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Nine Men's Morris opening strategy
Eighteen men go onto the board before anyone slides one, and a game can be lost in that stretch without a single capture, because the side whose men end up boxed in has nothing left to move. Most opening strategy is about not being that side.
Count neighbours before you count mills
The 24 points are not equal. A corner has two neighbours. The middle of a side on the outer or inner square has three. The middle of a side on the middle square has four, and there are exactly four such points: the crossroads. That is 12 corners, 8 three-way points and 4 crossroads, 24 in all.
You might expect the crossroads to give you more mills as well. They do not. Every one of the 24 points sits on exactly two of the 16 mills, corners included (16 mills times three points is 48, which is 24 points times two). What a crossroad gives you is room to step, and room to step is what wins the moving phase.
The first few men
Going first, put your first man on a crossroad. Going second, take a crossroad if the first player left one. German Wikipedia's article on the game gives the same advice: occupy the four crossroads and stay out of the corners as long as you can.
Do not read that as "never touch a corner". A corner man is easy to lock in, true, but it is also a perfectly good end of a row, and sooner or later you will need a few of them.
The two-open-mills trap
A fork in the placing phase is a placement after which two different lines each hold two of your men with the third point empty. Your opponent can fill only one of those points, and you close the other.
The standard shape starts from two neighbouring crossroads of the middle square, say top and right. The corner between them completes the picture: the top row and the right column both need one more man. German players call the plan Zentrumsmühle, the centre mill. Their Wikipedia article says that a careful Black meets it by taking crossroads too, and that with best play on both sides the game stays level.
The answer is cheap. When your opponent holds two neighbouring crossroads, the corner between them is the point to take. Failing that, a man of yours on either end of one of the two rows kills one of the threats, and a fork needs both.
Several tutorial videos teach a second version, with corners. Put a man on one corner of a square, then one on the opposite corner, then a third on either of the remaining corners. Check it on the board: with men on top-left and bottom-right, a man on top-right threatens the top row and the right column; a man on bottom-left threatens the left column and the bottom row. So there are two forks available, and one reply cannot cover both. Two replies can, if they are on the right squares: you need one man among the three points that feed the first fork (top-right, top-middle, right-middle) and one among the three that feed the second (bottom-left, left-middle, bottom-middle). Answering on the same square as his corners does that without any calculation.
Why a hurried mill can backfire
A mill in the placing phase takes a man, and that is worth having. What goes wrong is the shape. If you scramble for it with men that all sit along one edge, you have used three of your nine placements on the rim and left the crossroads to your opponent. English Wikipedia sums up the same experience: place men in versatile spots, and do not pile them into one corner of the board.
My advice: take the mill when it comes without wrecking your structure, and decline it when closing it would leave you with three men on the edge and no way out of them.
Which man to take
When you do close a mill during placing, you may remove any man that is not standing in a mill. A crossroad man is usually the best target, since it takes the most room from your opponent. Next best is one half of a pair that was about to become a threat. Remember that men inside a closed mill are off limits unless every man your opponent has on the board is in one.
The last placements
If nobody has taken a man, 18 men stand on 24 points when placing ends, and six points are empty. That is very little room. Whoever then has no legal move loses on the spot. The second player sets down the eighteenth man and so decides the final shape, which is a small advantage if you use it. Before your last two or three placements, count the empty points next to each side's men.
A check before every placement
- Does my opponent have two men on a line with the third point empty? If so, block it, unless I can close a mill first.
- Can I make a fork with this man?
- How many free neighbours does the point have, and does my man block one of my own?
- Does the man I place leave a line open for a fork next turn?
The same ideas continue into the moving phase in the strategy and tips guide. For the pattern that wins most moving-phase games, read about the double mill. And if you wonder whether any of this can win against perfect play, see whether the game is solved.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best first move in Nine Men's Morris?
A crossroad of the middle square, the four points that have four neighbours. A man there can step in four directions, and it is hard to lock in.
Is it better to go first or second in Nine Men's Morris?
With perfect play both sides draw. In practice the second player places the eighteenth man, so the last placement can be tailored to the position.
How do I stop the two-open-mills trap?
Take the corner between your opponent's two neighbouring crossroads, or put a man on the end of one of the two rows. A fork needs both rows.