Tablut rules
Recorded by Carl Linnaeus in Lapland, 1732 · 9×9
Tablut is the best-documented tafl game: the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus watched the Sámi play it on his journey through Lapland in 1732 and wrote the rules down.
Weak King and edge escape: once off the Throne the King can be sandwiched by just two attackers (three beside the Throne, four on it). He escapes to any edge square, and the corners are ordinary squares. Play is fast and aggressive.
The four-attacker King found in some books comes from Carl Troilius's 1811 English translation, which got it wrong. The defenders move first: Linnaeus doesn't say who starts, and the World Tafl Federation found the game balances better this way.
Also known as: Saami Tablut, Sámi Tablut, Linnaeus' Tablut, Lapland tafl.
At a glance
| Board | 9×9 |
|---|---|
| Pieces | 16 attackers against 8 defenders and a King |
| King | Weak: two attackers can capture him |
| King escapes to | Any edge square |
| First move | Defenders |
| Repeated position | A loss for the defenders |
The core rules
Every tafl game builds on the rules below. Where the table above says otherwise, the table is right for Tablut.
- Two sides. The attackers surround the board and outnumber their enemy. Their goal is to capture the King. The defenders are outnumbered but guard the King and must escort him to safety.
- The board. A square grid. The centre square is the Throne, where the King begins. The four corners are escape squares. Only the King may stand on either.
- Movement. Every piece moves like a rook in chess: any number of squares in a straight line, with no diagonals and no jumping. Other pieces may pass through the empty Throne, but corners block them.
- Capture. Sandwich an enemy piece between two of your own on a straight line and it is removed. Moving into a sandwich yourself is safe; the trap only springs when you close it. An empty corner or the empty Throne can take the place of one of the two pieces.
- Capturing the King. In most variants the King must be sealed on all four sides, by attackers or by the empty Throne. In the "weak King" variants two attackers are enough.
- Winning. The defenders win when the King reaches an escape square: a corner, or any edge square in the edge-escape variants. The attackers win by capturing the King, or by encircling every defender so none can reach the edge. A side with no legal move loses, and repeating a position three times ends the game.
Similar games
More from quick games (Small boards, a few minutes each):