 A game of nine men's morris in phase two. Even if it is Black's turn, White can remove a black piece each time a mill is formed by moving e3-d3 and then back again d3-e3. | |
| Years active | > 2000 years ago to present |
|---|---|
| Genres | |
| Players | 2 |
| Setup time | < 1 minute |
| Playing time | 5–60 minutes |
| Chance | None |
| Age range | 5+ |
| Skills | Strategy |
| Synonyms |
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Nine men's morris is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire.[1] The game is also known as nine-man morris, mill, mills, the mill game, merels, merrills, merelles, marelles, morelles, and ninepenny marl[2] in English. In North America, the game has also been called cowboy checkers, and its board is sometimes printed on the back of checkerboards. Nine men's morris is a solved game, that is, a game whose optimal strategy has been calculated. It has been shown that with perfect play from both players, the game results in a draw.[3]
The Latin word merellus means 'gamepiece', which may have been corrupted in English to 'morris',[1] while miles is Latin for soldier.
Three main alternative variations of the game are three, six, and twelve men's morris.
- ^ a b Berger, Friedrich (2004). "From circle and square to the image of the world: a possible interpretation for some petroglyphs of merels boards" (PDF). Rock Art Research. 21 (1): 11–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-11-21. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
- ^ Hone, William (1826). The Every-Day Book. London: Hunt and Clarke. ASIN B0010SXPN0.
- ^ Gasser, Ralph (1996). "Solving Nine Men's Morris" (PDF). Games of No Chance. 29: 101–113. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2015-06-01.