What is Hnefatafl 13×13?
This is tafl on a 13×13 board, played with the same rules as the standard game. The throne is in the centre and a special square at each corner. The king starts on the throne inside a cross of defenders, three deep on each side, with four more on the squares diagonally next to him: 16 defenders in all. The 32 attackers stand in a T of eight on each edge.
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.
The larger board gives both sides more room to manoeuvre, and games are long. The table setup also offers this board with the Copenhagen rules.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Tablut | Hnefatafl 13×13 |
|---|---|---|
| Board | Standard Tablut9×9 squares. | Hnefatafl 13×1313×13 squares. |
| Pieces | Standard Tablut16 attackers against 8 defenders and the king. | Hnefatafl 13×1332 attackers against 16 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. | Hnefatafl 13×13Attackers in a T of eight on each edge; defenders three deep on each side of the king, plus four diagonally next to him. |
| Moves, captures and goal | Standard TablutRook moves, custodial captures, a hostile throne and corners, escape to a corner. | Hnefatafl 13×13The same. The Copenhagen rules and the other options in the table setup work on this board too. |
History
Tafl was played on boards larger than Tablut's 9×9. H. J. R. Murray, in A History of Board-Games other than Chess (1951), reports that the gaming board found in the Gokstad ship burial in Norway had 13×13 squares on one side and a board for nine men's morris on the other.
No starting position for a 13×13 board has come down to us, so every 13×13 layout played today is a modern one. The layout here has twice as many attackers as defenders, the proportion found in the other tafl games.