Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Tafl rules
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Hagbard
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Hagbard » Sun Feb 14, 2016 5:50 pm

The Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11 was outlined April 2012 and has ever since been brought to good use at World Championships on this site and at several live tournaments in UK. The Copenhagen game includes the "Old Hnefatafl" and the Fetlar Hnefatafl and is merely an extension of these (better working, hopefully).

So, as a bid for a well working tafl game with the strong king (armed and captured from 4 sides),
do we have a fourth tafl milestone with the Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11?

(First milestone, Saami Tablut 9x9 Jan 23 2014.
Second milestone, Irish Brandubh 7x7 Jul 6 2015.
Third milestone, Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11 Feb 14 2016).

hrafnblod
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by hrafnblod » Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:15 pm

Didnt know whether to post here or start a new thread.
Im seeming to be having issues with the shield wall rule not working in game?
Ive just completed a shield wall against my opponent, been needling around trying to perform it for a while now, however, once the shield wall was completed, the opponents pieces remained.
Does the shield wall have to be completed from the edge/end, or can it be closed from any position.

hrafnblod (1334) / Thanir (1386)
Captured 2 / 2
You play white.

Come to think of it, I could have closed the shieldwall earlier in the game, but the preview move thing didnt show it as a capture and i wasnt sure if the corner piece could be used as a capturing piece (too lazy at the time to look), so I moved something else instead.

Cheers

hrafnblod
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by hrafnblod » Sun Feb 28, 2016 4:50 pm

I see. The shield wall rule only applies when it is closed from either end as the last piece in the shieldwall, i.e. next to a board edge.

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Hagbard
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Hagbard » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:09 am

hrafnblod wrote:I see. The shield wall rule only applies when it is closed from either end as the last piece in the shieldwall, i.e. next to a board edge.
That's right. Crust (Millar) explained the shieldwall thoroughly here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 794&type=3

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Hagbard
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Hagbard » Tue Jun 21, 2016 5:59 pm

A "Copenhagen Hnefatafl Bell 11x11" was tried, with the attackers set up in Bell formation. The balance was very bad, +2.82 (282 defenders' wins per 100 attackers' wins).

So the best known Copenhagen setup is still with the defenders set up in diamond formation and the attackers in T formation, balance +1.42.

Sigurd
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Sigurd » Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:09 pm

Has T cross ever been tried for Copenhagen?

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Hagbard
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Hagbard » Fri Jun 24, 2016 11:10 pm

Sigurd wrote:Has T cross ever been tried for Copenhagen?
Not yet.

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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Hagbard » Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:55 am

Small adjustment of Copenhagen rule 10.

I suggest that the 50 moves limit in Copenhagen rule 10 be changed into 100 moves.

Sometimes at the annual Hnefatafl Championship Tournament, a player explores the edges of some or other rule.
It happened this year when "epm180" as white against "xerxes" cleverly created a large draw fort near a corner of the board. The fort was so large that it was possible to spiral the white pieces very slowly into the interior of the fort without repeating any white position three times, and thus reach the 50 moves limit and a resulting draw.

This was well done and contrived!
The intention of rule 10, however, is to indicate where to stop a game, which would otherwise continue in all eternity, and call it a draw.
White's spiralling movement in the epm180/xerxes game could indeed continue for a long time, but it couldn't have continued in all eternity.
So the game cleverly demonstrated that a 50 moves limit was not set high enough.

edmond_dantes
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by edmond_dantes » Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:03 pm

I think the rule should not be changed. it is normal for the white to have such a tactic in the game, and the blacks have to counteract it. I am against changing every rule that leads to a bad situation for whites.

Casshern
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Re: Copenhagen Hnefatafl

Post by Casshern » Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:37 am

I think this is a good rule change. Since, the purpose of rule 10 is to settle a draw for a game that would otherwise last forever. This rule can be manipulated by white to end a game in a draw, in which the game would otherwise end as a white lose. White already has exit fort and shieldwall rules to help win. If the object of the game for black were to simply block every corner then black should win every game. Rule 10 only comes into play when black has blocked every corner and white has no chance for an exit fort or sheildwall capture. In which case, black should not be punished if white is able to extend the game with a large draw fort. However, if white is able to capture more than 7 black pieces then black may not be able to connect enough pieces to either surround white or trap white against an edge, but could still block an exit fort or shieldwall. In which case, the game should end in a draw.

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