Viking chess piece names4/29/2024 ![]() This dissent, however, may only arise from misinterpretations of Linnaeus' account of the related game Tablut or from misunderstandings by Linnaeus himself. Also known as sandwiching, this just means that if a counter has two opposing counters on either side of it, so that all three of them are now in an orthogonal line with the odd counter in the center, the central odd counter is then captured and removed from the board for the rest of the game. ![]() It is generally accepted that the king is captured exactly as other counters are captured, via double custodianship. Questions may also arise as to how the king is captured. These specially marked squares may also designate a place that a piece may be captured against or be for simple decoration. ![]() Evidence for this comes from many existing historical boards which have special markings at the corners. In which case the attacker would have one last chance to capture the king before it escapes off board.) There are, however, many ideas that the king should be made to escape to a corner cell. (Unless, of course, the reconstruction being played only allows the king a single orthogonal move per turn, rather than the generally accepted move of the rook in Orthochess. Sometimes this is stated as escaping "off of the board", but this is just a matter of semantics because a piece that has attained an edge square could not be impeded from further advancement off board. Here, one of the primary questions that arise is: Where does the king escape to? Most reconstructions say that the king has escaped once it has attained any cell at the edge of the board. Even the most definite ideas concerning Tafl games, however, will eventually have some doubt cast on them by a reconstruction. As in all Tafl games, it is nearly universally accepted that the objective of the "attacker" player, with the larger force, is to capture the king and the objective of the defender is to allow for the king to escape. Hnefatafl is certainly similar to other Tafl games and the reconstructed play of it follows that of other Tafl games. It was last recorded to have been played in Wales during 1587 and Lapland in 1723. Archaeologists have found editions in places such as Ireland and Ukraine. The game developed differently at different locations. Hnefatafl was particularly popular in Nordic countries and followed the Viking civilization to other parts of Europe, primarily to the British Isles and the Viking country of Gardarike. When chess became a popular game during the Middle Ages, the rules of Hnefatafl were forgotten over time. It became a popular game in Northern Europe during the Viking era (end of the 8th Century to 1000 CE), a turbulent time full of conflicts. Archaeological and literary sources indicate Hnefatafl may have been played on a 13×13 or an 11×11 board. ![]() If dice were in fact used, nothing has been recorded about how they were employed. The rules of the game were never explicitly recorded, and only playing pieces and fragmentary boards are extant, so it is not known for sure how the game was played. Some of these saga references have contributed to controversy over the possible use of dice in playing hnefatafl. Hnefatafl was a popular game in medieval Scandinavia and was mentioned in several of the Norse Sagas. This distinguished it from other games known to the old Norse people including Skak-tafl (Chess), Kvatru-Tafl (Tabula), Hala-tafl ( Fox & Geese) and Hræ-tafl ( Three Men's Morris and Nine Men’s Morris). The game later became known as Hnefatafl, probably meaning “Fist Table”, but also may translate as "King's Table". Tafl is the older name for this game and is Old Norse for “table”.
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