Six Men's Morris

Six Men's Morris may be played on the Double Mill board with or without the four diagonals in the corners.

Alternate Names

Smerelli (Italy), Merelle à Six Tables (France), Fivepenny Merills, Fipenny Merills (England)

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

Either of two boards may be used for this game: the double mill without diagonals or the double mill with diagonals. In addition six each of black and white counters will be required.

History

Six Men’s Morris was very popular in Italy, France, and England during the Middle Ages but became mostly obsolete around 1600, gradually being replaced by the larger Nine Men’s Morris.

Objective

The objective is to reduce your opponent’s counters from six to two or to immobilize your opponent’s counters so that they are unable to make a legal move.

Play

Each player commences the game with six counters of one color in-hand. Alternate turns entail the placement of a single counter of your color at any vacant position on the board or the movement of a single counter of your color along a line to an adjacent vacant position. There is no jumping. During placement and movement of the counters, players attempt to make horizontal or vertical rows of three counters of their color along any line. Such a formation is here called a “mill”. Upon forming a mill of their own counters, a player is entitled to capture any one of their opponent’s counters on the board, so long as that captured counter is not itself part of a mill. Any mill that has been formed by a player may be broken by that player to be reformed later, capturing another counter.

The player placing the first counter is given considerable advantage in this game and to be fair the game should be played twice or any even number of times with the first move alternating bwtween players.

Strategy

Much of the same strategy from the more common game of Nine Men’s Morris applies here.

Variations

The game can also be played with five counters per player. This practice was apparently common in England where names like Fivepenny Merills and its contraction Fipenny Merills were used.

Seven Men's Morris, presumably played with seven counters per player, uses the Double Mill board with a cross in the center (but no diagonals at the corners).

Sources

  1. Bell, R.C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Revised Edition. Oxford University Press, 1969. 0-486-23855-5