#CLASSIC COMPUTER GAME NINE MENS MORRIS HOW TO#
#CLASSIC COMPUTER GAME NINE MENS MORRIS MANUAL#

File:Nine Men's Morris with dice in Libro de los juegos.jpgĪ 13th century illustration in Libro de los juegos of the game being played with dice File:Muzej Međimurja, Čakovec (Croatia) - stol za mlin i šah.jpgĪn old combined Nine Men's Morris and chess table It is possible that the Romans were introduced to the game via trade routes, but this cannot be proven.

#CLASSIC COMPUTER GAME NINE MENS MORRIS HOW TO#

It is a bad thing for a woman not to know how to play, for love often comes into being during play.īerger believes the game was 'probably well known by the Romans', as there are many boards on Roman buildings, even though dating them is impossible because the buildings 'have been easily accessible' since they were built.

A table has three pieces on either side the winner must get all the pieces in a straight line. There is another game divided into as many parts as there are months in the year.

8 CE), after discussing Latrones, a popular board game, Ovid wrote: One of the earliest mentions of the game may be in Ovid's Ars Amatoria. Berger concludes, 'certainly they cannot be dated.' However, Friedrich Berger writes that some of the diagrams at Kurna include Coptic crosses, making it 'doubtful' that the diagrams date to 1400 BCE. Bell, the earliest known board for the game includes diagonal lines and was 'cut into the roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt' c. History File:NineMensMorrisTileMycenae.jpgĬlay tile fragment from the archeological museum at Mycenae showing what appears to be a Nine Men's Morris boardĪccording to R. An ideal position, which typically results in a win, allows a player to shuttle one piece back and forth between two mills, removing a piece every turn. Flying was introduced to compensate when the weaker side is one man away from losing the game.Īt the beginning of the game, it is more important to place pieces in versatile locations rather than to try to form mills immediately and make the mistake of concentrating one's pieces in one area of the board.

#CLASSIC COMPUTER GAME NINE MENS MORRIS MANUAL#

A 19th-century games manual calls this the 'truly rustic mode of playing the game'. Some rules sources say this is the way the game is played, some treat it as a variation, and some don't mention it at all. When a player is reduced to three pieces, there is no longer a limitation on that player of moving to only adjacent points: The player's men may 'fly' (or 'hop', or 'jump' ) from any point to any vacant point. When one player has been reduced to three men, phase three begins. The act of removing an opponent's man is sometimes called 'pounding' the opponent. A player can 'break' a mill by moving one of his pieces out of an existing mill, then moving it back to form the same mill a second time (or any number of times), each time removing one of his opponent's men.

Players continue to try to form mills and remove their opponent's pieces as in phase one. Players continue to alternate moves, this time moving a man to an adjacent point. After all men have been placed, phase two begins. Any piece can be chosen for the removal, but a piece not in an opponent's mill must be selected, if possible. If a player is able to place three of his pieces on contiguous points in a straight line, vertically or horizontally, he has formed a mill and may remove one of his opponent's pieces from the board and the game.

The players determine who plays first, then take turns placing their men one per play on empty points. Nine Men's Morris starts on an empty board. Phase 1: Placing pieces File:Nine Men's Morris board with coordinates, modified.png

(optional phase) Moving men to any vacant point when the player has been reduced to three men.

A player wins by reducing the opponent to two pieces (where he could no longer form mills and thus be unable to win), or by leaving him without a legal move. Players try to form 'mills'-three of their own men lined horizontally or vertically-allowing a player to remove an opponent's man from the game. Each player has nine pieces, or 'men', usually coloured black and white. The board consists of a grid with twenty-four intersections or points.

Classic computer game nine mens morris