Three Men's Morris
Three Men’s Morris is played on the Achi board, shown above, and commences with the board empty of counters
Alternate Names
Ovid's Game, Three-penny Madell (England), Marelle (France), Tapatan (Philippines), El-Qirqat (Arabic), Hujura (Iran), Cashian Gherra (Ireland), Filo and Mulino (Italy), Tres en Reya (Spain), Tre-guti (India), Kiu King (China) Yih (China), Luk Tsut K'i (China). The much discussed game of Terni Lapilli (Three Little Stones, Latin) is probably the same as this game.
No. of Players
Two
Equipment
An Achi board and three each of black and white counters are required for play.
History
This ancient game is worldwide in extent and is found in the archaeology of Ceylon, Egypt, Greece, China, and the Roman Empire. Large stones marked for this game board have been found near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and date from the third or fourth century CE. A game known as Terni Lapilli (translating as Three Little Stones) was widespread in the Roman Empire. Boards for it are found etched on floors and roofs in numerous places in the archaeological sites of Rome and other places in the Roman Empire. How exactly Terni Lapilli was played is not known, but it is very likely to be the exact same as the game described here and is usually reconstructed as such.
Objective
The objective is to attain all three of your counters in a row along any line, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal.
Play
A rule prohibiting the first play in the center position originates from France. Players start with alternate turns placing each of their three counters at any of the other intersections on the board. Play is then continued by alternate turns of moving the counters to any neighboring vacant intersection along a line until one player gets three in a row along any line, diagonal or orthogonal.
Variations
This game can also be played on the Picaria board, giving extra movements to the counters along the additional lines.
Sabang or All Direction Gonu, is a Korean Game played nearly identical, only that here there are four counters per player.
Three Men's Morris has been described as a game, with or without movement, played on the vertices of a 2x2 square grid (without the diagonals), but I describe those games here as Nine Holes, when played with movement, after the counters are placed; or Tic Tac Toe, when played without movement.
Other similar and related games include Circular Three Men's Morris, Shisima, Achi, and Tant Fant.
Similar games of greater complexity include Six Men's Morris, and Nine Men's Morris.
Sources
Provenzo, Asterie Baker and Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. Play It Again, Historic Board Games You Can Make and Play. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1981. ISBN 0-13-683367-5