Tallfwrdd: an ancient Cymric board game (hole-board, throw-board)

Synonyms: Taflfwrdd, Towlbwrdd
Cym: Hole-board, Throw-board

Along with Gwyddbwyll Tallfwrdd is one of the ancient Cymric board games. Unlike Gwyddbwyll, however, tallfwrdd is known more from historical rather than mythological sources. In the Cyfrraith Hywel Dda (The Laws of Hywel Dda) which specifies the value of a towlbwrdd which shall be provided to various members of a king's court (and which they may neither sell nor give away) as well as the value of the king's towlbwrdd; the latter "is worth six score pence, and that is shared thus: sixty pence for the white forces, and ... thirty pence for the king, and ... three pence and three farthings for every man". Which would seem to imply that the game was played with a king and eight 'princes' or 'defenders' against sixteen 'attackers'.

More detail is given in the 1587 manuscript of Robert ap Ifan in Elizabethan Wales, which supplies us with a sketch of a 'towlbwrdd' board as an 11x11 square. and a description of the setup and play which is, unfortunately, inconsistent with the previous information in that it places a king and twelve men against twenty-four men (though at least it is consistent in balancing the king against half of the opposing men.) The setup calls for the king to be placed in the center of the board with his own men in the squares nearest to him and the opposing men in the middle of each side, an ambiguous description at best. Using both sources gives us a board looking something like:

In my interpretation I'm leaning more towards the Elizabethan manuscript, having an 11x11 board with a central king surrounded by twelve princes or defenders. Each side of the board starts with six blue attackers, giving 24 in total. The central square, marked with a knot pattern is important as it can only be occupied by the king, though other pieces can cross it, as long as it's unoccupied. Play proceeds by alternate turns and though the extand documentation does not describe who is to move first it would seem natural that the attacker would do this (after all the king is defending against an attack). The king also has an inherent advantage in the game and giving the attacker the first move goes some way towards reducing this.

All pieces move orthogonally (ie forwards or backwards like the rook in chess). They can move any number of squares but cannot jump over another piece and the square moved into must also be vacant.

Any man (other than the king) can be captured by being sandwiched between two opponents (ie when two of the opponent's men occupy adjacent squares in a straight line with it). Some variants of the game allow pieces to move into squares between opposing men without being captured, but others do not allow this. It is also unclear whether the king can participate in captures; though the game is more even if this form of capture is disallowed. Also, as no other piece apart from the king can occupy the central square it may be possible to use this as an additional man and pieces can be captured by being sandwiched against it. Though again this is not stated in the extant rules.

The king's side wins if the king reaches any edge and the king also wins by default if the attackers are down to three or fewer men. The attackers can only win by capturing the king; surrounding him on all four sides by their men. However, a variant based on gwyddbwyll would allow the attackers to win if all the princes (king's defenders) have been eliminated from the board.

The name Tallfwrdd or Taflfwrdd is derived from the components twll or tafl standing for 'hole' and 'throw' respectively and the word bwrdd (board) thus the game is hole-board or throw-board. The formet etymology is derived from the game having been played with peg pieces inset into the board. The latter etymology may be related to the use of a die with the game and the die being cast or thrown. This lends an element of randomness to play and can significantly skew the paly. In fact, the die utilized was a knucklebone or four sited-die with two faces representing even or 'play' and two faces representing odd or 'skip a turn' though, of course a normal six-sided die can be substituted.

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