| Long before chess came to Europe from India, | | | | game was played with a king and eight 'princes' or |
| the British Celts were playing board games where | | | | 'defenders' against sixteen 'attackers'. |
| the object was to capture a central 'king' piece. | | | | More detail is given in the 1587 manuscript of |
| Two variants of this game existed, Gwyddbwyll | | | | Robert ap Ifan in Elizabethan Wales, which supplies |
| and Tallfwrdd. | | | | us with a sketch of a 'towlbwrdd' board as an |
| Gwyddbwyll, literally meaning 'wooden wisdom' | | | | 11x11 square. and a description of the setup and |
| (and thus it is related to the Irish game Fidchell) | | | | play which is, unfortunately, inconsistent with the |
| and is known predominantly from mythological | | | | previous information in that it places a king and |
| sources. Indeed, the game features in three of | | | | twelve men against twenty-four men (though at |
| the Welsh epics known as the Mabinogion: The | | | | least it is consistent in balancing the king against |
| Dream of Magnus Maximus, Peredur son of | | | | half of the opposing men.) The setup calls for the |
| Efrawg and the Dream of Rhonabwy. | | | | king to be placed in the center of the board with |
| In terms of popular belief gwyddbwyll is played on | | | | his own men in the squares nearest to him and |
| a 7x7 board and this ties-in with the Ballinderry | | | | the opposing men in the middle of each side, an |
| Game Board found in 1932 during the excavation | | | | ambiguous description at best. |
| of a "crannog", or lake dwelling at Ballinderry, | | | | This current interpretation an 11x11 board with a |
| West Meath, Ireland. It seems that the game was | | | | central king surrounded by twelve princes or |
| played with a king and four princes (or defenders) | | | | defenders. Each side of the board starts with six |
| against eight opponents (or raiders). | | | | blue attackers, giving 24 in total. The central |
| The king is placed in the centre of the board, | | | | square is important as it can only be occupied by |
| flanked by four princes. The aim of the game | | | | the king, though other pieces can cross it, as long |
| being to move the king to the safety of one of | | | | as it's unoccupied. Play proceeds by alternate |
| the corner squares. Eight attackers are evenly | | | | turns and though the extant documentation does |
| spaced along the edges of the board. The king | | | | not describe who is to move first it would seem |
| wins by moving from the central space to one of | | | | natural that the attacker would do this (after all |
| the corners of the board and only the king is | | | | the king is defending against an attack). The king |
| allowed to enter the central space at any time. | | | | also has an inherent advantage in the game and |
| The king loses if the attackers surround him or if | | | | giving the attacker the first move goes some |
| all the princes are lost. Capture of the princes or | | | | way towards reducing this. |
| attackers is accomplished by blocking the | | | | All pieces move orthogonally (ie forwards or |
| opponent's piece between two of your own. | | | | backwards like the rook in chess). They can |
| However a piece can move in between two | | | | move any number of squares but cannot jump |
| opposing pieces without being captured. Each piece | | | | over another piece and the square moved into |
| can only move one orthogonal space at a time (ie | | | | must also be vacant. |
| only forwards or backwards). If not occupied by | | | | Any man (other than the king) can be captured |
| the king the centre square counts as an additional | | | | by being sandwiched between two opponents (ie |
| 'man' ie any piece (except the king) sandwiched | | | | when two of the opponent's men occupy |
| between it and another piece is captured. The | | | | adjacent squares in a straight line with it). Some |
| king can also be captured at the edge of the | | | | variants of the game allow pieces to move into |
| board by only three opposing pieces. Which | | | | squares between opposing men without being |
| means that if the attackers are down to only | | | | captured, but others do not allow this. It is also |
| two men the king's side has won by default. | | | | unclear whether the king can participate in |
| In contrast, Tallfwrdd (literally peg-board [though | | | | captures; though the game is more even if this |
| the name can also be derived from tafl 'to throw', | | | | form of capture is disallowed. Also, as no other |
| referring to the die with which the board is | | | | piece apart from the king can occupy the central |
| played]) is known from historical sources. It is | | | | square it may be possible to use this as an |
| described in the Cyfrraith Hywel Dda (The Laws | | | | additional man and pieces can be captured by |
| of Hywel Dda) which specifies the value of a | | | | being sandwiched against it. |
| towlbwrdd which shall be provided to various | | | | The king's side wins if the king reaches any edge |
| members of a king's court (and which they may | | | | and the king also wins by default if the attackers |
| neither sell nor give away) as well as the value of | | | | are down to three or fewer men. The attackers |
| the king's towlbwrdd; the latter "is worth six | | | | can only win by capturing the king; surrounding |
| score pence, and that is shared thus: sixty pence | | | | him on all four sides by their men. However, a |
| for the white forces, and ... thirty pence for the | | | | variant based on gwyddbwyll would allow the |
| king, and ... three pence and three farthings for | | | | attackers to win if all the princes (king's |
| every man". Which would seem to imply that the | | | | defenders) have been eliminated from the board. |