Hnefatafl
Ard Rí
A disputed 7x7 reconstruction in which every piece, the king included, moves exactly one square at a time.
Historical reconstruction
What is different here
Ard Ri is not a historical rule set. No medieval source describes it, and the version that circulates in modern books and software appears to be a twentieth-century invention put together by analogy with the larger tafl games. It is offered here as a curiosity.
The circulating description is followed exactly: a seven by seven board carrying sixteen attackers and eight defenders with their king. That is twenty-five pieces on forty-nine squares, a very heavy army for so small a board.
The one distinguishing rule is the movement. Nothing slides. Every piece steps one square along a rank or a file, and the game that results feels much more like a slow shoving match than like hnefatafl.
- Disputed: no historical source describes this game.
- Every piece, king included, moves exactly one square.
- 7x7 board with 16 attackers against 8 defenders and the king.
- Corner escape; the king needs all four sides held to fall.
- The balance has never been properly tested — treat results with suspicion.