Tablut is the part of a group referred to as Tafl games.
Tafl games have four distinctive features:
the board is collection of cells
the board has symmetrical patterns of specially marked cells
the outer forcesutilize twice the number of pieces as do the inner
the player conducting the inner forces has one extra piece, which begins the game on the central cell.
Karl van Linne, also known as Linnaeus, is chiefly known for the system he devised
for the classification of living organisms.
In 1732 he journeyed through Lapland and described an interesting indiginous game called Tablut.
The game is played on a 9 square by 9 square board.
The Attacker Side (Black) starts with 16 stones.
The Defender Side (White) starts with 9 playing pieces. The central piece is called the King.
The Wihie moves first, after the players make alternate moves
All stones can move along any adjoining orthogonal (as rook in chess) as far as desired, but can neither capture nor
pass obstructing pieces of any variety.
An opponent's piece is captured when a player's piece finishes its move such that it orthogonally
sandwiches the opponent's piece between itself and another friendly
The King cannot take part in captures
To capture the King:
The king must surround it on all four sides.
it is possible for Black to capture the King by surrounding it on three sides if on the fourth side the
adjacent square is the center.
by three soldiers and a board edge (This rule is valid only in some variants)
To win the game Black must capture the King.
There are few variants
To win the game White must move the King to the perimeter of the board.
The white wins when the King reach the corner square.
If a player has no further move than player loses the game.
After the King left the central square no stone, including the King, may occupy that square.
Any piece may freely pass over the free central stone
Stones may not be captured on their own turn (for example a white piece may move between two black pieces without being killed).