Тавлеи против людей.
Artist: Copyright © Rasmus Holbroe (Jan. 2016).
World Tafl Federation Championship 2026 - Sign Up from July 1!The annual World Tafl Federation Championship is back!This year's tournaments include Copenhagen Hnefatafl, Historical Hnefatafl, and Race Games. Test your skills against players from around the world and fight for the championship titles! Sign-up opens on July 1, 2026. Deadline for registration: August 31, 2026. Full tournament details here: Tournament Page 2026. We look forward to seeing you in the tournament! |
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Play against humans. Тавлеи против людей.
Artist: Copyright © Rasmus Holbroe (Jan. 2016). |
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2026-10-24 05:28 cacreal: As the tournaments progress the level of play should natural be of a higher quality. I agree that Draganov should practice more with Alex - maybe 25 simultaneous games to give the world a demonstration of their abilities and one would be the victor - the 25th game could be decided on a virtual coin flip to see who is black or white. @draganov do you have any high quality losses that are memorable?
2026-10-24 01:39 Ailill: ... the last row of numbers in the previous post should of course be "2001-2200".
2026-10-24 01:26 Ailill: The interesting thing about Copenhagen is that for weak to intermediate players, it seems to heavily favour the whites, whereas for the strong players (judging by these comments at least) it seems to favour the blacks. I did some analysis on Copenhagen games from the last two years where both players were within 250 rating of each other. I grouped the games by average rating of both players and found as follows: * avg. rating 1000-1200: 27 games, white won 59.26% of the time. * avg. rating 1201-1400: 135 games, white won 64.44% of the time. * avg. rating 1401-1600: 122 games, white won 71.31% of the time. * avg. rating 1601-1800: 407 games, white won 57.49% of the time. * avg. rating 1801-2000: 162 games, white won 45.68% of the time. * avg. rating 2001-2000: 56 games, white won 50% of the time. What does this mean for a rule that favours white? I guess it means that games between strong players will become more balanced and interesting whereas games between weak or intermediate players will become even more unbalanced, and probably less interesting. I'm sure the very strong players posting here are mainly concerned with their own games (which is understandable as this is how we push the frontier of the game) but it is worth bearing in mind that the large majority of games played are between players with lower ratings. Just something to bear in mind. I would be interested to know if the strong players have any insights as to why weaker players do so much better with white than black.
2026-10-23 22:35 Hagbard: Alex Hnefatafl: White requires much greater precision and theoretical preparation. Against a strong opponent, even the slightest mistake can lead to a dead end. Black, on the other hand, can sometimes get away with an imprecise move, and sometimes has a choice of two to four possible moves. In difficult positions, however, White often has only one best move, and it is very easy to make a mistake. Realising White’s potential is therefore more difficult and requires a greater effort. This is why it may seem that Black has the advantage. In Copenhagen Hnefatafl, however, Black really does have the advantage, and I believe that the new throne is necessary. Apart from that, everyone must admit that, for the past two or three years, everyone except me has been cutting corners and slacking off. To perform well in a tournament, you need to play and prepare throughout the year. For a long time now, I have been the only one doing that. To develop Hnefatafl, players such as Dimetr, Gulo, Draganov and Aluizo need to play Historical Hnefatafl against me throughout the year, as intensively as Draganov used to do - playing ten games simultaneously, all played to a result. Then it will be easier to see where things stand. The same applies to Copenhagen Hnefatafl, since it is now possible to play at a level that was previously out of reach.
2026-10-23 20:25 Casshern: Historical 13x13 naturally has more possibilities because it is a larger board. That is obvious. What I am saying is that it has the same issue as smaller boards, which is that it heavily favors the black pieces. I also believe that Copenhagen favors black but to a lesser degree. The exit fort and shield wall rules greatly cut into the black advantage. In my opinion, Copenhagen is more dynamic in that sense and takes more skill. Whether or not Copenhagen needs the rule that black cannot cross the throne, I am not so sure. I prefer the game as it is.
2026-10-23 17:35 Hagbard: Alex Hnefatafl: Historical Hnefatafl on an 11×11 board is indeed much simpler than Copenhagen Hnefatafl. However, if we are talking about the historical variant played on a 13×13 board, the number of possible variations is an order of magnitude greater than in the historical 11×11 variant. The number of possibilities grows geometrically. The 13×13 board offers an enormous number of possible opening variations - far more than Copenhagen Hnefatafl. Despite the simpler rules, the potential of this board should be greater. The problem is simply that nobody has yet started playing this variant at even a minimally acceptable level. This includes players who ignore Copenhagen Hnefatafl.
2026-10-23 15:01 OdinHimself: I support Mario's opinion. I would also like to ask Hagbard to allow Alex to post on the forum on his own behalf. I believe that if a player cannot behave with proper manners and act like a gentleman, he shouldn't be part of this community at all. We cannot keep a great talent and tafl deity among us without giving him a voice. Hagbard, please allow Alex to post and leave comments. If Alex happens to commit a violation of the Code Of Conduct, then let the appropriate measures, as outlined in the code itself, be taken against him.
2026-10-23 07:38 Casshern: I do not like talking about on going games but there is something that I have been wanting to give my opinion on. First off, Alex and I are very strong players. So our games are usually of high quality. That being said, I have seen many mistakes in our current games, on both sides. I certainly think that I could play better. Copenhagen is such a complex game. Which brings me to my point/opinion. Hagbard suggested allowing Grandmasters for Historical Hnefatafl with the same criteria as Copenhagen. I am not convinced that we should do that. Historical is a much simpler game compared to Copenhagen. There are many players who mainly play Historical and are good. But when they play Copenhagen the skill does not always transfer. However, if a player is strong at Copenhagen, they are usually strong at Historical or other variants. This is my opinion/view. Because of this I do not think a Historical Master/Champion should be promoted to Grandmaster based on that alone. I think they need to prove their skill in Copenhagen as well. To show true mastery of the game. As far as black not being able to cross the throne, I am not sure if that is necessary in Copenhagen. It certainly does help in Historical though.
2026-10-22 07:24 Black Raven: I agree with Alex's assessment. There are many cases where I was stopped from building an exit fort because Black pieces could cross the throne. I also believe the throne should be the same for Historical 11 x 11 and Copenhagen for the sake of consistency and simplicity.
2026-10-22 07:02 Hagbard: Alex Hnefatafl: After the round has ended, please pay attention to move 29 in the game where I play White. Mario moves across the throne, creating a deadlocked position. This move could have been avoided with the new throne, and the fight for the corner would have been more active. The new throne would also have prevented Black from completing the encirclement in a winning position and would have required more precise play from Black in that situation (see the second game, where I play Black). Finally, in certain situations, the new throne makes it easier for White to build a white fortress.
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Alexander Steiger Dis' game set up in the Royal Hall in Lejre, Denmark. (Click on the image)
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 about the Viking board game Hnefatafl.
Tafl Shops.
Viking word of wisdom: The Hávamál.
(Havámál på dansk).
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| Many thanks to Tim Millar ("crust"), Adam Bartley ("Adam"), John C. Ashton, Nicolas Cartier, Jonas Lööf ("conanlibrarian"), Olli Salmi, Damian Walker ("cyningstan"), Rasmus Holbroe, Thore Nissen, Lucho Panchev ("OdinHimself"), Corey Hart ("Brench"), Alexander Steiger Dis ("Steiger"), Dmitry Pashkov, Delray Curtis ("jrton80"), David Zolli ("branan"), Luk Martens ("Masterluke"), Marian Luck ("themightyglider"), Mikkel Berg-Nordlie ("mihkkal"), Alessandro Arzani ("Abbas Agraphicus") and all players who contributed to this site and to the photo gallery. And not least the more than 600 players from all over the world who have played 65,000 real human-vs-human tafl games here, creating a vast body of practical experience with this intriguing historical board game. (And lately, AI - namely ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini - has helped with some things.) |
