What is Two Foxes (Halatafl)?
Two Foxes is played on the standard 33-point cross, with a diagonal between every two neighbouring points. The fox player has two foxes, which start on the two outer corners of the far end of the top arm. The geese player has twenty geese, which fill the row through the centre, the row below it and the whole bottom arm. The foxes move first.
Both foxes move as the single fox does in the standard game: one step along a line in any direction, or a jump over a neighbouring goose to the empty point just beyond it, which captures that goose. Here a capture is compulsory. If either fox can jump, the fox player must jump, and a fox that has jumped must keep jumping as long as it can.
The geese step one point along a line forward, diagonally forward or sideways, never back. The nine points of the top arm are the paddock. The geese win by filling every point of the paddock, or by leaving both foxes with no move. The foxes win when fewer than nine geese remain, too few to fill the paddock.
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 | Two Foxes (Halatafl) |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces | Standard Fox & GeeseOne fox and 13 geese (15 or 17 with the option in the table setup). | Two Foxes (Halatafl)Two foxes and 20 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. | Two Foxes (Halatafl)The foxes on the two outer corners of the end of the top arm; the geese on the row through the centre, the row below it and the bottom arm. |
| How geese move | Standard Fox & GeeseForward or diagonally forward along a line; sideways only with the option in the table setup. | Two Foxes (Halatafl)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. |
| Captures | Standard Fox & GeeseThe fox may jump a goose but does not have to. | Two Foxes (Halatafl)Compulsory: if a fox can jump, one must, and a fox keeps jumping while it can. |
| How the foxes win | Standard Fox & GeeseCapture geese until fewer than four remain, or leave the geese with no move. | Two Foxes (Halatafl)Capture geese until fewer than nine remain, or leave the geese with no move. |
| How the geese win | Standard Fox & GeeseTrap the fox so that it cannot move. | Two Foxes (Halatafl)Fill all nine points of the top arm, the paddock, or trap both foxes. |
History
Halatafl is a hunt game that probably originated in Scandinavia as a variant of tafl. It is mentioned in Grettis saga, the Icelandic saga of Grettir the Strong, and is known from at least the 14th century.
As it is described today, Halatafl has two foxes and twenty sheep on the cross-shaped board. Capturing is compulsory, as are further jumps when they are possible, and the sheep win by filling the paddock at the end of the board. The game here plays those rules with geese in place of sheep.
The historian Peter Michaelsen described a Danish game, Gåsetavl, with the same pieces: two foxes on the outer corners of one arm of the cross and twenty geese opposite them. The foxes start on those corners here.