What is Large Cross (Gåsetavl)?
The Large Cross is played on a bigger board. Each arm of the cross is three points wide and three points long, around a centre square of three by three points, which makes 45 points. Diagonal lines are drawn in every block of two by two squares, so they pass through only every other point.
The fox starts in the middle of the third line of the top arm, the line nearest the centre. The eighteen geese fill the whole bottom arm and the row across the cross next to it. The fox moves first.
The pieces move as in the standard game. The fox steps along a line in any direction or jumps a neighbouring goose to capture it, and may make several jumps in one turn. A goose steps forward, diagonally forward or sideways along a line, never back. The geese win by trapping the fox. The fox wins when fewer than four geese remain, which comes to the same as taking them all, because three geese can never trap the fox on this board.
Sideways steps would let both sides shuffle forever, so a position that comes up a third time with the same side to move is a draw, and so are fifty moves each without a capture or a forward step.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Fox & Geese | Large Cross (Gåsetavl) |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Fox & Geese33 points: a cross with arms two points long, and a diagonal between every two neighbouring points. | Large Cross (Gåsetavl)45 points: a cross with arms three points long, and diagonals only through every other point. |
| Pieces | Standard Fox & GeeseOne fox and 13 geese (15 or 17 with the option in the table setup). | Large Cross (Gåsetavl)One fox and 18 geese. The geese count option is not used. |
| Starting position | Standard Fox & GeeseThe fox on the centre point; the geese on the row across the middle below it and on the bottom arm. | Large Cross (Gåsetavl)The fox in the middle of the top arm's line nearest the centre; the geese on the bottom arm and the row across the cross next to it. |
| How geese move | Standard Fox & GeeseForward or diagonally forward along a line; sideways only with the option in the table setup. | Large Cross (Gåsetavl)Forward, diagonally forward or sideways along a line, never back. The sideways option is not used. A position that comes up a third time, or fifty moves each without a capture or a forward step, is a draw. |
| How the fox wins | Standard Fox & GeeseCapture geese until fewer than four remain, or leave the geese with no move. | Large Cross (Gåsetavl)The same, which here comes to taking every goose: three geese cannot trap the fox on the larger board. |
History
Gåsetavl, goose board, is the name of several hunt games played in Denmark. The historian Peter Michaelsen described them in a 2009 article on Danish hunt games, Haretavl – hund efter hare som brætspil, published in the Historisk Årbog for Thy og Vester Han Herred.
This version is played on a larger cross of 28 squares, with diagonals drawn in each block of two by two squares, with one fox and eighteen geese. The fox starts in the middle of the third line of one arm, and the geese on the opposite arm and the first line across the cross. The geese may not move backward, and the fox captures by jumping. The game catalogue Ludii lists it as Gåsetavl (Gedved).
The version here follows that description, except that the fox already wins when three geese are left, since they could never trap it.