Historic Board Markings, Part 2
Sunday, 10th November 2013
This week I thought I'd look at the boards from Scotland and Ireland, particularly the simple stone graffiti boards from Downpatrick and Buckquoy, which show close similarities.
All of the stone graffiti boards in question show a grid of seven lines by seven, play being on the intersections. The central point is marked with a circle. The Irish board from Downpatrick also has the corners marked with quadrants, making it a humble equivalent of the magnificent Ballinderry board.
A number of Irish 7x7 boards lack the corner markings. The wooden Knockanboy board had none, and neither does the similar board from Waterford. It's possible that there may have been painted marking that have worn away, but there are certainly no carved or etched markings surviving as at Downpatrick and Ballinderry.
The Scottish boards are more uniform. None of them have corner markings. The Dun Chonallaich board is marked differently, with pits rather than etched circles on the central point, and on the points around it. But the Dun Chonallaich board has a lack of corner markings in common with those at Buckquoy, Birsay and Howe.
This suggests to me a difference in rules between the games of Ireland and Scotland. Irish poetry suggests that the king should occupy the corner squares. For this to be possible, there can be no win when the king reaches an edge, otherwise he'd never get to the corner. For this kind of game to work properly, the corner squares need some protection, otherwise the attacker would merely use four pieces, in four moves, to prevent the king from winning.
The absence of corner markings on the Scottish boards suggests that the corners had no special properties, and that therefore a playable game would give the king victory on his reaching the edge. I've given a suggestion in a previous post about how such a game could be balanced.
Comments
These boards are Irish Fidchell boards (not Viking hnefatafl) "Irish poetry suggests that the king should occupy the corner squares." What Irish poem or old Irish text mentions this? There is very little evidence as to how the Irish game of Fidchell was played, and never any mention of a "king piece" or central pawn. The only information we can be sure of is that: ♦ the game was played with an equal amount of pieces on both sides ♦ men were captured when flanked by two enemy men ♦ pieces moved on the lines of the grid. The method of custodial capture with two men around one enemy on the same line is explained in the Middle Irish tale of Mac da Cherda and Cummaine Foda: "Good," says Guaire, "Let's play fidchell." "How are the men slain?" says Cummaine. "Not hard, a black pair of mine about one white man of yours on the same line, disputing the approach on the far side" The Irish Fidchell should not be confused with the Viking hnefatafl involving a central king. Fidchell is not hnefatafl! Fidchell is much more like ancient Egyptian games like Seega and Alquerque. Please take a look - you will see there is a big resemblance with the rules and board layout. Irish culture has roots in the ancient Iranian-Egyptian culture...Yan - 17:06, 08/10/2024
I made a comment previously, but it was not posted. Maybe the author does not agree with my ideas? But even if he thinks that I am wrong, he should still give me the right to express a theory... I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend with my life the right that you have to say it. Now perhaps the author is convinced that the boards he describes in this article are part of the Tafl family and were used for Brandubh or other Hnefatafl variants because of the 4 corners being marked along with the central ring. However, if you take a look at the games of Seega and Alquerque, you will see that they marked the centre of the board. You will also see that Alquerque has the board divided in two during setup, exactly as suggested on the Ballinderry Board by the two small carvings or "indents" on the sides. Additionally, the rules of capture in Seega are identical with those in Fidchell... So what if the central space and corner spaces were not supposed to be occupied, but actually left empty during the setup when all the men are placed on the board, just like in Seega and Alquerque? Isn't this a sensible questions? What if these boards were indeed used for Fidchell, which is different from Tafl games? Just take an empty Seega board or Alquerque board, and you will see that it looks exactly like an Irish "tafl board"....Yan - 20:14, 09/10/2024