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Nine Men's Morris rules
Here are the rules of Nine Men's Morris in full, in the order you meet them in a game: setting up, placing, moving, flying, mills, taking men, and how a game ends. Where households differ, we say so.
Rules differ a little between countries and families. This guide follows the form that is most widely written down, which is also how MorrisTalk plays. Agree house rules before the first move.
Equipment and set-up
Two players, nine men each (light and dark), and a board of 24 points. The board is empty at the start and both players hold their nine men in hand. Light moves first and the players then alternate. The board is explained in how to draw a Morris board.
Phase one: placing
On your turn, put one man from your hand on any empty point. You may place anywhere, including next to your opponent's men. You cannot move a man that is already on the board until every man is placed (unless you play Lasker Morris). The moving phase begins when both players have placed all their men.
Phase two: moving
On your turn, move one man along a line to an adjacent empty point. Men never jump, and you may not pass your turn. If you have no legal move, you lose the game. Re-forming a mill by moving a man out and later back in is allowed and counts as a new mill each time. Players call this an open mill, or pounding the mill.
Phase three: flying
When you are down to exactly three men, you may move any man to any empty point, ignoring the lines. This is called flying (or jumping, or hopping). It is part of the usual tournament rules, but some older and simpler rule sets leave it out. In a game without flying, a player with three men is usually outplayed quickly, so flying keeps the ending alive.
Forming a mill
A mill is three of your men on one straight line of the board: along any side of a square, or along one of the four lines that cross from the outer to the inner square. There are 16 possible mills on the board. A mill counts only when you complete it with a placement or a move. Three men already standing on a line do not count again.
If one single move completes two mills at once (a double mill), you still remove just one man in the standard rules.
Taking a man
When you form a mill, immediately take one of your opponent's men off the board. It is gone for the rest of the game. Men standing in an enemy mill are protected, and you may only take them when every man your opponent has on the board is in a mill. In the placing phase, this rule counts only the men already on the board.
How the game ends
| Result | When |
|---|---|
| Win | Your opponent has only two men left (counting any still in hand). |
| Win | Your opponent has no legal move on their turn (they are blocked). |
| Draw | The same position occurs three times. |
| Draw | A long run of moves passes with no man placed or taken (50 in MorrisTalk). |
| Draw | The board is completely full at the end of placing (possible only with twelve men each). |
Blocked positions
Blocking is a real way to win. In the early moving phase the board is crowded, and a player whose men have all been hemmed in cannot move and loses on the spot. Sometimes you win without closing a single mill. Keep an eye on how many free neighbouring points each of your men has: see the strategy guide.
Is it a draw with perfect play?
Yes. In 1993 the computer scientist Ralph Gasser announced that Nine Men's Morris is solved: with perfect play by both sides, the game is a draw. That does not make it dull, because no human plays perfectly.
Frequently asked questions
Can you remove a man from a mill in Nine Men's Morris?
Only when all of your opponent's men on the board are in mills. Otherwise you must take a man that is not part of a mill.
What happens when you have three men left?
You may fly: on your turn you can move any one of your men to any empty point, not only to a neighbouring point.
Is Nine Men's Morris a solved game?
Yes. Ralph Gasser's computer analysis, announced in 1993, showed that with perfect play from both sides, Nine Men's Morris ends in a draw.