Nine Men's Morris

How to play Nine Men's Morris

Nine Men's Morris, also called the mill game or merels, is a strategy game for two players that was popular across Europe in the Middle Ages. Boards have been found scratched into medieval church benches and castle stones.

The board and pieces

The board has 24 points on three nested squares joined at their midpoints. Each player has nine pieces.

Phase 1: placing

Players take turns placing one piece on any empty point until all eighteen pieces are on the board.

Phase 2: moving

Players take turns sliding one of their pieces along a line to a neighboring empty point.

Phase 3: flying

When a player has only three pieces left, they may move a piece to any empty point.

Mills and captures

• Forming a mill (three of your pieces in a row along a line) lets you remove one opponent piece.
• You can't remove a piece that's in a mill unless every opponent piece is in one.
• You may open a mill by moving a piece out and close it again on a later turn to form it anew.

Winning

You win when your opponent has only two pieces, or can't make a legal move.

Strategy

• Don't rush to make mills while placing. Keeping pieces flexible and on the busy middle-square points (4 connections) pays off later.
• Block early. When your opponent has two in a row, fill the third point.
• Build a "running mill": a piece that can slide back and forth between two mills forms a mill every turn.