What is Six Men's Morris?
Six Men's Morris is played on a smaller board: two nested squares, with the midpoints of their sides joined by short lines. That makes 16 points, the Nine Men's board without its outer square. Each player has six men. White moves first.
The game follows Nine Men's Morris. The players first take turns placing their men on empty points, then slide them along the lines to neighbouring empty points. Three men in a row make a mill, and the player who makes one removes an opponent's man that is not in a mill, or any man if all of them are in mills.
Two things are different. Mills can only be made along the sides of the two squares, because the lines that join the midpoints have just two points each. And nobody flies: a player reduced to three men still slides them one point at a time. A player loses when they are down to two men after placement, or when they have no legal move on their turn.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Nine Men's Morris | Six Men's Morris |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Nine Men's Morris24 points on three nested squares, joined at the midpoints of their sides. | Six Men's Morris16 points on two nested squares, joined at the midpoints of their sides. |
| Men per player | Standard Nine Men's MorrisNine. | Six Men's MorrisSix. |
| Where a mill can be made | Standard Nine Men's MorrisAlong the sides of the three squares and along the four lines that join their midpoints: 16 possible mills. | Six Men's MorrisOnly along the sides of the two squares: 8 possible mills. The lines that join the midpoints have only two points. |
| Flying | Standard Nine Men's MorrisA player with three men left may move a man to any empty point. It is on by default and can be switched off in the table setup. | Six Men's MorrisNever. Men always slide to a neighbouring point, and the flying option is not offered. |
| How to win | Standard Nine Men's MorrisReduce the opponent to two men, or leave them with no legal move. | Six Men's MorrisThe same. |
History
Six Men's Morris is one of the smaller games of the morris family, the group of mill games whose English name comes from the Latin merellus, a counter or game piece. It was popular in Italy, France and England during the Middle Ages, but had fallen out of use by 1600.
The same 16-point board was also used for Five Men's Morris, in which each player has five men.