What is Brandubh?
Brandubh is the smallest tafl game here. It is played on a 7×7 board with the throne in the centre and a special square at each corner. The king starts on the throne with one defender on each side of him, and two attackers stand on each edge, one on either side of its middle square.
The rules are those of the standard game: the attackers move first, every piece moves like a rook, pieces are captured between two enemies or an enemy and the throne or a corner, and the king wins by reaching a corner. The king is captured on four sides, or on three beside the throne.
With so few pieces on a small board, the king is only a few moves from a corner from the start, and the attackers must close the corners at once. Games are short and sharp.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Tablut | Brandubh |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Tablut9×9 squares. | Brandubh7×7 squares. |
| Pieces | Standard Tablut16 attackers against 8 defenders and the king. | Brandubh8 attackers against 4 defenders and the king. |
| Starting position | Standard TablutAttackers in a T of four on each edge; defenders two deep on each side of the king. | BrandubhTwo attackers on each edge, either side of its middle square; one defender on each side of the king. |
| Moves, captures and goal | Standard TablutRook moves, custodial captures, a hostile throne and corners, escape to a corner. | BrandubhThe same. The other options in the table setup work on this board too. |
History
Brandubh was the Irish member of the tafl family; its name is usually read as "black raven". No rules survive. Two early Irish poems suggest it was played with five men against eight, one of the five being a chief called the branán, which fits a king with four defenders against eight attackers.
The best-known board is the wooden one found at Ballinderry in Ireland in 1932. It has 7×7 holes for pegged pieces. Modern brandubh rules, like the ones played here, are reconstructions built from the 7×7 boards, the poems and Linnaeus's account of tablut.