Includes the following pieces:  

 

Defenders  

One (1) king, printed in gold  

Eight (8) pawns, printed in Silver.  

 

Attackers  

Sixteen (16) Pawns, printed in a dark color  

The Attackers have no king  

 

Rules of Play:   

 

There are many variants of play: In general, the king is placed on the throne (center) square, and his soldiers (pawns) are placed around him on the two colored squares around each side of his throne (so the light pieces form a cross, with the king in the middle. the dark pieces are placed in the citadels (black "T" shaped areas on the edges). Some variants have the king surrounded by his soldiers, in all the squares around the throne, forming a box around the king.  

 

All pieces move like the rook (castle) in chess. in most variants, the king cannot attack, but in others he may participate as a soldier does. A piece is captured when the enemy moves in such a way that a piece is caught between two pawns (horizontally or vertically, no diagonals) or a single piece and a hostile square.   

A piece may be moved between two hostile pieces or a hostile piece and square, and it is not counted as a capture if the lone piece moves there under it's own action.  

 

The goal of the light side (Swedes) is to get their king to escape, or by completely eliminating the opposition. The king can escape by entering a corner square in some variants, or by entering a non-hostile square at the edge of  the board in others.  

 

The goal of the dark side (Muscovites) is to capture the king. unlike other pieces, the king must be captured by boxing it in on four sides (horizontally and vertically) with dark pawns, or in some cases, dark pawns and hostile squares.  

 

Hostile squares:  

Only the king can occupy the throne. In some variants, once it is moved, it may not re-enter the throne square, and is treated as hostile to all pieces. In other variants, the king may re-enter the throne square at will, and the throne is only hostile to the king's pieces when it is empty. The throne square is always hostile to the dark pieces.  

 

In many variants, the corners are hostile to all pieces but the king, who may enter one to win the game.   

 

In some variants, the Muscovite citadels (dark "T" shaped regions) are treated as hostile, once a dark piece is moved from the citadel, it may not re-enter, and all citadel squares are treated as hostile like the kings throne. The king may be captured under these rules using only two pieces under certain circumstances, such as being blocked by two citadel squares and two dark pawns.  

Furthermore, no piece may pass through the citadel, and can only pass through the two-square region around the throne.  

 

In other variants, the citadels are treated like normal squares and may be traveled through freely.  

 

For more detailed rules, you can refer to these sources, as well as many others online:  

 

Saami Tablut Rules: http://aagenielsen.dk/tablut_rules.php  

Foteviken Tablut rules: http://aagenielsen.dk/foteviken_rules_english.html  

Aston Tablut rules (as documented in 1732 by Carolus Linnaeus): http://www.heroicage.org/issues/13/ashton.php  

 

Additional rules on many variants; Stick to the 9x9 and 7x7 when using my board:  

http://aagenielsen.dk/tafl_rules.html  

 

A special thanks to  Aage Nielsen, who is responsible for collecting all the rules and history in those links!