting May 21st 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.

  05-27/06:53 Hagbard:  The Sea battle-204577 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne and L716, #3 Xerxes

  05-25/15:07 xerxes:  @Hagbard: Works now - many thanks Aage.

  05-25/14:53 Hagbard:  It should work! Please tell if it still won't

  05-25/13:36 xerxes:  @Hagbard: In my T167 Tyr game against Cacreal (I am black) I wish to move f3-f12 (captures piece on e12) then f12-f11 (reverses piece on e11), but the code won't let me - it leaves the piece on e12 on the board.  Could you have a look at it please.  Thanks.

  05-22/22:49 Bogd Khan:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-22/22:48 Bogd Khan:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-22/10:04 MasterLuke:  @OdinHimself: Thanks! I enjoyed designing them ;)

  05-22/06:38 OdinHimself:  They look great! :)

  05-21/18:28 Hagbard:  New in gallery: photos of new pieces from Luk Martens.

  05-21/10:45 Hagbard:  The Simple Tafl 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Casshern, #2 Ded fomich, #3 Chaolaibhne

  05-19/10:50 casshern:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-18/18:00 Hnefihunter:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-18/18:00 Hnefihunter:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-18/17:32 OdinHimself:  @Hagbard: Very good. :)

  05-18/16:25 Hagbard:  https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5EejTxqqKTQ&list=RDMM

  05-17/18:09 Luizz:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-17/17:57 sqAree:  Copenhagen rules for the National tournament?

  05-17/17:55 sqAree:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/22:13 Hagbard:  @onelightyear: country?

  05-16/21:52 onelightyear:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/21:51 onelightyear:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/21:51 onelightyear:  Deregisters from the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/21:51 onelightyear:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/21:47 onelightyear:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-16/17:03 Hagbard:  The rating list has these numbers of players per country:
USA 21, UK 9, Canada 9, Norway 9, Russia 8, France 6, Germany 6, Bulgaria 3, Ukraine 3, Brazil 3, Italy 2, Belgium 2, Denmark 1, Moldova 1, Spain 1, Mexico 1, Turkmenistan 1

  05-16/13:51 Efra:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-15/22:25 Ded Fomich:  Registers for the National Tournament 2020.

  05-15/22:24 Ded Fomich:  Garðaríki tournament sounds good.

  05-15/21:25 Hagbard:  https://sn.dk/Lejre-Lokalavis--Midtsjaellands-Folkeblad/En-haand-til-Sagnlandet-Lejre/artikel/941402
https://sagnlandet.dk/kongehallen-aabner-29-maj-2020/

  05-15/08:34 Hagbard:  FM: play 500 games and do extremely well in 3 tournaments.
CM: play 500 games and do very well in 3 tournaments.

  05-15/08:22 Thebigfoot:  What is the difference between CM and FM?

  05-15/01:39 L3monMan:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-15/01:35 cacreal:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-15/01:34 thebigfoot:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-15/01:23 cacreal:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-14/17:55 Hagbard:  The National Tournament registering button is now for all countries separately (UK, USA, Russia, Moldova etc.).
If the players of a country want to use some other variant for their tournament, it's no problem.
Primus Motor and organizer of the UK National Tournament is Steve Lonsdale ("xerxes").

  05-14/16:41 L716:  @Hagbard: Personally, I would like to participate in Russian tournament, if there would be such thing. Also, maybe it makes sense to create not just Russian tournament, but general Eastern Slavic (ie Russia, Ukraine, Belarus) and call it Garðaríki or Rus' or whatever. Thus there will be more people partiscipating.

Btw, Сергей isn't from Russia, he is from Moldova.

  05-14/16:16 Hagbard:  Would it be an idea that other countries also have a National Tournament July 1st, if the country has enough players for it?
Interested right now:
UK: xerxes, ChaolAibhne, animals
USA: Jrton80
Russia: Сергей

  05-14/14:48 Hagbard:  The "Play tafl against humans" page shows the rating list of active players, the list is updated automatically.

  05-14/10:09 L3monMan:  Also, are the ratings updated live on the board?

  05-14/10:08 L3monMan:  Why is my rating posted on the “play tafl against humans” tab?

  05-13/08:52 Сергей:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-12/17:00 Hagbard:  The Play Live option is reactivated.

  05-12/13:44 Thebigfoot:  @hagbard Ah I see, and it won’t be a possibility anytime soon?

  05-12/09:55 Hagbard:  The Sea battle tafl 13x13 (Nielsen) tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Xerxes and Thebigfoot

  05-12/08:57 Hagbard:  It's been tried, but only one or two used it a couple of times. Now the timing is instead very tightened, so that "correspondence" games are short in time.

  05-12/02:40 thebigfoot:  @hagbard This might have already been asked before, but do you think that in the future, we might have “live” games? 
Instead of correspondence, we might have rapid games where you have 10 minutes to finish a game? Or like blitz or something...

  05-10/21:05 Jrton80:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-10/19:13 MasterLuke:  @Hagbard: Thanks!

  05-10/19:03 Hagbard:  fixed

  05-10/18:11 Hagbard:  But it's clear that your original drawings have nice golden crowns and beards, the golden color seems to be lost somewhere in the merging of board & pieces.

  05-10/18:03 Hagbard:  There should be no difference. The pieces are at the moment activated in Simple Tafl 11x11 only, and should look the same in all games.

  05-10/17:13 MasterLuke:  @Hagbard: Hello, I got this question from L716 and actually I was wondering it myself: the new pieces i drew for Simple Tafl can be seen differently in various games, for some curious reason... In some cases their beards are bright and golden and in others they are faded. Do you know what might be the reason?

  05-09/20:56 Hagbard:  I'll return about the setup matter after the tournament, but feel free to discuss it while you're in the mood.

  05-08/13:17 ChaolAibhne:  I was drawn to the Tablut and Tawlbyrdd variants by their historicity and their simplicity. If I was to consider simplicity alone then Simple Tafl should appeal to me even more, as it dispenses with the throne while having an almost perfect balance. However there is something about it that feels a bit odd, something which from a conversation I had with Hnefihunter I believe he also felt. I don't think it's the lack of a throne as such. Instead, as alluded to by Casshern, it may be something about the layout – perhaps the lack of 'pointiness' of the black formations, so not affording initial opportunities for attack by white, or the fact that white's pieces are somewhat strung out, or a combination of the two. I wonder if it might be worthwhile revisiting the bell-and-diamond layout used by Tawlbyrdd, but without a throne. I know that in the early days of this site this layout was one of several that were experimented with, and it was found to be rather biased towards black. But it was also found in other layouts that the presence of a throne didn't always grant a significant advantage to white. Perhaps with the greater experience that this community has accumulated we might now find that throneless bell-and-diamond is better balanced than before. Might it be worthwhile to hold an unrated tournament sometime to test that?

  05-07/23:19 thebiggerfoot:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-07/20:07 casshern:  @ChaolAibhne: Sorry, I didn’t respond to your post from a month ago. I have been well. Just took a break for what looks like 4 month. My longest break by far. However, for the last few weeks I have been playing on the Hnefatafl app that Riiem was talking about. I enjoyed the app very much. Now I am ready to start playing a bunch of games again. Especially the Simple Tafl Tournament. I love Simple Tafl for the fact that there is no throne or special rules. Every piece is armed, captured from two sides, and the king just needs to get to the edge. I just wish there were a more elegant set up. Anyways, happy to be playing again with everyone here. I hope everyone is keeping well, healthy, and safe during these troubling times.

  05-07/09:30 animals:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-07/07:23 xerxes:  The UK National Tournament is to find the 2020 National Champion for the UK (Copenhagen).  So, for UK players only.  Format will depend on the number of entries, similar to the World Championship (which runs in September).  The UK Championship will be run on similar lines to the World Championship.

  05-07/02:40 thebigfoot:  only UK residents can register for the 2020 UK tournament?

  05-07/02:18 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard I've registered for the UK National Tournament, but what have I actually gotten myself into? :-)

  05-07/02:16 ChaolAibhne:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-06/22:53 xerxes:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-06/22:24 test1:  Deregisters from the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-06/22:24 test1:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-06/22:18 test1:  Registers for the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-06/22:17 test1:  Deregisters from the UK National Tournament 2020.

  05-05/21:07 Hagbard:  The Old Hnefatafl 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Cacreal, #2 Bogd khan, #3 Jrton80

  05-05/08:51 Hagbard:  Doing very well in a tournament:
At least two opponents must be very strong, i.e. rated above 1600. You must win at least 60% of the points.
For example the latest Simple Tafl 11x11 tournament:
Two opponents, Ded Fomich and Chaolaibhne are very strong. You have 5 opponents and can win max. 10 points. If you win 60% = 6 points, you qualified in this one.

  05-05/01:00 thebigfoot:  In order to get a CM title, you need to have 500 games and do very well in 3 tournaments? If this is correct, what does “doing very well” mean?

  05-04/23:51 Hagbard:  The Tyr 13x13 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Jrton80, #3 L716 and Masterluke

  05-04/07:24 death:  @Steiger: Exactly...

  05-03/19:20 Steiger:  The Fragile Art Of Existence

  05-03/18:15 death:  When you hear the Scream of your Bloody Gore, then you'll know the Leprosy has conquered your body. The only thing that's left for you is the Spiritual Healing of your Human soul according to your Individaul Thought Pattern. This is not a Symbolic act, but the true Sound Of Perseverence.

  05-03/09:56 OdinHimself:  @Hagbard: Yes, and it's funny, because these guys come from down under - Australia. I'm glad you liked it. :)

  05-03/08:01 Hagbard:  @Brench: yes

  05-03/06:15 Jrton80:  @OdinHimself no, I am not a bully. I am a Facetious Asshole who tends to tell people things which they do not want to hear. So yes, the things I say tend to make people whine from time-to-time. I do not do these thing in a mean sprite, but many cannot see the difference.

  05-03/03:26 Brench:  Question:  I’m in an endgame situation where it looks like the opposing player will have a perpetual repetition.  But it will be a complex repitition where a long sequence of whites moves is repeated.  Can the algorithm detect arbitrarily long repeated sequences.

  05-03/01:22 Aticus:  @odinhimself bully is a strong word, I just wouldn’t trust that guy.

  05-02/23:46 Hagbard:  @OdinHimself: Good music; reminds of the Bylinnyj Bereg festival!

  05-02/13:14 OdinHimself:  @Aticus: Jrton80?!? He was the bully?

  05-02/12:52 Aticus:  Ah yes, the one who threw a tantrum over a game is talking about maturity. I still have the photos of you flipping out over a game being a draw.

  05-02/02:27 Jrton80:  If there is one observation I have made in my life, which has not actually changed over time - those who evaluate things as immature - are anything but - there is a time when you are old enough when you realize, mature or immature are not really objective observations. It is a sign on a limited mind.

  05-02/01:26 Aticus:  This is still just a game, and saying that you wouldn’t admit it in public is both silly and immature.

  05-01/23:18 jrton80:  @Bogd Khan the last I checked the 17x17 win rate was 48.00% black 50.98% white. The same attack pattern for white works for 13x13 but is harder to defend - But you are right, Playing white and you do not try to pokes holes early and often - you'er screwed - the only real difference I see is that on the 17x17, if your first thrust does not work there is a chance charging out elsewhere, whereas in the 13x13, there and no second chances unless you can bait a Black piece into the center and bonce out on it.

  05-01/22:50 jrton80:  For the 13x13 - I am seeing 66.15% Black 40.37% white win rate (sorry, I think in percentages, not ratios, I use to be able to convert them, but I have gotten lazy) - prior to the current tournament, the Black win rate was over 70%

  05-01/22:39 Jrton80:  @MasterLuke - I was just thinking about that myself - the 13x13 seems to favor Black way too much - I have found an attack pattern which seems to work pretty well, but of course, I can beat it and @Bogd Khan was not fooled by it either. I only won Black against Bogd Khan due to a lucky Berserker move.

  05-01/20:48 MasterLuke:  @ Bogd Khan: interesting note about the 'better balance' of Tyr 13x13 versus Tyr 17x17. Tyr 17x17 has a fine balance of 1.18 right now. Tyr 13x13 is not yet listed in the balance sheet but at this moment, regarding the games being played, black wins almost 2 to 1... I guess it all depends on the level of the players... :)

  05-01/20:45 Jrton80:  This is not Chess or Go, it is a Vikings game "To victory and tomorrow if we can, to victory and Valhalla if we must. This we vow." You got to look at the culture the game originated. A Culture where Victory or death or even Victory and death was the way they thought would not be playing a game where the soft option of a draw was a real possibility. Personal, if I resorted to such a tactic as the fetlar rule now allow, I would be too ashamed to admit to it much less to bring it up in public.

  05-01/20:13 L716:  @Aticus: But even if rules don't not allow draw, leading players still make mistakes sometimes.
In games with high draw statistics it might lead to the 3rd outcome - a draw; in games with low to zero it leads to a binary outcome - one will lose, another will win. Draw situations don't disappear, they split. And sometimes the losing player might become the one who wins.
The Simplest example: draw forts in Fetlar and win forts in Copenhagen. The situation is the exact same, it just gives different score.
Other example: my current game in Brandubh 2 against Unhandyandy (the one where I'm playing white). He killed all of my pieces without losing a single one of his. But his 21st move was a mistake. Now I will win.
Isn't it more satisfying than a draw? Yes, if the game is well balanced, it happens a bit less often than a draw would happen. But the last chance (or punishment for arrogance, if you wish) is still here and even more impressive.

  05-01/18:53 Aticus:  The reason why we disagree is because you come from Go and I come from chess, the fundamentals of both games are completely different. I see draws as last resort for the losing side, or as a consequence of arrogant behaviour. Therefore necessary. Nevertheless, we will always fundamentally disagree because of our backgrounds.

  05-01/13:40 L716:  @Aticus: I don't think comparison with real Xs century war is any useful nowadays. During the times of reconstruction, where there was no clear rules, the idea of "what would those people invent?" was good. But today there are well translated Linneaus' notes (which resulted in Historical Tablut) and statictics to analyse the ballance of different rulesets.
So I peronally see the rules only from the point of gameplay value.

You say you came from Chess; that might be the reason why we desagree. Because I came from Go where they deliberately rid out of draws at some point and the game is fine. Also if we take Shogi (aka Japanese Chess) we will see that the amount of draws is very low because some draw situations (like pat, for example) are literally don't exist. And for my personal taste this game is more interesting to play than European chess (altrough, it's probably due to other features, not the lack of draws only).
And I also previously mentioned less popular Fox-family that by the core idea is fairly similar to Tafl-family and usualy don't have the concept of draw too.

So, when you say  "draws are a necessary thing" I just don't get why, because in my expirience they are not. Maybe if you'll explayn more, your point become more clear to me.

  05-01/12:28 Aticus:  I’m only arguing the point that draws are a necessary thing, not a bad thing. I come from chess, and in my experience, I’ve blundered won positions, and saved my games by drawing a lost position. It teaches you, or at least it should.

  05-01/12:26 Aticus:  I don’t agree that less draws equals better games, if you look at it historically, not everywhere war was won or lost, some
end up in stalemate. It’s a common theme even in human nature. Now when we examine tafl, and I’m only using this comparison because a lot of people here compare tafl to how Vikings fought, we can see that draws would be a last resort for the losing side. Say a the winning side becomes arrogant and plays sub optimal moves and blunders into a drawn position, that is not a flaw in the rules, but a flaw in the players choice of moves.

  05-01/10:52 L716:  Aticus: Well, if rules allow draw, then players will try to get it in games they can't win. It's obvious and there is nothing bad in such behavior. My point is: good rules should not allow draws or at least should minimise them.
The term "Draw Death" invented in chess for a reason. I personally don't think draws will actually kill chess, but it seems many people (including some grandmasters) don't like increasing ammout of draws. Because, you know, It's a competetive game - one wins, one loses.

>Go and tafl are not the same style of game
Fair point, but tafl and chass are also not the same style of games. Tafl is an assimetrical game where players have different sets of pieces and different goals. This leads us, to, for example, another old family of games - Fox games (i.e De Cercar la Liebre, Refskák, Bag Chal etc). Have you ever saw a draw there?

  05-01/10:05 Aticus:  They were not joking but I am not offended, I just think it is absolutely childish and immature that a player throws a tantrum over something so silly. Ah well, if anyone ever needs the evidence I have it, just please don’t let people like that run the sight.

  05-01/10:01 Aticus:  I see your point, but a draw can be reached from both players not making any mistakes, that doesn’t make the game boring or exhausted. Draws in games like chess and draughts are common, and they are mature games. Go and tafl are not the same style of game, so it is not a fair comparison. My main point was that if you can win, then win, and if you’re in a position where a draw is the only “winning” idea for you, then draw. There shouldn’t be complaints about someone wanting to draw when the game is still playable.

  05-01/09:26 L716:  And, as far as I'm aware, cursing players and cursing players and threatening them is not allowed. Are you sure it was not misunderstanding? Maybe someone has a bit weird sense of humor. But if you are sure it was not a humor, then contact Hagbard, I think he'll do something about it.

  05-01/09:15 L716:  @Aticus: The situation you are talking about is called "Zugzwang" and it's pretty normal in traditional board games. It is possible to avoid such situation by allowing players to skip their moves (and some traditional games also do that), but I'm not sure skiping moves is suited for Tafl-games. 
And about draws: if two players in a game agree it's a draw, so be it. But at the same time on a rule lewel I think we should avoid draws as much as possible. If most of the games end up in a draw, that does not mean game is "mature", it means people have exhausted its potential. Take tic-tac-toe, for example: if two players are not six years old then all their games will end up in a draw. You can say it's balanced, but do you think it's interesting? On the other hand there are other traditional games like Go (Weiqi/Baduk) where draw is impossible. I'm pretty sure you won't call Go immature game.

  05-01/06:28 Bogd Khan:  Fetlar and Copenhagen has great balances and respect for the creators of these games. Old Hnefatafl has a big advantage for the black player and there are too easy ways to block a corner with only 2-3 moves and with only two pieces.

  05-01/06:24 Bogd Khan:  I think that more players need to read the rules of Fetlar game. In the last tournament at least 3 players playing white was able to make a draw when attacked my corner with a single king. The classical draw that Hagbard said. No one did.

  05-01/06:21 Bogd Khan:  I noticed a problem when playing tyr 17x17. It's too easy to blacks to surround the whites if whites play too defensive but for whites is too easy to make two castles 2x2 and blacks could not kill the king when there are 2 castles and he is somewhere between them. Tyr 13x13 is definitely better balanced.

  05-01/00:27 Aticus:  Another thing about draws, if you want a game to mature, it must allow draws. Especially when play becomes more advanced, if you take an example from other games like chess or checkers, you’ll see that the majority of high rated players draw more than win or lose. In most cases, if a player blunders then there will be a win or loss, but if no players blunder but do not want to blunder, they should be allowed to draw.

  05-01/00:20 Aticus:  Can someone please tell me if cussing players out and threatening them is allowed on this sight? 
I have evidence of a certain player being pretty colourful with their language when the game didn’t go as he planned. On a different note, draws happen when both players dont push for a win or they are unable to. Why should a player be forced to weaken his position to push for something that will ultimately lead to a loss? That kind of thinking makes no sense to me.

  04-30/14:36 OdinHimself:  A musical greeting to all tafl players at Aage's of me, Odin, I'm glad I know you, we are the best tafl community worldwide! And to our caring host Hagbard, our true Vikinge Høvding, respect! Skal, Odin with us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0EQdGh_PmI

  04-29/20:46 Jrton80:  That's fine by me - I was just under the misapprehension it was supposed to work - That's all

  04-29/20:34 MasterLuke:  I meant 'the defender's KING must try to reach the end, of course

  04-29/20:33 MasterLuke:  Personally, I don't mind if there is no surround-rule in the Tyr game. To me, there's no such thing as a 'draw', unless both players agree on it (for example if a game should get boring or taking too long)... As the man who set up the rules and from a true warriors view: the attackers MUST kill the king, NOT merely surround him, to win the game. Likewise, the defender MUST try to reach the edge instead of 'staying home, cosy between his own men'. That's no way to win... So no draw forts and/or surroundings here. This fits perfectly in my goal to make the rules as simple as possible. Agree?

  04-29/19:00 Hagbard:  Yes, in the Tyr game the rule is not added at all, also when there are no commanders left

  04-29/18:59 Jrton80:  FYI - speaking of the Surround, it is still not working on the Tyr 13x13 even when the are no commanders are left

  04-29/18:56 Hagbard:  The Fetlar Panel does not have a "capture 2 blacks" rule. We had it here for some time because of the Monstrosity Fort, where white creates a draw fort in two initial moves and cannot be stopped

  04-29/18:56 Jrton80:  Oooooo THAT's why the surround started working - I did wonder about that

  04-29/18:52 Jrton80:  In my game with aticus - zero Black pieces have been taken

  04-29/18:40 Hagbard:  capture 2 blacks - that was only to prevent the "monstrosity two-move castle" in center of the board, which is now instead prevented by surrounding all whites. Your case of eternal check in a corner is a classic, happens all the time in Fetlar

  04-29/18:36 Hagbard:  The Old Hnefatafl does not allow it (repetitions and draw forts).

  04-29/18:35 Jrton80:  Wait a minute - was there not a rule where a capture of at least 2 black pieces was required? or was it just 2?

  04-29/18:32 Jrton80:  Well, then I guess I am not playing Fetlar anymore if that kind of simple minded bullshit is acceptable - I still say that a Draw can only really happen with the consent of both players

  04-29/17:38 Hagbard:  In the sheet from the Fetlar Panel:
There are occasions where the game can be drawn. These are:
...
3. If the King cannot reach a refuge square and the attacker cannot reach the King.
- or in our formulation:
9.   If it is not possible to end the game, fx. because both sides have too few pieces left or because of repetitions, it is a draw.

  04-29/17:31 Hagbard:  This is one of the reasons why Adam Bartley, Tim Millar and myself created the Copenhagen game. Copenhagen is = Fetlar plus a few additions, which do away with repetitions and draw forts.

  04-29/17:28 jrton80:  Plus - I may add I am not seeing anything like that in the rules - but I could be missing something

  04-29/17:24 jrton80:  And when did this happen? Please do recall, I always did find that an extremely limited thinking - As long as you have options it is not a draw

  04-29/16:27 Hagbard:  It actually is a draw. The Fetlar Panel chaired by Peter Kelly decided that as played on the island Fetlar, games can end in draw forts and eternal repetitions, all of which is considered a draw.

  04-29/15:01 jrton80:  Would someone PLEASE explain to aticus how the Fetlar game we are currently playing is not a Draw

  04-28/23:37 MasterLuke:  @ChaolAibhne and @Bogd Khan and the others: sorry for my late reaction, but as Hagbard explained, this is indeed a bug. In Tyr, or other games with Berserk moves: It is certainly NOT allowed for the commander to make another move or jump without capturing a piece in the same turn.

  04-28/19:35 Bogd Khan:  There was a similar bug before where in beresrk games you were allowed to jump over a piece and after that to take capture

  04-28/16:18 ChaolAibhne:  Thanks @Hagbard. I wanted to make sure that what I had encountered before was indeed a bug and not a legitimate feature that might catch me out later.

  04-28/14:49 Hagbard:  Only when you captured a piece, you can move on, and then only if you again capture a piece. Same as in checkers, only that in the berserk it's voluntary

  04-28/13:35 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard And do the rules allow multiple jumps if only the last jump captures? To give a concrete example, in my game as black against Jrton80, if I were to play d8-e8xe9, could white respond with f8-d8-d10xe10?

  04-28/12:52 Hagbard:  The intention of the program is, that going back to the start position of the latest part of the berserk move cancels this latest part.
However, there is a bug somewhere in the berserk moving routines, which is hard to find and correct, so if you happen to be able to do an illegal move, then please initiate the move over again to do a legal move.

  04-28/12:22 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard and @MasterLuke, in one of my games of Tyr 13 I found something that may be a bug or it may just be a feature that I don't know about. After making a commander jump over a piece to make a capture, I found that I was being allowed in that same turn to jump back to the original position without making another capture. This didn't seem to fit with what I knew of the berserker rule. I thought this was probably a bug and so I didn't make use of it. However I'd like to know whether this is in fact allowed by the rules, as in one of my games I can see some chance of this coming up again (but with me on the receiving end).

  04-28/07:47 Hagbard:  Thanks for notifying, the link is changed to http://aagenielsen.dk/historical_hnefatafl_rules.php

  04-27/20:00 Ded Fomich:  @Hagbard Please add the repetitions rule in the Simple Tafl ruleset, there is no mention of it there: http://aagenielsen.dk/simple_hnefatafl_rules.php

  04-27/01:16 thebigfoot:  @Hagbard I was thinking of an “anti” tafl variant, where the goal of the game is to get rid of your pieces before your opponent. Captured are forced. I’m still working on a balanced opening position that doesn’t immediately win for black, but I feel I’m getting close. If that can be an idea I would love to share what I found.

  04-26/14:39 Hagbard:  what do you have in mind?

  04-26/13:47 Thebigfoot:  Hey all I was wondering if anymore variants of tafl could be accepted?

  04-25/06:55 Hagbard:  The Sea battle tafl 13x13 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Bogd khan, #3 L716 and Xerxes

  04-24/05:14 Riiem:  For myself, i miss PTO and Opentaflbot on it, playing on opentaflbot itself, without pto frame, not the same XD

  04-23/19:37 MasterLuke:  @branan and @Riiem: how I wish I had the knowledge of making websites or apps... Now I 'merely' design pieces or make drawings to dress up things a bit... Me too find that Tafl deservers far more appreciation worldwide! I tried the Philip Schober app too, I found it to be too slow in reaction. But kudos to him credits for trying, and it looks rather nice, though...

  04-23/19:18 branan:  Of course I do! But a website on a smartphone can't offer the same possibilities an app could. For example: notifications, background update with pushed data, offline / asynchronous moves, and so on.
But the most important thing is game visibility: Apple and Google app stores give a very good opportunity to increase Tafl games popularity worldwide.

  04-23/14:59 Riiem:  @Branan but you can play on mobile with the site? I do that all the time

  04-23/14:59 Riiem:  @Hagbard lol! Glad to hear that, since my english is challenging me, the coincidence of your sayin just after me was confusing me ahah

  04-23/11:21 branan:  I tried Philip Schober's app and I didn't like it. But it would be great if Hagbard could make us a mobile application using the site's PHP code and graphics (with PhoneGap for example).

  04-23/08:36 MasterLuke:  I am happy to see that game variant 'Tyr 17x17' of which I set up the rules, has a fine balance of 1.18 (1.08 overall) at this moment. Also, I've made a small change in the rules sheet by adding a sentence regarding the king who can do a berserk move and escape at the same time. I felt it could be unclear to new players, hence the update.
On the other hand, the ongoing Tyr 13x13 tournament shows this game favours black too much - at least, right now.

  04-23/07:13 Hagbard:  The French remark was about one Russian player, who switched to French and used it for some unpretty utterances.

  04-23/02:17 Riiem:  @Jrton80 - I know for the AIs, they are really dumb... but is there some good AI out there excepts Fishbreath's Open Tafl?

@Hagbard - I dont get you for the french sentence, is it an expression or you are telling me to watch my french, since i'm french speaking?

  04-22/22:54 Hagbard:  The Sea battle tafl 15x15 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Xerxes, #3 Masterluke

  04-22/22:38 Hagbard:  Because there were examples of some creative use of the French language recently (inappropriate)

  04-22/13:10 branan:  @Hagbard why did you wrote that: "Please, please, watch your French, also in French..." ?

  04-22/09:03 Hagbard:  It is possible

  04-22/01:21 L716:  I'm currently thinking there should be a limitation on how many identical open game invitations one might have in the list at the same time. What is your opinion, Hagbard?

  04-21/22:37 Hagbard:  No, but I knew about Fellhuhn, he is on my link page

  04-21/20:39 Jrton80:  @Riiem - I checked out that app, the AI still suck but I just noticed there are different AIs so I'll have to poke around a bit - it seems to have the H1-J1 opening which it just loves and is just way too easy to pick apart, and the Berserker did some things which made no sense even by the Apps rules, but the jumping King is a rather interesting twist. @Hagbard - this site is linked twice in the rules - did you know about this?

  04-20/22:32 Hagbard:  Please, please, watch your French, also in French...

  04-19/22:43 Riiem:  Just posting here cause i know peoples like diversity, but Hnefatafl app, by Fellhuhn (Philip Schober on app stores) had a maaaajor update lately! Elo rating and online matching up are now working well.

It badly needs good players over there, to show how challenging it can be. For now i am fourth on the rank there over maaany players. It's not normal lol so come show people what are real good players on a app that has thousands of players.

  04-15/16:07 Hagbard:  Cirka a tournament per week. Next one in some days, Tyr 13x13.

  04-15/15:44 Kraken:  Thank you, are there going to be any other tournaments after Old Hnefatafl?

  04-14/14:40 Hnefihunter:  Ok)

  04-14/14:19 Hagbard:  FM: high results in tough tournaments.
IM: won over half the globe, Europe & Asia.
NM: National Master, best in UK.

  04-14/14:03 Hnefihunter:  What's the difference between FM, IM, NM?

  04-14/08:32 Hagbard:  GM: win a World Master tourn.
FM: play 500 games and do extremely well in 3 tournaments.
CM: play 500 games and do very well in 3 tournaments.
You have the chance right now: you could join the Old Hnefatafl tourn., win and become OldH. Master.

  04-14/08:05 kraken:  Hi, does anyone know how to become a master with a Title? (CM, FM, IM) etc.

  04-13/22:42 Hagbard:  The Fetlar Hnefatafl 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Bogd Khan, #2 Jrton80, #3 Hnefihunter

  04-11/06:18 Riiem:  @Hnefihunter and @L716, Playtaflonline is currently broken for the subscriptions, the admin, Tuireann, is not working on the site for the moment, due to other professionnal occupations.

  04-09/11:51 ChaolAibhne:  It occurred to me that I haven't seen Casshern around here for a while, and the games archive shows that he last played three months ago, which is an unusually long absence for him. Given the times we are in, does anyone know he is OK?

  04-08/13:25 Hnefihunter:  Thank you. I'll send a letter at this address.

  04-08/12:48 Hagbard:  Ok, the admin mail address is the one I wrote, it uses to work

  04-08/12:46 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard: Beta site of Play Tafl Online

  04-08/08:38 Hagbard:  @Hnefihunter: did you mean your forum account on this site, or do you mean at Play Tafl Online?

  04-07/14:00 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard:It didn't help. The system writes either «Username already exists», or «Please verify your email». Letters to the mail don't come along.

  04-07/13:53 L716:  Thank you, Hagbard

  04-07/07:44 Hagbard:  @L716: playtaflonline DOT com AT gmail DOT com
substitute DOT and AT with . and @

  04-07/07:41 Hagbard:  The Alea Berserk 17x17 (Martens) tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Hagbard, #3 Jrton80

  04-06/12:23 L716:  Does anyone know how to contact the admin of PlayTaflOnline? I'm trying to register, but the site won't send me anything on email to verify it.

  04-04/16:08 Wesley Alves:  @Hagbard:It's done. Thanks.

  04-04/12:10 Hagbard:  Luk Martens wrote a rules sheet for the Tyr game:
http://aagenielsen.dk/tyr_rules.pdf

  04-04/00:35 Hagbard:  The forum is now opened for new registering, please try and register again.

  04-03/21:04 Wesley Alves:  @Hagbard: What do I do to have a forum account?

  04-03/21:00 Wesley Alves:  @branan: Thanks!

  04-03/09:29 branan:  @Wesley: Brandubh 2 variant has a better game balance than Brandubh 1 (1.3 vs 1.5 right now). That's probably why Hagbard preferred it.

  04-03/09:24 branan:  @Westley: if you browse the forum there: http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37&start=30#p1385 you'll find downloadable MS Word models to help you for your translations.

  04-02/22:18 Wesley Alves:  L716: Thank you for the explanation!

  04-02/17:29 L716:  @Wesley Alives: Brandubh 1 is still here. Press the "More variants, choose opponents" button to see it.

  04-02/16:37 Wesley Alves:  @Hagbard: Has Brandubh 1 been removed from the site? I translated his rules, and just now I realized that it is only possible to create a match with Brandubh 2.

  04-02/14:21 Hagbard:  :) Thank you for the name.

  04-02/13:52 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard My daughter was browsing this site recently and gave me a nice surprise when she informed me that I was among the hallowed company that constitutes the Tafl Wall of Fame. A lifetime ambition realised! :-) I see that most people there have their real names as well as their nicknames – in that case mine is Hamish Lawson. As far as the affiliation with the University of St Andrews goes, I wish there was indeed a tafl scene there; but there's not as far as I know and so it's probably best to remove that affiliation. Thanks!

  04-02/13:44 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard: All right.

  04-01/23:55 Hagbard:  @Hnefihunter:
Grandmaster: won a World Champion tournament.
Other masters: won a master tournament.

  04-01/23:53 Hagbard:  @Wesley Alves: email-address is at the bottom of this page

  04-01/23:51 Hagbard:  The Tyr 17x17 tournament finished with #1 Jrton80, #2 Chaolaibhne, #3 Hagbard

  04-01/22:03 Hnefihunter:  Got it, thanks. What are the requirements for a grandmaster & other masters?

  04-01/21:53 Wesley Alves:  @Hagbard: Thanks! And how can I send you the translations I do?

  04-01/21:31 Hagbard:  Fetlar draw: When the players know that the game can never end, it's a draw.

  04-01/20:40 Hnefihunter:  How to get GM? What are the requirements?

  04-01/20:08 Hagbard:  @Hnefihunter: It's because detection of draw forts has not been programmed, sorry. When the players know that it's a draw fort, they must both use the button "Offer Draw".

  04-01/20:06 Hagbard:  @Wesley Alves: That sounds good! You're very welcome to translate rules into Portuguese.

  04-01/17:11 Wesley Alves:  The idea is to facilitate the dissemination of Tafl in Brazil, which knows so little about this game.

  04-01/17:04 Hnefihunter:  Hej Aage. Why the  program doesn't detect the Draw fort during the game with Fraech?

  04-01/16:54 Wesley Alves:  Hello, friends! I'm Wesley, still without a quality nick (lol). So, some people and I created a Brazilian community of Tafl, and I would like to know how I could put here the translations of some rules into Portuguese to help Brazilians who do not read in English, French or other languages. It's possible?:)

  03-27/17:27 Hnefihunter:  @ChaolAibhne: I like to be part of the gaming community on this cozy site. I am glad that the spirit of competition allows you to improve.

  03-27/16:00 Hagbard:  New in gallery: Roberto Gallotta ("187Gallo") sent photos of new tafl game set.

  03-26/10:12 branan:  Some subtle clues lead me to believe that Сергей would like to play a game of Tablut. :D

  03-24/00:03 Masterluke:  @OdinHimself and Hagbard: you're welcome and thanks for the kind comments...

  03-23/06:23 OdinHimself:  All hail Luk! :)

  03-22/19:36 Hagbard:  I do too and agree. Thank Luk Martens who drew the pieces!

  03-22/19:06 OdinHimself:  Hagbard, I like the new Welsh Tawlbwrdd warrior pieces very much! This is how a real tafl set should look like! Skal!

  03-21/19:10 ChaolAibhne:  @ Hnefihunter, my friend. I joined this site a year ago from today, a couple of months after you. I soon identified you as a consistent and improving player that I could measure my progress against, hoping that I would manage to keep my rating from lagging too far behind. But, marvel of marvels, yesterday my rating edged just ahead! It probably won't be for long, as I'm a less consistent player. But I trust that you will indulge me for now if I mark my 'anniversary' with this achievement. ;-)

  03-20/05:59 Hagbard:  Sorry, a bug. The white piece is put back on the board.

  03-20/00:38 ChaolAibhne:  @Hagbard In my game as black against 187gallo in tournament 158 I tried out a move where I captured i5 but then played a different move; however for both of us i5 is showing as missing

  03-18/18:26 Masterluke:  @Habard: ah, ok. Well, I'll have to kill him then... )

  03-18/18:22 Hagbard:  It's because of the Berserk features. The Commanders can jump over a row of men, and therefore a surrounding may not be final but can be jumped over.

  03-18/17:54 Masterluke:  @Hagbard: Hello, in the game Tyr 13x13 me playing against Jrton80 I got him completely surrounded, he can not escape... Does that not mean the game is over (I win)? Apparently not in this case?

  03-18/12:55 branan:  Maybe it was just the beginning of the clones war. :)

  03-18/12:31 Hagbard:  No I don't think it'll be a problem. I wonder what happens there but don't know.

  03-18/12:05 branan:  Hagbard, there are many new accounts that seem to be voluntary duplicates: Norse* (22 accounts), Ragnar* (19 accounts), Olaf* (19 accounts), Krak* (17 accounts), all from the United States. Won't that be a problem?

  03-17/18:12 Hnefihunter:  I'm joining. Thank you, Aage. Thanks David. Cool set and nice colors tones. Nothing distracts from the game)

  03-17/18:02 Hagbard:  David, you're very welcome.
I also want to thank all you players for your commitment, lively activity, valuable contributions and many good ideas!

  03-17/17:49 branan:  Aage, I would really like to thank you for this site, but also for your reactivity and your good will to always try to improve things. It's really very pleasant!

  03-17/16:13 branan:  Ok, let's go for it, then.

  03-17/15:46 Hnefihunter:  @branan:I think it looks better.

  03-17/15:34 branan:  @Hnefihunter, could you check if this look better for you: https://www.casimages.com/i/200317034100559839.png.html on the left, the current colors, on the right reduce colors tones.

  03-17/10:29 Hnefihunter:  I agree. So I talked to Branan in advance about this topic. David Zolli think, the picture he've made was done in a graphic program, while you uses PHP to compose the board. It probably looses part of PNG transparency. So colors come more rough than in his design.

  03-17/10:17 Hnefihunter:  ... the many colors on a tiny board.* I prefer a simple style for the abstract games.

  03-17/10:06 Hagbard:  I see your point, but eyes are different, and this particular variant is tuned in in a special way.

  03-17/09:43 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard:Probably, the few color on a tiny board. I played the previous and last styles of Tablut, both versions are normal for me. Maybe, the new pieces goes well with other board size.

  03-16/23:21 Hagbard:  It's the same background color of Brandubh 2 as before, only with new game pieces.

  03-16/22:20 Hnefihunter:  http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=157

  03-16/22:19 Hnefihunter:  I'm not against the new design, but I want to note that the David Zolli’ s settings have less bright shades than now. http://aagenielsen.dk/hnefataflforum/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=93

  03-16/22:18 Hnefihunter:  @Hagbard:When I played with Branan, I realized that Brandub has too bright a color setting for me. My eyes started to get tired. It became a little difficult for me to process information. This has never happened before. Is it possible to reduce the brightness?

  03-12/00:31 Hagbard:  The Sea Battle 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne and Xerxes, #3 Masterluke

  03-10/09:24 Hagbard:  Special game pieces in Simple Tafl 11x11, Ard Ri, Sea 15x15, Fetlar 11x11, Brandubh2 and Tyr 17x17.

  03-09/23:38 Masterluke:  @Plantagenet: I believe you; for I never played one of those games.

  03-09/21:01 Plantagenet:  @Masterluke Playing high-level Hnefatafl is much less tough than playing Go or Shôgi.

  03-09/20:20 Hagbard:  Special game pieces in Simple Tafl 11x11, Ard Ri, Sea 15x15, Fetlar 11x11 and Brandubh2.

  03-09/20:17 Hagbard:  Yes it works! They're in the Fetlar 11x11 now.

  03-09/20:10 branan:  @Hagbard: I put them indexed on the forum.

  03-09/11:53 Hagbard:  Branan, do you have your game pieces as single files?

  03-09/11:07 Hagbard:  The name "Tyr" is found still today in "Tuesday" and in 13 location names in Denmark.

  03-09/10:12 Masterluke:  Since the omission of the guards, the game variant Tyr 17 x 17 (formerly called 'Alea Berserk Martens 2') seems to be very much in balance, but the upcoming tournament has to prove it for sure. I hope many of you will give it a try... By the way, I call it 'Tyr' like the Nordic god of war, whose name was shouted out when vikings attacked.

  03-08/23:05 Hagbard:  Now there are new sets of game pieces in Simple Tafl 11x11 and in Ard Ri.

  03-08/15:01 Hagbard:  Changed the background to "Forest Green", probably a better tone. In any case a nature shade of green as viking battles go on in forests and nature.

  03-08/13:18 Riiem:  Those new pieces are nice, maybe it's the green background that cause more problems than the pieces?

  03-08/12:37 Hagbard:  Yes, I'm quite aware that the Brandubh2 is your favourite, so the game pieces are now at test at the Simple Tafl 11x11.

  03-08/10:35 branan:  @Hagbard: I'm talking about that with themightyglider and try to help him to understand how I see as much as I can. But classic color blinds could also have problems with some others color combinations.

  03-07/19:11 Hagbard:  @Branan: sorry to hear that. Old pieces restored. Perhaps the new black pieces needed to be darker?

  03-07/18:39 branan:  Ok. I found the thread on the forum and explain my problem there.

  03-07/18:25 branan:  Hi All. What happens to Brandubh pieces on the website? They have changed to strange triangles. I don't see colors well (eye problem) and it's very difficult for me to see black (blue?) pieces on the dark green background. Is it possible to reverse to previous design (with preference setting somewhere) ?

  03-05/22:19 Hagbard:  The Ard Ri tournament finished with #1 Hnefihunter and Chaolaibhne, #3 Unhandyandy

  03-04/17:41 Hagbard:  Historical Hnefatafl 15x15 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne and Jrton80, #3 Masterluke

  03-03/08:05 Hagbard:  The Sea battle T circle 11x11 tournament finished with #1 Chaolaibhne, #2 Jrton80 and Xerxes

  03-01/06:23 Hagbard:  I looked in the database. There's only one game longer, 350 moves. It started Jan. 10th 2020.

  03-01/00:10 Masterluke:  I just fought an exhausting battle with Xerxes. In the end I lost because of some really stupid moves... It lasted 345 moves, no less... I don't know, I'm here for about a year and a half, were there other games that took so long, I wonder?
Full contents of the small forum.
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).
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") and Marian Luck ("themightyglider") 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 21.5.2020