How to play Hnefatafl - The Viking Chess

The instructions on how to play Hnefatafl - the Viking Chess board game. This video takes you directly into the rules, covering the game’s unique objectives.

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Hnefatafl rules:

These Hnefatafl rules are based on those played in the 9th and 10th centuries. Different variants of the game exist, each with slight rule differences.

Hnefatafl is a game of unequal sides and different objectives. The attackers aim to surround and capture the enemy King, while the defenders must protect their King as he tries to escape to a corner of the board.

The attacking side always starts. All pieces move in a straight line for as many empty squares as the player chooses. Pieces cannot hop over other pieces and cannot move diagonally.

Players can capture the opponent's pawns. Capturing can happen when:
-A piece can be captured if it ends up sandwiched between two of the opposing player’s pieces.
-A piece can be captured if it’s trapped between a corner or the central square and the opposing player’s piece. The corner and middle squares act as the second capturing piece.

A captured piece is immediately removed from the board.

Additional rules:
-It is possible to capture more than one piece at once.
-The King is unarmed and cannot capture.
-A piece can safely move to a square between two of the opponent's pieces without being captured.
-The King is harder to capture - he must be surrounded on all four sides, or on three sides if he’s at the board’s edge.

Defenders win when the King gets to the corner of the board safely. The attackers win when they completely surround and kill the enemy King.