What is Bell's Senet?
Bell's rules are the reconstruction of Senet that R. C. Bell suggested in 1960. The board and its winding path of 30 squares are the same as in the standard game, but almost everything else changes: each player has ten pieces, the throw comes from a single long die, and a piece that is hit leaves the game for good.
At the start the pieces fill the first two rows: the first player's on the odd squares 1 to 19, the second player's on the even squares 2 to 20. You throw a four-sided long die, which gives 1, 2, 3 or 4, move one piece forward that many squares, and the turn passes; there are no extra throws. A piece may not land on one of your own, but it can land on an opponent's piece and capture it, removing it from the board.
The last five squares are safe. The 26th square, the House of Beauty, is a gateway: a piece there must move on as soon as it can. The four squares after it are marked X, III, II and I, and a piece resting on one of them leaves the board only with the matching throw of 4, 3, 2 or 1. Whenever a piece on squares 26 to 30 can move, you must move one of them.
Every piece borne off scores a point. The game ends as soon as one player has borne off more pieces than the other can still reach, and that player wins; equal scores with the board empty are a draw.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Senet | Bell's Senet |
|---|---|---|
| Pieces and setup | Standard SenetFive pieces each, alternating on squares 1 to 10: the first player's on the odd squares, the second player's on the even ones. | Bell's SenetTen pieces each, alternating on squares 1 to 20: the first player's on the odd squares 1 to 19, the second player's on the even squares 2 to 20. |
| Throws | Standard SenetFour casting sticks: count the sticks that land face up, 1 to 4, with none up counting 5. | Bell's SenetOne four-sided long die, which gives 1, 2, 3 or 4. |
| Extra throws | Standard SenetA throw of 1, 4 or 5 earns another throw after the move. | Bell's SenetNone: after every move the turn passes. |
| Landing on an opponent | Standard SenetThe two pieces swap places, unless the opponent's piece has a piece of its own colour next to it. | Bell's SenetThe opponent's piece is captured and leaves the game. Neighbouring pieces give no protection. |
| Safe squares | Standard SenetThe four houses on squares 27 to 30. | Bell's SenetThe last five squares, 26 to 30. |
| The last squares | Standard Senet27 is the House of Beauty, 28 the House of Water, which sends a piece back to square 15, 29 the House of Three Truths and 30 the House of Re-Atoum. | Bell's Senet26 is the House of Beauty, and 27, 28, 29 and 30 are marked X, III, II and I. There is no House of Water. |
| Moves you must make | Standard SenetYou may move any piece that can move. | Bell's SenetIf a piece on squares 26 to 30 can move, you must move one of them, so a piece on the House of Beauty moves on as soon as it can. |
| Bearing off | Standard SenetFrom square 27 or beyond, with a throw that carries the piece past square 30; from square 29 only a 3 and from square 30 only a 2. | Bell's SenetOnly from the marked squares, with the exact throw: 4 from X, 3 from III, 2 from II and 1 from I. |
| How to win | Standard SenetBe the first to bear off all five pieces. | Bell's SenetBear off more pieces than your opponent. The game ends once the result is certain; equal scores are a draw. |
History
Senet is one of the oldest board games known. Boards and paintings of it survive from Egyptian tombs over more than two thousand years, among them a painting in the tomb of Hesy-Re from the Third Dynasty and several game boxes from the tomb of Tutankhamun, but no complete set of rules has survived. Every way of playing it today is a reconstruction.
R. C. Bell published his in Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, first published in 1960, under the heading "Suggested Rules for the Game of Thirty Squares". As the heading says, Bell offered them as a suggestion: a playable game built on the layout of the board and the marks on its last squares, not a translation of an ancient text. His version is a game of points rather than a pure race, and its ten men a side fill two of the three rows at the start.
Where Bell's text leaves a detail open, this version makes a choice. Bell has the players throw to decide who starts; here the first seat starts. His worked examples of the first throws only fit if the first player's pieces stand on the odd squares, so they are placed there. Bell doesn't say when the game stops, so it ends as soon as the trailing player can no longer catch up, which gives the same result as playing it out. The standard game played here is a modern reconstruction of a different kind, with four casting sticks and extra throws.