Twelve Men's Morris Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Gameplay
  • Placing the Pieces
  • Moving the Men
  • Flying the Men
  • Finishing the Game
  • As a Mind Sport

Gameplay

There are three main phases to the game:

1. Placing the men
2. Moving the men
3. Flying the men

Placing the Pieces

The board is empty when the game begins. Each player has 12 men. One player has white and the other has black. The player with the white men moves first.

Each turn consists of placing a man on an empty intersection on the board.

The aim is to create a mill: a row of three men on any line drawn on the board.

If a player forms a mill, he or she may remove one of the opponent's men. The man is removed from the board and not placed again.

A man in a mill may not be removed unless all of the opponent's men are in mills, in which case any man may be removed.

Even if a move creates more than one mill, only one man can be removed in a single turn.

Moving the Men

After all the men have been placed, each turn consists of moving a man to an empty adjacent intersection.

As before, completing a mill allows a player to remove one of the opponent's men. Again this must be a man which is not in a mill, unless all of the opponent's men are in mills.

Players are allowed to break their own mills.

A mill may be broken and remade repeatedly by shuffling men back and forth. Each time the mill is remade, one of the opponent's men is removed.

(Of course, by breaking the mill the player exposes the men which were in the mill to the risk of being removed by the opponent on his or her next turn.)

In some tournament rules, a mill which is broken to form a new mill can't be formed again on the next move.

Flying the Men

When a player has only three men remaining, desperate measures are called for. This player's men are allowed to fly to any empty intersection, not just adjacent ones.

If one player has three men and the other player has more than three men, only the player with three men is allowed to fly.

Finishing the Game

You win if your opponent cannot move.

You win if your opponent has just two men.

If either player has only three men and neither player removes a man within ten moves, the game is drawn.

One person cheats, then another one wins by default.

As a Mind Sport

This game, under the name of Morabaraba, is an official discipline of the Traditional World Games, which are held every five years. There are tournaments in South Africa, Thailand, Australia, USA, Greece, and at Epsom College in England.