Medieval Chess Rules

The king, rook and knight could move as in modern chess. The pawns also moved the same except that on their first move they could only travel one square. The bishop moved diagonally as today, but two squares, and they could jump pieces. The queen could only move diagonally one square at a time.

Stalemate and Checkmate were the same as today, though Baremate also existed if a king was left with no pieces.

[Source: Edinborough University Chess Club]

Hound and Hare

Rules:

Place twelve counters on the top two rows of the board, and the ends of the third row. These are
the Hares. Place one counter in the centre of the board. This is the Hound. The Hares are trying
to pen in the Hound so he can’t move. They can move one space at a time along the lines. The
Hound is trying to eat the Hares. To eat a Hare the Hound hops over it like in checkers. Otherwise
the Hound moves one space along the lines just like the Hares. The Hound does not have
to jump.

Fox and Geese

Rules:

Place thirteen counters on the top three rows of the board. These are the Geese. Place one counter in the centre of the board. This is the Fox. The Geese are trying to pen in the Fox so he can’t move. They can move one space at a time along the lines in any direction. The fox is trying to eat the Geese. To eat a Goose the Fox hops over it like in checkers. The fox can jump over more than one Goose per turn. Otherwise the Fox moves one space along the lines just like the Geese. The Fox does not have to jump, and goes first.

Variations:

The Geese can only move straight up, down or side to side; not diagonally. If played this way place two
more Geese on the board.

The Geese move first.

The Fox starts on any open space.

Alquerques

Rules:

Each player had twelve pieces places as in the illustration above. Pieces move on space at a
time following the lines. To capture a piece you must jump over it (like in checkers). Multiple
captures are possible, and mandatory. If you could have caught a piece, but did not, this is a
huff. If your opponent notices the huff, he can remove your piece that should have jumped. Play
ended when one player lost all their pieces.

The ancient game of GO

The ancient game of GO

by Magnus Strykewind

The true origins of the game (called Weiqi in China, Baduk in Korea, and often called iGo (ee-go) in Japan) are lost in the mists of time. Many believe the game was created as a teaching tool after the ancient Chinese Emperor Yao (2337-2258 BC) designed it for his son, Danzhu to learn discipline, concentration and balance. Other believe it was the invention of Chinese warlords and generals, who used pieces of stone to make attacking positions. Some believe it was used for astrological divination.

The game is played on one of 3 board sizes: 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19. Unlike many board games, the pieces are played on the intersecting lines rather than in the squares. So a 9x9 board is 9 points long, and 9 points wide for a total of 81 points to place stones on. The Largest board, 19x19 has 361 points (including the sides) which also happens to be the same number of days in the ancient Chinese calender. A 19x19 game takes about 1 hour to play, a 13x13 takes 30 minutes and a 9x9 is about 15 minutes.

The objective is to surround more empty points, known as Territory, on the board than your opponent. 2 players take turns placing black and white stones on the intersecting points on the board. Black always goes first. A stone is “captured” when it has no empty points (Liberties) next to it. Two or more stones of the same color share their liberties when the are connected. Captive stones are removed and kept by the opponent. Each prisoner is worth 1 point. Each empty point of surrounded territory is worth 1 point.

A stone cannot be moved once it has been placed, unless it is captured and removed from the board. A stone cannot be placed on a point where it has no liberties, unless doing to captures enemy stones. A stone cannot be placed on a point that repeats the same move infinitely. A stone must be played elsewhere before repeating the previous move. Since black always plays first, white gets extra points to offset this advantage called “Komi” points. Komi is a recent change to the game, less than 2 centuries ago. At first it was 4.5 points, but increased over time to 5.5 and finally to 6.5 for a full 19x19 game. Before then white received nothing, and was always at a disadvantage.

No two players have exactly the same skill level. So in order to make a game between a stronger and weaker player more fair, handicaps may be used. The stronger player plays white, and the weaker player plays black. Black is given additional stones at the start of the game to offset the difference in strength. In the international world of GO, player's strength is represented by a rank number. There are 2 tiers, Kyu and Dan. Kyu starts at 30 and decreases as the player's strength increases. After 1Kyu comes 1Dan (Shodan) and then increases to 9Dan.  For every point of difference, Black should receive 1 extra stone. So a 15Kyu against a 12Kyu would get 3 stones, and a 2Kyu against a 3Dan would get 4 stones If you do not know your strength rating, playing an even game will determine what an appropriate handicap would be. For every 10 points (rounded down) that 1 player beats another by, 1 stone is considered fair. So if John loses to Jane by 30 points, John should get a 3 stone handicap to make it an even match.

While the game itself is ancient, its popularity today has never been higher. The internet has brought the game to a truly global level. With thousands of games being played by people all around the world every day, and it's popularization through the hit anime series “Hikaru No. Go!” international interest in the game has exploded. In Asia many countries are home to professional leagues, publications, Go salons, international amateur tournaments, training institutes, personal tutors and an ever growing fan base. In North America, The American Go Association (AGA) and the Canadian Go Association (CGA) are the authorities on the game. With hundreds of members, and tournaments organized both in person and online, both associations are leading the charge to spread the word and popularity for the game.

While there are many places you can play Go online, by far the most popular (and in my opinion the best) place is the Kiseido Go Server. You can learn more about the game, play against other players from around the world, play against computer AI opponents of varying difficulty, find out what your strength ranking is,  even participate in official tournaments held by the AGA and CGA for international rankings. And yes... There's an app for that. KGS provides a mobile version of their program Cgoban3 on google play for Android smartphones and tablets (Sorry iPhone users). There are also many other apps on all platforms that allow you to play the game against the computer AI known as GnuGo, the same AI used by KGS and just about everyone else for computer Go. Which allows you to set the difficulty level from pants-on-head stupid, to 9Dan legendary. 

Rules for Nine Man Morris

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, Head of the Games Guild of Ealdormere

There are two players, white and black. The white player plays first. There are 9 pieces per player.

To begin, the players take turns placing pieces on empty spaces. If they should get three pieces in a straight line (not around a corner), they may remove one of their opponent’s pieces of their choice. Note that any piece currently part of a line cannot be removed.

Once all pieces have been placed, the white player must move a piece to an adjacent empty space. If this completes a line of three of their pieces, they may remove one of their opponent’s pieces of their choice. Note that any piece currently part of a line cannot be removed.

When a player has been reduced to three pieces, they can ‘fly’, meaning they can move a piece to any empty space whether it was adjacent to their starting space or not.

Play continues until one player has been reduced to only two pieces. The other player wins. The game is also over if one of the players cannot make a move, in which case the other player wins.

You can practice online here: http://www.smartlittlegames.com/ninemensmorris

[Board image from Wikipedia.]

Royal Game Tourneys for the Upcoming Reign of Siegfried and Ragni

In the Kingdom of Ealdormere's upcoming reign of Siegfried and Ragni, there will be a series of Royal Game Tourneys held. At (hopefully) each event, a member of the Games Guild of Ealdormere will host a tourney featuring a different game. Each person playing will receive a point, with the top three players scoring eight, five or three points (depending on where they place). The top player will also receive a prize (a copy of the game featured that day). At the end of the reign, the gentle with the most points over all will win a box crammed full of gaming supplies.

Current Schedule

April 26, Spring Coronation, Nine-Man’s-Morris, Between courts

May 16-19, Fruit of Our Labours, Dicing (In and Inn, 31, 3 throws), time TBA

May 24, Spring Crown Tournament, Alquerques, Between the end of Crown and evening court, time permitting

June 7, Pikeman’s Pleasure, Chess, Between courts

June 27-July 1 War of the Trillium, Bowles, Likely Friday afternoon

                                                     Glic, time TBA

Aug 29-Sep 1, Baron’s Howe, Tafl (Tablut version), time TBA

Sep 6, Feast of the Bear, Primero, time TBA

Open Spots on the Schedule:

I am still looking for someone willing to host a tourney at the following events. If interested, please PM me.

June 12-15       Murder Melee

June 21-22       Summer Siege

July 11 -13       The Baron’s Brouhaha

Scoring for the Royal Game Tourneys for the upcoming Reign of Siegfried and Ragni

The person who comes in first in any tourney, will score EIGHT points.

The person who comes in second will score FIVE points.

The person who comes in third will score THREE points.

Everyone else who participates will score ONE point.

In cases of a tie, all tied players score the points.

At the end of the reign, the person who has scored the most points will win a chest full of games.

Prize Donations:

Lady Leisl Woolemonger

Master Gunther Wahlstadt of Bremen

THLaird Colyne Stewart

Further Donations:

Though these tourneys will only be taking place in Ealdormere, the Games Guild actually has members all over the Known Worlde, and I am most willing and able to accept prize donations from anywhere.

I am donating some of my own games to the cause, and will be making more, but some specific things I am still looking for include:

- period dice (made of wood, bone, antler, glass, etc)
- period looking playing cards
- a chess set

I am also looking for donations of games, game books, and playing pieces for the prize box to be awarded at the end of the reign.

Prizes can be mailed to me (PM me for the address) or, if you will be attending Pennsic, you can drop them off with THL Augustyn who can be found in the De Taahe camp (which will also be where Their Majesties Ealdormere will be camping).

If you do donate, please label your donations so proper credit will be given to your generosity.

With many thanks,

THLaird Colyne Stewart, Chancellor of Games for Siegfried and Ragni