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Nine men's morris

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Nine Men's Morris
A game of Nine Men's Morris. Even if it's black's turn, white can win by moving from e3 to d3 and back again, removing a black piece each time a row of three is formed.
Players2
Setup time< 1 minute
Playing time< 1 hour
ChanceNone
Age rangeAny
SkillsStrategy

Nine Men's Morris is a two-player strategy board game with origins reaching back to a 1440 BC diagram in the Ramesseum in Egypt.[1] The game is also known as Nine Man Morris, Mill, Mills, Merels, Merelles, and Merrills in English. It is called Mühle and Mühlespiel in Dutch, Mérelles and Jeu de Moulin in French, Mulino in Italian, Trilha in Portuguese, Naukhadi in west India,[2], and Mølle and Tria elsewhere.

The number of legal positions in Nine Men's Morris is estimated to be 1010, while the total number of possible games is approximately 1050. In October 1993, Ralph Gasser solved the game, showing that it ends in a draw with perfect play.[3] Gasser also developed an AI player called Bushy which is regarded as the world's strongest player.

Rules and play

Each player has nine pieces, or "men", which move among the board's twenty-four intersections. As in draughts, the object of the game is to leave the opposing player with no pieces or no legal moves.

Placing the pieces

The board is empty when the game begins. Players take turns placing their pieces on empty intersections. If a player places a piece which gives them a line of three pieces on any line drawn on the board, they have a "mill" and may remove an opponent's piece; pieces in mills may not be removed unless all of the opponent's pieces are in mills. Removed pieces may not be placed again. Once all eighteen pieces have been placed, players take turns moving.

Moving the pieces

In a move, a player slides one of their pieces along a board line to an empty adjacent intersection. If they cannot do so they lose the game.

As in the placement stage, a player who moves to align three of their pieces on a board line has a mill and may remove an opponent's piece, avoiding the removal of pieces in mills if at all possible.

Flying

In one variation, once a player is reduced to three pieces, their pieces may "fly" (or "hop"[4]) to all empty intersections, not just adjacent ones. Some sources of the rules list this one in a "Variations" section[4] or say that it's used "in some games"[5], and others don't mention it at all.[6] A "19th century games manual" calls this the "truly rustic mode of playing the game".[4]

Any player reduced to two pieces is unable to remove any more opposing pieces and thus loses the game.

Strategy

In the beginning of the game, it is more important to place pieces in versatile locations than to try to form mills immediately and make the mistake of concentrating one's pieces in one area of the board.[1]

An ideal position, which typically results in a win, is to be able to shuttle one piece back and forth between two mills, removing a piece every turn. For example, in the diagram above, white can win the game even if black moves first.

Variants

Three Men's Morris

Three Men's Morris is played on a three-by-three board with just three pieces per player. Flying is allowed.[7] Diagonal lines are sometimes added to the board, reminiscent of tic-tac-toe.

Six Men's Morris

Six Men's Morris gives each player six pieces and is played without the outer square found on the board of Nine Men's Morris. Flying is not allowed.[7] It "was popular in Italy, France and England during the Middle Ages but was obsolete by 1600."[7] This board is also used for Five Men's Morris; Seven Men's Morris uses this board with a cross in the center.

Shax

Shax is played with twelve pieces per player instead of nine. In Shax, mills formed during placement do not immediately result in the removal of opposing pieces. When placement is finished, if any mills have been formed, the player who formed the first one may remove one opposing piece, and the other player may do the same whether they formed a mill or not. Play then continues as before. If no mills were formed during placement, the second player to move during placement is the first to move after it.

If at any time a player has no moves, they do not lose; instead, their opponent is required to open an intersection for them by moving. If this freeing movement happens to form a mill, no piece may be removed. The "flying" rule is not used.

Shax is popular among men in Somalia, where it is also known as Jar and Mororova. The game has a large influence on Somali literature, which often mentions gameplay and strategies.[8]

Twelve Men's Morris

Twelve Men's Morris adds four diagonal lines to the board and gives each player twelve pieces. This means the board can be filled in the placement stage; if this happens the game is a draw. It has been played for thousands of years across Africa, where it is known as Morabaraba and the "flying" rule is used.[9] This board is also used for Eleven Men's Morris.

History

While the game enjoyed its greatest popularity in medieval England, its history stretches into the Bronze Age.[4] The board was symbolic to some: "To the ancient Celts, the Morris Square was sacred: at the center lay the holy Mill or Cauldron, a symbol of regeneration; and emanating out from it, the four cardinal directions, the four elements and the four winds."[4]

Some authors say the game's origin is uncertain.[4] According to Daniel King, "the word 'morris' has nothing to do with the old English dance of the same name. It comes from the Latin word merellus, which means a counter or gaming piece."[6] King also notes that the game was popular among Roman soldiers.

A Nine Men's Morris board can be found carved into the base of a pillar in Chester Cathedral, Chester. The game was, it is assumed, played by the stonemasons who built it or by the monks when it was a medieval abbey. A Cheshire proverb probably refers to the same game (Nine Peg Morris): 'Nichills in Nine pokes' is what most people win after a night of gambling.

Shakespeare's Titania laments that it is no longer played: "The nine men's morris is filled up with mud" (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II, Scene I). Apparently, the game was played outdoors, possibly on a board trowelled into the ground.

The World Merrills Association ran the World Championships annually at the Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole, York, England.

See also

  • Kensington is a similar game in which two players take turns placing pieces and try to arrange them in certain ways.

References

  1. ^ a b Vedar, Erwin A. "Nine Men's Morris". GamesCrafters. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2006-12-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Gupta, Rohit (2002-11-30). "Modi meaningless in rebuilt Kutch". Mid-Day. Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd. Retrieved 2006-12-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Gasser, Ralph (1996). "Solving Nine Men's Morris" (PDF). Computational Intelligence. 12: 24–41.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Mohr, Merilyn Simonds (1997). The New Games Treasury. Houghton Mifflin. pp. pp. 30–32. ISBN 1-57630-058-7. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ Ainslie, Tom (2003). Ainslie's Complete Hoyle. Barnes & Noble Books. pp. pp. 404–406. ISBN 0-7607-4159-X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ a b King, Daniel (2003). Games. Kingfisher plc. pp. pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-7534-0816-3. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  7. ^ a b c Bell, R. C. (1979). Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, volume 1. New York City: Dover Publications. pp. pp. 90–92. ISBN 0-486-23855-5. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  8. ^ Davies, Rick (1988). "An introduction to Shax, a Somali game". Retrieved 2007-01-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Russouw, Sheree (2002-09-20). "Getting morabaraba back on board". Johannesburg News Agency. Retrieved 2006-12-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • Gordon Emery, Curious Chester (1999) ISBN 1-872265-94-4
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