9 Man’s Morris

This is the most common of the Morris Games

You need: Game diagram

9 game pieces of one color

9 game pieces of another color

Object of game:

To capture or block your opponents pieces until they are unable to capture any of yours.

Captures:

Capture your opponents pieces by successfully lining three of your pieces continuously on the intersections of a line. This is called creating a "mil". When the third piece is played, you may remove one of you opponents pieces. *

Beginning Play:

Players alternate placing pieces on the intersections of the gaming diagram. They may use any intersection and try to get three in a row, or block their opponent. Continue placing pieces until each player has placed their nine pieces.

Continuing Play:

Once all pieces have been placed on the board, player alternate turns. On each turn a player must move one piece one intersection on the diagram. These must be in a continuous line, and cannot jump or skip an intersection or other piece.

*Fair play Rule:

If one has move a piece out of a "mil", it is considered bad form to immediately move it back into the "mil" without changing something else on the board. Basically that means taking at least 3 turns before returning to the same "mil". The only time this would not be enforced is when this is the only move one can make.

Ending the Game:

If one player cannot move any pieces, or if they have less than three pieces left in the game, they loose.

Other Morris Games

5, 7, and 12 Man’s Morris

These games are played in the same way with the differences being in the number of pieces and the number of lines in the diagram.