Malom

Nine Men's Morris is an ancient strategy board game for two players. The board consists of three nested squares connected by lines. Players place and then slide pieces along the lines, trying to form 'mills' (three in a row) to remove opponent's pieces.

Reduce your opponent to two pieces (so they cannot form mills) or block all their pieces so they cannot move.

The board has 24 intersection points arranged in three concentric squares connected by lines. Each player has 9 pieces of their color. The board starts empty.

1. Phase 1 - Placement: Players alternate placing one piece on any empty point until all 18 pieces are on the board.
2. Forming a mill (three pieces in a row along a line) allows you to remove one opponent's piece.
3. Pieces in a mill cannot be removed unless no other pieces are available.
4. Phase 2 - Movement: After all pieces are placed, players alternate sliding one piece along a line to an adjacent empty point.
5. Continue forming mills and removing pieces during the movement phase.
6. A mill can be 'opened and closed' - move a piece out and back in to form the mill again.
7. Phase 3 - Flying: When reduced to three pieces, that player may 'fly' (move to any empty point, not just adjacent).

Win by reducing your opponent to two pieces, or by blocking all their pieces so they cannot make a legal move.

• *Control intersection points that belong to multiple potential mills.
• *During placement, prioritize positions that can form multiple mills.
• *Keep your pieces connected and mobile; isolated pieces are vulnerable.
• *The 'double mill' (two mills sharing a piece) is very powerful - moving the shared piece opens one while closing the other.
• *Block your opponent's mills while setting up your own.
• *In the endgame with three pieces, flying makes defense nearly impossible - try to reach this phase first.

Nine Men's Morris is one of the oldest known board games, with boards carved into ancient Egyptian temples and the roof slabs of the Kurna temple (c. 1400 BCE). It was extremely popular in medieval Europe.