THE VIKING GAME OF KINGS · DEAD FOR 800 YEARS

TAFL

· THE KING'S TABLE

BEFORE CHESS, THERE WAS TAFL.

For seven hundred years the north played this at the king's table. Chess buried it around 1200 AD. Tonight it returns — and the first grandmasters haven't been crowned yet.

YOUR SIDE

OPPONENT

TELLING

DEFENCE RATING800

ATTACK RATING800

LAYER 1 · RULES ENGINE + AI + BOARD · COPENHAGEN HNEFATAFL 11×11

A SIEGE IN THE OLD NORTH · YEAR 900

THE SAGA

A king sits besieged upon his throne. His guard of twelve stands in bone. The horde — twice their number, in coal — closes from all four shores. The horde strikes first.

THE FLANKING. Every piece slides like a rook, along rows and columns. Trap a foe between two of yours and he falls. Stepping into a trap yourself is safe.

THE ESCAPE. The gold towers at the four corners are sanctuary. If the king reaches any tower, the guard wins. Only the king may enter a tower or rest on the throne.

THE TAKING. The king falls only when walled on all four sides (his own throne can betray him as one wall). Take him, and the horde wins.

THE FULL LAW OF THE TABLE — FOR VETERANS

Armies: 24 attackers vs 12 defenders + king; attackers move first.
Movement: rook moves, no jumping; any piece may pass over the empty throne.
Capture: custodial, against your pieces or against a tower / the empty throne; multiple captures per move possible.
King: armed (may capture); falls only to four walls, or three plus the throne; safe on the board edge.
Shieldwall: a row pinned flat on the edge is taken whole by bracketing both ends; a king in the row survives.
Attackers also win by encircling every defender; defenders also win by a sealed edge fort.
No stalling: endless repetition is forbidden — it counts as a defender loss.

FULL TIME

VICTORY

KING ESCAPED