Summary on the Saami Tablut:
https://aagenielsen.dk/tablut_summary.php
Saami Tablut
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
Last edited by Hagbard on Sat Dec 14, 2024 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
Histoire et Images Medievales.
Février-Mars-Avril 2012.
page 16-24.
La Famille du Hnefatafl.
https://www.aisling-1198.org/wp-content ... y-2012.pdf
The spring 2012 issue of the Belgian magazine has an interesting summary on the tafl family of games.
At least the article on Tablut (page 24) clearly builds on a close study of the present website.
November 2011 the full article by John C. Ashton and the article by Nicolas Cartier on the subject Hnefatafl/Tablut were with their permissions published here. And the theme was keenly discussed in the forum.
Spring 2012 comes then the Hist. et Im. Med. article directly based on the Cartier article.
February 2013 tests on this site demonstrated that these Tablut rules are very well working. And December 2013 a thorough linguistic analysis here of historical sources, led by the Finnish linguist Olli Salmi, confirmed the rules to be a proper translation of the primary historical source, the Linné diary.
Février-Mars-Avril 2012.
page 16-24.
La Famille du Hnefatafl.
https://www.aisling-1198.org/wp-content ... y-2012.pdf
The spring 2012 issue of the Belgian magazine has an interesting summary on the tafl family of games.
At least the article on Tablut (page 24) clearly builds on a close study of the present website.
November 2011 the full article by John C. Ashton and the article by Nicolas Cartier on the subject Hnefatafl/Tablut were with their permissions published here. And the theme was keenly discussed in the forum.
Spring 2012 comes then the Hist. et Im. Med. article directly based on the Cartier article.
February 2013 tests on this site demonstrated that these Tablut rules are very well working. And December 2013 a thorough linguistic analysis here of historical sources, led by the Finnish linguist Olli Salmi, confirmed the rules to be a proper translation of the primary historical source, the Linné diary.
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
Great tablut news! :
May 2014 a PC of mine broke down, and unfortunately the email address of Nicolas Cartier was lost.
July 2019 with help from John C. Ashton, USA, it became possible to re-establish the contact.
I wanted to clarify what was the background of Cartier's article
https://aagenielsen.dk/Cartier-IterLapponicum.pdf
and sent these questions:
(NB. It's not only in the environment of aagenielsen.dk that we find this interpretation of Tablut to be true. A few months later the interpretation was published in the magazine Histoire et Images Medievales as mentioned in the note above.)
May 2014 a PC of mine broke down, and unfortunately the email address of Nicolas Cartier was lost.
July 2019 with help from John C. Ashton, USA, it became possible to re-establish the contact.
I wanted to clarify what was the background of Cartier's article
https://aagenielsen.dk/Cartier-IterLapponicum.pdf
and sent these questions:
Nicolas Cartier kindly answered:I am very glad to have found you again!
Your article about Tablut is an important one. I would be very glad if you would inform me about some more details about it:
- Has the article also been published somewhere else other than at aagenielsen.dk? In some board game magazine fx.?
- Could you tell some details about you as the author. Fx. your background, education, perhaps membership of a chess union, perhaps employee at a university, perhaps part of a group of board game researchers?
- How did it happen that you came to be interested in the Tablut game?
Your article has hit very close to the mark, which we now in our circle (players at aagenielsen.dk) believe to be the historical Tablut.
Je suis professeur des écoles et titulaire d'une maîtrise d'histoire médiévale.
Quand j'ai rédigé cet article, je pensais juste partager mes réflexions sur les règles du tablut.
En effet, je me suis intéressé très jeune aux sagas islandaises et aux eddas. Le jeu du tafl y était souvent mentionné. Je me suis documenté sur ce jeu et sur le tablut. En jouant à ce dernier, je remarquais des défauts et des points à éclaircir dans les règles.
En cherchant sur internet, je découvrais votre site et les articles de Helmfrid, Bayless et Ashton . En lisant ce dernier, j'appris que la traduction issue du livre de Murray était incomplète. C'est ainsi je fis ma propre traduction du texte.
J'ai ensuite rédigé mon article et je vous l'ai transmis. Cet article n'a jamais été publié dans une revue, mon objectif était de partager avec des passionnés de tablut.
Depuis ces dix dernières années, j'ai observé que la recherche avait progressé sur le tablut et je suis fier d'avoir apporté ma pierre à l'édifice.
Je me tiens à votre disposition pour tout renseignement.
Je travaille près de Limoges au centre de la France.
(NB. It's not only in the environment of aagenielsen.dk that we find this interpretation of Tablut to be true. A few months later the interpretation was published in the magazine Histoire et Images Medievales as mentioned in the note above.)
Last edited by Hagbard on Sat Dec 14, 2024 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
A big thank you to you 16 players for an exciting Tablut tournament!! I felt for some words in praise of this game:
An exciting tournament of Saami Tablut 9x9 to find the Tablut Master of this year, has just completed (tourn. 147), a large tournament with 16 players and 240 games.
The game Saami Tablut shows some remarkable properties:
An exciting tournament of Saami Tablut 9x9 to find the Tablut Master of this year, has just completed (tourn. 147), a large tournament with 16 players and 240 games.
The game Saami Tablut shows some remarkable properties:
- it's played on a rather small board 9x9, is a fairly short game (35 moves by the average), and yet it's a dramatic and thrilling game.
- it has a fine game balance, -1.11 (111 black wins per 100 white wins).
- the average game length is almost independent of the winning color, white wins by average 33 moves, and black by average 36 moves.
- and in almost all the games, until the very end it was not obvious for an outside spectator like me, who would win, because the fight for the win continued through the whole game. This is not caused by game haphazardness, as by and large the stronger player will win; by the calculation method of this site the "game haphazardness" was measured to 35%, which is normal and low.
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
Draganov mentioned in the small forum some doubt of the game balance of Saami Tablut 9x9, in that black should be in favour, and a very strong player always would win as black.
The top five Tablut players are
2018 Casshern (168)
1770 Ded fomich (420)
1687 Alex hnefatafl (177)
1667 Draganov (39)
1649 Chaolaibhne (197)
Casshern played 52 Tablut games against Ded Fomich with the result 23 W / 29 B (23 white wins, 29 black wins), balance -29/23 = -1.26
Likewise
Casshern against Alex hnefatafl 3 W / 3 B, balance = 1
Casshern against Draganov 0 games
Casshern against Chaolaibhne 1 W / 1 B, balance = 1
Ded fomich against Alex hnefatafl 0 games
Ded fomich against Draganov 0 games
Ded fomich against Chaolaibhne 4 W / 4 B, balance = 1
Alex hnefatafl against Draganov 0 W / 6 B, balance = - inf.
Alex hnefatafl against Chaolaibhne 4 W / 11 B, balance = - 2.75
Draganov against Chaolaibhne 1 W / 3 B, balance = - 3
This is total 36 W / 57 B, balance = - 1.58
Obviously Draganov and Alex Hnefatafl discovered a very efficient black strategy for this game ( - still doesn't work against Casshern though ... !! ).
The Draganov & Alex Hnefatafl games alone give 8 W / 23 B, balance - 2.88
While all the games except Draganov & Alex Hnefatafl give 28 W / 34 B, balance - 1.21
Which is close to the Tablut game balance measured from 2700 games, - 1.17
The top five Tablut players are
2018 Casshern (168)
1770 Ded fomich (420)
1687 Alex hnefatafl (177)
1667 Draganov (39)
1649 Chaolaibhne (197)
Casshern played 52 Tablut games against Ded Fomich with the result 23 W / 29 B (23 white wins, 29 black wins), balance -29/23 = -1.26
Likewise
Casshern against Alex hnefatafl 3 W / 3 B, balance = 1
Casshern against Draganov 0 games
Casshern against Chaolaibhne 1 W / 1 B, balance = 1
Ded fomich against Alex hnefatafl 0 games
Ded fomich against Draganov 0 games
Ded fomich against Chaolaibhne 4 W / 4 B, balance = 1
Alex hnefatafl against Draganov 0 W / 6 B, balance = - inf.
Alex hnefatafl against Chaolaibhne 4 W / 11 B, balance = - 2.75
Draganov against Chaolaibhne 1 W / 3 B, balance = - 3
This is total 36 W / 57 B, balance = - 1.58
Obviously Draganov and Alex Hnefatafl discovered a very efficient black strategy for this game ( - still doesn't work against Casshern though ... !! ).
The Draganov & Alex Hnefatafl games alone give 8 W / 23 B, balance - 2.88
While all the games except Draganov & Alex Hnefatafl give 28 W / 34 B, balance - 1.21
Which is close to the Tablut game balance measured from 2700 games, - 1.17
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mihkkal
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Re: Saami Tablut
Answering a very old post here, but:
- Language issues:
Finding Sámi people who spoke Norwegian or Swedish as a second language was not difficult for Linnaeus, and indeed his diary mentions several instances of him being in direct communication with Sámi. Sámi people have had to relate to non-Sámi authorities and non-Sámi neighbors for a long time, so multilingualism is no new thing in Sápmi.
- The place where he wrote down the rules:
The last toponym mentioned before the "fun and games" section of the diary, where Linneaus presents Sámi games, is Lake Virihávrre, which he passed on his way back from the Folda Fiord in Denmark(-Norway).* However, he was likely in Kvikkjokk, which was under Swedish dominion, when he wrote down the rules: Before the rules are given, Linnaeus says that he has arrived at "hyttan", in English "the cabin." This could be interpreted literally as Linnaeus having arrived at a cabin, but it is much more likely to mean Kvikkjokk, which at the time was known simply as Hyttan** (capital "H"). This is Linnaeus' personal diary, in which he uses shorthand, there are broken-off sentences, the text shifts freely between Latin and Swedish etc. If we assume that "hyttan" is supposed to be "Hyttan", then the concrete place where the rules were written down has been located. Indeed, not long after the passage on Tablut Linnaeus describes the river at "Hyttan", and he then uses a capital "H".
That said, even if we have a pretty good idea about where he wrote down the rules (Virihávrre and Kvikkjokk are not very far from each other) we still don't know where exactly he learned the game. We only know the district: The Sámi words used are identifiable as Lule Sámi, meaning that he learned the game from Sámi somewhere in the Lule Sámi area, which is relatively large and where he visited several places.***
However, the section on games comes in the middle of a long description of different aspects of the culture of the reindeer-herding Sámi of the highlands that Linnaeus is travelling through at the time. In that context it is also of interest that the gameboard is described as embroidered on a reindeer skin. This way of keeping (and transporting) games is also known from a reindeer herding Sámi community elswhere in Sápmi (a Sáhkku board drawn on reindeer skin, where the skin doubled as a bag for the pieces during transporation).
It does not appear unlikely that the game was taught to Linneaus by reindeer-herding Sámi in the Folda-Kvikkjokk area, although one cannot entirely exclude the possibility that it was taught to him by farming or ocean-fishing Sámi in the same area. But if it was taught to him by the reindeer-herding Sámi, as is likely, then looking for a concrete village to connect Tablut with may not be altogether fitting, since the reindeer herding Sámi are semi-nomadic, travelling seasonally within their district instead of living fixed in one village. The game would have been brought along from inland to coast and back again, from the part of Sápmi claimed by Denmark to that claimed by Sweden**** and back again.
As such, the place of origin for this Tafl game is not possible to sum up more concretely than "the Folda-Kvikkjokk area, a part of the Lule Sámi area that transcends the current Norwegian-Swedish state border."
-----NOTES----
*Norway was at the time part of Denmark.
**Hyttan literally means "The Cabin", but in this case referred to a specific building used for silver smelting, which gave the place its name. The Sámi name of the village is still Huhttán, a borrowing from the old Swedish name - while the current Swedish name, Kvikkjokk, is a borrowing from the Sámi name of the local river Guojkkajåhkå (meaning "River of Rapids").
Incidentally, there are also other parts of Sámi gaming history connected to Kvikkjokk. The first documented use of the word "Sáhkku" to signify a board game is from here (in 1841, "sakkotet" is mentioned as a word for "playing a board game" in that area), and a dablo board from this area is preserved at a museum in Sweden.
***The Lule Sámi area covers the Salten district in Norway and a wide area around the Lule River in Sweden. It crosses the Scandinavian peninsula from the west to the east coast. Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lule_Sami
****There were no fixed state borders between Denmark-(Norway) and Sweden through the Sámi highlands at the time of Linnaeus' travels. These would appear later in the 1700s. Linnaeus himself states at one point that he assumes he can now say that he's entered "Norwegian Lapland" because the rivers have started running westward instead of eastward. This watershed-based understanding of borders was of course not relevant for the reindeer herding Sámi in the same area, who freely traversed the mountains between the western coast and eastern forests, and their right to do so was respected for a long time after the Danish-Swedish border through their lands was set.
- Language issues:
Finding Sámi people who spoke Norwegian or Swedish as a second language was not difficult for Linnaeus, and indeed his diary mentions several instances of him being in direct communication with Sámi. Sámi people have had to relate to non-Sámi authorities and non-Sámi neighbors for a long time, so multilingualism is no new thing in Sápmi.
- The place where he wrote down the rules:
The last toponym mentioned before the "fun and games" section of the diary, where Linneaus presents Sámi games, is Lake Virihávrre, which he passed on his way back from the Folda Fiord in Denmark(-Norway).* However, he was likely in Kvikkjokk, which was under Swedish dominion, when he wrote down the rules: Before the rules are given, Linnaeus says that he has arrived at "hyttan", in English "the cabin." This could be interpreted literally as Linnaeus having arrived at a cabin, but it is much more likely to mean Kvikkjokk, which at the time was known simply as Hyttan** (capital "H"). This is Linnaeus' personal diary, in which he uses shorthand, there are broken-off sentences, the text shifts freely between Latin and Swedish etc. If we assume that "hyttan" is supposed to be "Hyttan", then the concrete place where the rules were written down has been located. Indeed, not long after the passage on Tablut Linnaeus describes the river at "Hyttan", and he then uses a capital "H".
That said, even if we have a pretty good idea about where he wrote down the rules (Virihávrre and Kvikkjokk are not very far from each other) we still don't know where exactly he learned the game. We only know the district: The Sámi words used are identifiable as Lule Sámi, meaning that he learned the game from Sámi somewhere in the Lule Sámi area, which is relatively large and where he visited several places.***
However, the section on games comes in the middle of a long description of different aspects of the culture of the reindeer-herding Sámi of the highlands that Linnaeus is travelling through at the time. In that context it is also of interest that the gameboard is described as embroidered on a reindeer skin. This way of keeping (and transporting) games is also known from a reindeer herding Sámi community elswhere in Sápmi (a Sáhkku board drawn on reindeer skin, where the skin doubled as a bag for the pieces during transporation).
It does not appear unlikely that the game was taught to Linneaus by reindeer-herding Sámi in the Folda-Kvikkjokk area, although one cannot entirely exclude the possibility that it was taught to him by farming or ocean-fishing Sámi in the same area. But if it was taught to him by the reindeer-herding Sámi, as is likely, then looking for a concrete village to connect Tablut with may not be altogether fitting, since the reindeer herding Sámi are semi-nomadic, travelling seasonally within their district instead of living fixed in one village. The game would have been brought along from inland to coast and back again, from the part of Sápmi claimed by Denmark to that claimed by Sweden**** and back again.
As such, the place of origin for this Tafl game is not possible to sum up more concretely than "the Folda-Kvikkjokk area, a part of the Lule Sámi area that transcends the current Norwegian-Swedish state border."
-----NOTES----
*Norway was at the time part of Denmark.
**Hyttan literally means "The Cabin", but in this case referred to a specific building used for silver smelting, which gave the place its name. The Sámi name of the village is still Huhttán, a borrowing from the old Swedish name - while the current Swedish name, Kvikkjokk, is a borrowing from the Sámi name of the local river Guojkkajåhkå (meaning "River of Rapids").
Incidentally, there are also other parts of Sámi gaming history connected to Kvikkjokk. The first documented use of the word "Sáhkku" to signify a board game is from here (in 1841, "sakkotet" is mentioned as a word for "playing a board game" in that area), and a dablo board from this area is preserved at a museum in Sweden.
***The Lule Sámi area covers the Salten district in Norway and a wide area around the Lule River in Sweden. It crosses the Scandinavian peninsula from the west to the east coast. Map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lule_Sami
****There were no fixed state borders between Denmark-(Norway) and Sweden through the Sámi highlands at the time of Linnaeus' travels. These would appear later in the 1700s. Linnaeus himself states at one point that he assumes he can now say that he's entered "Norwegian Lapland" because the rivers have started running westward instead of eastward. This watershed-based understanding of borders was of course not relevant for the reindeer herding Sámi in the same area, who freely traversed the mountains between the western coast and eastern forests, and their right to do so was respected for a long time after the Danish-Swedish border through their lands was set.
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Hagbard
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Re: Saami Tablut
Tablut and Tawlbwrdd game balance.
The game balances are calculated for four groups of players, divided by strength: All players, Strong players, Very strong players, and Ultra strong players.
Linné does not tell which side begins in Saami Tablut 9x9.
If black (attackers) begin in Tablut, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
-1.16, -1.23, -1.30 and -1.24. Summed up -1.21 total.
If white (defenders) begin in Tablut, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
+1.10, +1.07, +1.05 and 1.00. Summed up +1.07 total.
These numbers indicate, that if black begins, then the game is slightly more unbalanced the more skilled the players are.
Whereas if white begins, then the game is slightly more balanced the more skilled the players are.
Furthermore, the summed up balance is not only better when white begins ( +1.07 compared to -1.21 ), but it's also in favour of white instead of in favour of black. This is generally preferable in a tafl game, because it's generally a bigger challenge to play white.
The same thing is found for the Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11:
If black (attackers) begin in Tawlbwrdd, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
-1.16, -1.22, -1.27 and -1.34. Summed up -1.21 total.
If white (defenders) begin in Tawlbwrdd, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
+1.06, +1.14, +1.15 and undefined. Summed up +1.10 total.
So both Saami Tablut 9x9 and Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11 work better if white (defenders) begins.
The game balances are calculated for four groups of players, divided by strength: All players, Strong players, Very strong players, and Ultra strong players.
Linné does not tell which side begins in Saami Tablut 9x9.
If black (attackers) begin in Tablut, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
-1.16, -1.23, -1.30 and -1.24. Summed up -1.21 total.
If white (defenders) begin in Tablut, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
+1.10, +1.07, +1.05 and 1.00. Summed up +1.07 total.
These numbers indicate, that if black begins, then the game is slightly more unbalanced the more skilled the players are.
Whereas if white begins, then the game is slightly more balanced the more skilled the players are.
Furthermore, the summed up balance is not only better when white begins ( +1.07 compared to -1.21 ), but it's also in favour of white instead of in favour of black. This is generally preferable in a tafl game, because it's generally a bigger challenge to play white.
The same thing is found for the Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11:
If black (attackers) begin in Tawlbwrdd, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
-1.16, -1.22, -1.27 and -1.34. Summed up -1.21 total.
If white (defenders) begin in Tawlbwrdd, the balances measured for the four groups of strength are:
+1.06, +1.14, +1.15 and undefined. Summed up +1.10 total.
So both Saami Tablut 9x9 and Welsh Tawlbwrdd 11x11 work better if white (defenders) begins.
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Draganov
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Re: Saami Tablut
It will be also interesting to see how many casual games were played in Saami Tablut and Welsh Tawlbwrdd with blacks and whites starting first. Let's exclude the tournament games and count only the casual games for the period after the introduction of the variants with whites moving first. It will show which variant is more prefered amongst the players.
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gulo
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:16 am
Re: Saami Tablut
Tablut balance has once again veered towards being in favour of the attacker, even with the defender starting.
This prompted Dimetr to find routes to strengthen the defender (from the small forum, translated into English):
tl;dr - The proposal was for the throne ("king's castle") to block the attacking pieces (but still allow defenders to pass).
We tested this change, but the conclusion was that it didn't strengthen the defender in any meaningful way.
We played without the rules change for the recent World Championship. The games saw attackers winning every time when played by experienced and strong players (I don't count myself as a strong tablut player currently).
Even though I was at first skeptical of changing the throne/castle rules, I looked into Linnaeus' source text in detail, and concluded that, yes, like Dimetr said, we can indeed interpret the rules for the throne/castle in many different ways.
I came up with a new proposal, expanding on Dimetr's:
tl;dr - Throne/castle blocks attacking pieces (but still allows defenders to pass) and is friendly towards defenders (but still hostile towards attackers).
Most recent balance measurement from 11th of December 2025 (with few games, mind):
This prompted Dimetr to find routes to strengthen the defender (from the small forum, translated into English):
tl;dr - The proposal was for the throne ("king's castle") to block the attacking pieces (but still allow defenders to pass).
2025-07-17 21:37:05 Dimetr:
Hagbard! Is it possible to make the throne impassable in Tablut 9*9-w (blocking the passage through), only for Black? I'm afraid that even with White's first move, Black always will be stronger with accurate play.
We've been playing Tablut 9*9-w for a long time, but now we have run out of openings (opening moves) for White. For any start from White, Black has a good defence. There are almost no tricks left.
Draganov's idea that White shouldn't immediately start expanding, but should occupy key squares and bide his time is a very good one. It gave Tablut a temporary second life. But such a game also requires openings (precise first moves), but there are almost none...
I think we should ban Black from passing through the throne. We won't violate Linnaeus' rules (he didn't say anything about it), but we will strengthen White a little.
We can't abandon Tablut, since it is the most historically accurate game. But we need to strengthen White.
2025-07-17 22:02:39 Hagbard:
Is there support in Linnaeus’s rules for being able to do that?
2025-07-17 22:20:52 Dimetr:
Linnaeus doesn't say anything about the possibility of passing through the throne (he also didn't say who makes the first move). So we won't be breaking anything.
2025-07-17 22:23:04 Hagbard:
Also, does Linneus' description support an asymmetry that only blacks are blocked for passing the throne?
2025-07-17 22:23:47 Dimetr:
Linnaeus assigned a number or letter to each square on the gameboard and demonstrates the rules with specific examples. He doesn't provide examples of passage through the throne.
It would be logical to prohibit Black from passing through the royal citadel.
I've emailed you a file; look at my translation of Linnaeus on pages 10-13. He described in detail what he saw with his own eyes, but there were clearly other rules he didn't write down (for example, the first move).
Therefore, we can add anything that doesn't contradict Linnaeus.
We tested this change, but the conclusion was that it didn't strengthen the defender in any meaningful way.
We played without the rules change for the recent World Championship. The games saw attackers winning every time when played by experienced and strong players (I don't count myself as a strong tablut player currently).
Even though I was at first skeptical of changing the throne/castle rules, I looked into Linnaeus' source text in detail, and concluded that, yes, like Dimetr said, we can indeed interpret the rules for the throne/castle in many different ways.
I came up with a new proposal, expanding on Dimetr's:
tl;dr - Throne/castle blocks attacking pieces (but still allows defenders to pass) and is friendly towards defenders (but still hostile towards attackers).
2025-11-07 21:27:16 gulo:
It seems that the consensus about tablut is leaning towards it favouring attackers slightly now. The briefly tested blocking of attackers by the centre square doesn’t appear to help king side.
An idea if we want to test further options: I wonder whether Linnaeus’ rule 14 might bear an interpretation that the centre only be hostile towards attacking pieces? This might ease development for king side slightly.
Possibly even blocking and hostile towards attackers, but passable by and friendly towards defenders.
This might also justify why the one exception is there when a defender can be caught with the centre square as anvil (when all other sides of the centre square are occupied by attackers).
2025-11-08 17:52:24 Hagbard:
Does Linnaeus’s journal support a variant where
– the throne blocks black but not white,
– the throne is hostile to black but friendly to white?
2025-11-08 18:14:07 gulo:
The rules for the throne/castle of the king (“arx regia”) are the least clear generally.
We know that it restricts movement in some way, as “nobody can enter”. There’s doubt whether that includes the king when he has left it, and also whether pieces can move through.
We also know that it is hostile in some way. Rule 14 doesn’t specify whether the castle acts entirely as a separate (“third”) piece, both blocking and attacking, or whether it is only hostile but can be passed through, nor whether this applies to all pieces.
We can add clarifications, but there’s no certainty. We can use logic arguments like “it makes sense that the king can return to the king’s castle”, and "it makes sense that said castle allows friendly troops to pass through, and protects their flank, while being hostile and closed off to the king’s enemies".
Others might bring just as sound arguments contrary to mine here.
2025-11-08 18:32:36 Hagbard:
It may be worth looking into after the tournament. That would probably be with a variant that goes all the way:
– the throne blocks black but not white,
– the throne is hostile to black but friendly to white,
– the king can, as usual, return to the throne.
2025-11-08 19:11:28 gulo:
Sounds good! I hope @Dimetr will join the testing. Afaik he initiated the previous test with attackers blocked by the castle.
We started testing the variant, which Hagbard decided to name after my username (though I think Dimetr deserves just as much credit).2025-11-10 07:34:42 Dimetr:
Hello!
Yes, of course I will join testing.
This year we tested the rule: -The throne blocks black but not white- but, I didn't notice the difference, black was still much stronger.
So we should also try to add rule -the throne is hostile to black but friendly to white- I hope this helps the whites
2025-12-08 20:21:46 Dimetr:
Saami Tablut-gulo-w (9x9) - seems like a good variant to me (a tournament is just finishing now), but more games are needed to verify it. The new rule "the throne is hostile only to Black" - significantly changes the game! You are no longer afraid for the white warrior near the throne. We may looking for new openings, and this will give 9x9 a second life.
It will be great if strong players could be able to play Tablut-gulo-w, when the Championship ends - It will be good for New Year!
We are continuing the test of the variant, and it looks promising!2025-12-08 21:35:41 Hagbard:
The Saami Tablut-gulo-w 9x9 is right now measured to balance +1.14.
I tried only two games yet, but in my opinion the variant feels well working and natural, and the rules details look natural and logical.
Most recent balance measurement from 11th of December 2025 (with few games, mind):
Historical Hnefatafl 9x9 (Saami Tablut-gulo-w)
All players:
+1.22 (60 / 13)
Strong players:
+1.11 (40 / 11)
Very strong players:
1.00 (24 / 7)
Ultra strong players:
- (0 / 0)
Average:
+1.14