World Tafl Federation Championship 2025, September 15, 2025 - .

Tournament Rules.

Sign-Up.

• Deadline: September 14, 2025, at 12:00 (noon) Danish time.
• Historical and Sea Games: September 21, 2025, at 12:00.
• Berserk and Race Games: September 28, 2025, at 12:00.
• Sign-up buttons will be available on the "Play against humans" page.
• Players may not participate in a tournament under more than one alias.

Start Dates.

• Copenhagen Hnefatafl: September 15, 2025
• Historical and Sea Games: September 22, 2025
• Berserk and Race Games: September 29, 2025
• Subsequent rounds will begin as soon as possible.

Tournament Lines.

There are five separate tournament lines. Players may enter one or more:

• Vínland, Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11
  Hints how to win Copenhagen Hnefatafl:
  • Tim Millar ("Crust").
  • Plamen Draganov ("Draganov").
  
  
• Hólmgarðr, Historical Hnefatafl
1. Saami Tablut-w 9x9 (Round 1)
2. Tawlbwrdd Lewis cross-w 11x11 (Round 2)
3. Historical Hnefatafl-w 13x13 (Dimetr 2) (Round 3 onwards)
• Gàrtharíki, Sea Battle Tafl
1. Sea battle tafl 13x13 (Nielsen)
• Hleiðr, Berserk Tafl
1. Berserk 11x11 (Round 1)
2. Tyr 11x11 (Round 2)
3. Thor-w 11x11 (Round 3)
4. Odin 15x15 (Round 4)
5. Total Hnefatafl 11x11 (Round 5 onwards)
• Miklagarðr, Race games
1. Daldøs 3x14 (Round 1)
2. Saami Sáhkku 3x15 (Round 2)

Game Rules.

• Copenhagen NB. About shieldwalls, see Doctor Crustus explains shieldwalls (Tim Millar)
• Historical Hnefatafl
• Sea Battle
• Berserk
• Tyr, Odin, Loke
• Race games NB. Notice that you can change the sequence of dice.

Timing & Night Pause.

Games use the Fischer Clock system:

• Initial time: 5.5 days per player.
• Increment per move: 8 hours, gradually reduced in very long games.
• Maximum move time: Initially 3 days, reduced to 1.5 days for long games.

Night Pause.

• Active between 23:00 and 07:00 local time.
• Each move received during the day grants up to 8 hours pause that night.
• If the opponent moves at night, the pause splits between nights.
• Pause applies per move and does not accumulate.

Time Buffer Display.

• Blue warning when buffer falls below 1.5 days.
• Red warning when buffer falls below 24 hours.

Clocks are managed automatically by the tournament software, and exceeding your time limit will automatically result in a loss.

How to see your rest time buffer.

• On your "My current games" page:
  at the bottom of the page, click "Enter" to "Show my games and time buffers".
  Here the time buffer left is shown, and the current status of three additional parameters.
  E.g.

  Player: 5.5 days left of time buffer.
  (8 hours added, 2.1 days used, 2.7 days till timeout)

  means that 8 hours are added to the time buffer when you move; you have used in total 2.1 days for this game; you must move before 2.7 days.

Format & Elimination.

The tournaments follow a triple-elimination format (described here: Diagonal Tournament Format):

• If a player does not start his tournament within 3 days, he is removed for no-show.
• A player is eliminated after five losses.
• If a player times out in more than half of his games in a round, he will be disqualified.
• If at any time you want to leave the tournament, please say so in the chat forum.

Note: Race Games do not use triple-elimination but follow a separate points-based system.

Race Games Format.

• Uses the Formula One points system to determine standings.
• If there are multiple winners with equal points, they share the title.

Titles & Awards.

Winners of each line will receive the title:

• World Tafl Federation Champion (for Copenhagen Hnefatafl)
• Historical Hnefatafl World Champion
• Sea Battle Master
• Berserk Master
• Race Games Master

Umpires & Information.

Hat tip to Draganov, AlexHnef, Casshern and Luizz for inputs to the planning.
Last updated: July 7, 2025.

Note: This page was revised with assistance from ChatGPT to improve readability.