Three Mans Morris

Number of players: 2
Type of game: Board
Period: 1400BC+

History

Also called Merrils, or The Mill Game, Morris has been played in various forms, for over 3,000 years. The oldest boards have been found in The Temple of Kourna in Egypt, and date from the 14th century B.C. A similar board was found in a neolithic burial in County Wicklow, Ireland. In the 13th century A.D. it appeared in the Spanish King Alphonso X’s “Book of Games.” It is most often played with 9 men, and simpler versions have been played with 5, or 6 men on a board with just two concentric squares. During the
14th century diagonal lines were added to join the corners of the squares and it was played with 12 men. This version was brought to the Americas by English settlers, but the 9-man version continues to be the most common variant.

Rules

Each player starts with three men. Players draw lots to see who begins and then take turns placing men on the intersections of the lines. The object is to form a “mill” -three of your men in a straight line, as in Tick-tack-toe. The players continue to take turns placing their men until all of the live pieces are on the board. At that point, players begin to take turns sliding their men along the lines. They can move only one space at a time, to any vacant intersection. Their goal is to continue attempting to make a mill and capture an enemy piece. The winner is the player who reduces his opponent down to just two men on the board.

Optional Rules

• If the first player places his man on the central point he can force a win and for this reason some rules forbid this move

• Boardgame