Ancient Egypt
Nine Men's
Morris by Ms. Hebert's Math Class
History
The game Nine Men's Morris began
popping up in about 1400 BC. For 597 years, people have been
playing the fun and fulfilling game. If
you're good at strategic games and you like challenges, then
you'll like Nine Men's Morris as much as the Egyptians did.
The first Nine Men's Morris
gameboard was found in an Ancient Egyptian Temple. During the
Bronze Age, the game was brought to Ireland by traders from Greece
or Phoenicia. It then made its way into Europe. The game began
to pick up names like Me'relles, Muhle, and Mill as it spread
to other countries.
Playing the Game
You will be pleased to be informed
that Nine Men's Morris is a very simple and easy game to learn.
Ages
8 and older
Players
Two
Materials
Copy of game
board and 18 playing pieces--Two different colors (9 of each).
Object
To either trap your opponent
so he or she can no longer move or to capture all their playing
pieces except for two.
Rules
The first person to play (be
polite and let them go first) puts a piece over any of the white
circles on your gameboard.
Then the second person does the same. Your objective is to get
three of your pieces in a row (which is called a "mill").
All the pieces in a "mill" must be on circles which
are connected by lines. In other words, diagonal mills don't
count. When you get a mill, you may remove and keep one of your
opponent's pieces from the board. The only time a piece can be
removed from an opponent's mill is when there are no other pieces
available except those in a mill.
Once both players have put down
all their pieces, they take turns moving their pieces along the
lines in an effort to form a mill. You can only move one space
at a time, and you can't move diagonally. Also, you may only
move to adjacent open circles. You may not bump or jump an opponent's
piece. Again, the forming of a mill allows for the removal of
an opponent's piece.
If well planned, it is possible
to play a piece which forms two mills. If this occurs, you can
remove two of your opponents pieces.
Play continues until a player
can no longer move or is left with only two playing pieces on
the board. Whichever outcome, this person loses the game.
Plan your strategies well! Try
keeping track of your moves and your opponents moves. For a new
and interesting twist, learn how to keep score in Egyptian numbers.
Strategies
I found that I had a better
chance of winning if I placed my pieces on the four corners first.--Onyi
Whenever I have a mill, I will
move out of the mill in one turn and back into the mill the next
turn.--Caitlin
Other Sites
Mine Men's Morris Computer game for Microsoft Windows 3.1
Play Nine Men's Morris on the
Internet
