Tablut: Rules and How to Play
Tablut is a 2-player, 15-minute Nordic board game that Linnaeus recorded in Lapland in 1732. One side gets the king to the edge; the other traps him between two soldiers. Free in your browser.
Setup
- Two players. Playing alone, you face the CPU.
- The board is 9×9. The central square is the throne, where the king starts.
- The Swedes have the king and 8 soldiers, two on each side of the throne.
- The Muscovites have 16 soldiers, four in a T at the middle of each side of the board.
- The Muscovites move first. Play again swaps the sides.
How to play
- Players alternate, moving one piece per turn. Any piece moves any number of empty squares up, down, left or right — never diagonally, never jumping.
- Only the king may stop on the throne. When it is empty, any piece may pass over it (but not stop there).
- Trap an enemy soldier between the piece you just moved and another of your pieces, in a row or column, to capture it. One move can capture more than one. The king can help trap.
- A piece that moves between two enemies of its own accord is safe. Only the side that moves captures.
- When the king on the throne is surrounded on three sides and one of his soldiers stands on the fourth, that soldier is captured when an enemy arrives on its far side (Linnaeus's law 10).
- When one clear road runs from the king to the edge the board shows "raichi"; two roads show "tuichu" (Linnaeus's law 6).
Winning and scoring
- The Swedes win when the king reaches any edge square — any square on the edge, not only a corner.
- The Muscovites win by capturing the king: on the throne he must be surrounded on all four sides, and next to it on the other three.
- Anywhere else, by default (the Latin reading) the king is captured like a soldier, between two enemies in a row or column. With the English reading he must be surrounded on all four sides.
- Like a soldier, the king is not captured by walking into a trap himself.
- A side with no legal move loses. You can also resign.
- The game is drawn when the same position appears three times, or after 200 moves in total.
Defaults on this site
| Item | Default on this site |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 players (set automatically by the party size) |
| Turn time limit | None by default (the host can set 30 or 60 seconds) |
| If someone drops mid-game | Reopening on the same device returns you to your seat. If you do not return, the CPU plays in your place. |
| Draws | In ranked play, a draw counts as halfway between a win and a loss for your rating. |
| Source of the rules | Based on the board diagram and laws 1–12 in Linnaeus's diary (1811 English translation), with assumptions where it is silent |
Rules supervised by Qdan, Inc. (based on the board diagram and laws 1–12 in Linnaeus's diary (1811 English translation), with assumptions where it is silent)
House rules
Defaults follow the board diagram and laws 1–12 in Linnaeus's diary (1811 English translation), with assumptions where it is silent. The party can change these.
| Name | Description | Default | Changeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swap sides on Play again | Play again swaps the Muscovites and the Swedes. | On | Adjustable |
| Capturing the king | "Latin reading" follows Linnaeus's Latin original: away from the throne and its four neighbours, the king is captured between two enemies in a row or column. "English reading" follows law 9 of the 1811 translation: the king must always be surrounded on four sides, which favours the Swedes heavily. As a guide (200 games, CPU Normal vs CPU Normal): Latin reading — Muscovites 20%, Swedes 58%, draws 23%, 44 moves on average; English reading — Muscovites 1%, Swedes 68%, draws 32%, 34 moves on average. | Latin reading | Adjustable |
Terms
- Throne
- The central square. Only the king may stop on it, but any piece may pass over it while it is empty.
- Edge
- The outer ring of squares. The king reaching any of them wins for the Swedes.
- Trap
- Capturing an enemy soldier by placing your pieces on both sides of it in a row or column.
- Raichi
- The call when one road from the king to the edge is open.
- Tuichu
- The call when two roads are open — they cannot both be blocked in one move.
- Tafl
- The Nordic family of games where one side escorts a king and the other hunts him. Tablut is one of them.
FAQ
Why are there two ways to capture the king?
Law 9 of the English translation says the king is not taken when trapped, but the Latin original has no such exception. Read literally, away from the throne and its neighbours the king is captured between two enemies. The Latin reading is the default; the English reading (always surround on four sides) is an option, and it favours the king's side heavily.
What do raichi and tuichu mean?
They are the calls in Linnaeus's law 6: "raichi" when one road from the king to the edge is open, "tuichu" when two are. With two roads open the Muscovites cannot block both in one move, so the Swedes nearly always win. The board marks open roads with arrows and a label.
Does the king have to reach a corner?
No — any edge square wins. In laws 3 and 5 the king escapes to edge squares that are not corners. Some modern reconstructions use corner escape, but this version follows the diary.
Can the king capture?
Yes. The king can help trap an enemy soldier together with one of his men (an assumption, as the diary does not say).
Can pieces pass through the throne?
Yes, when it is empty any piece may pass over it; only the king may stop there. The diary only says "no other person can be admitted" and is silent on passing, so this follows the common rules.
Play now with these rules
Last updated 2026-09-25 · Run by Qdan, Inc.