How to Play Nine Men's Morris

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Nine Men's Morris is a two-player abstract strategy game played on a distinctive board of three nested squares connected by lines at the midpoints of each side. Players take turns placing and then sliding pieces to form mills, rows of three, which earn them the right to remove an opponent's piece from the board. The tension between building your own formations and disrupting your opponent's makes for satisfying, tactical play throughout.

The game rewards forward thinking without demanding the years of study that chess requires, which makes it a favourite for family games nights and pub tables alike. It is typically played on a dedicated wooden board with contrasting sets of nine pieces per player, though any flat surface and improvised counters will do the job.

A little history

Nine Men's Morris is one of the oldest known board games. Boards that appear to match its layout have been found carved into stone at sites across Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Roman Britain, suggesting the game, or something very close to it, has existed for at least two thousand years. It was widely popular across medieval Europe and is mentioned in English literature as far back as Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Its precise origins are unclear, and scholars continue to debate whether the similar boards found at ancient sites represent the same game or a related predecessor.

Setting up

1. Place the board flat between both players.
2. Each player takes nine pieces of their own colour.
3. All 24 points on the board start empty.
4. Decide who places first, typically by agreement or a coin toss.

How to play

1. The game is played in three phases: Placing, Moving, and (if reached) Flying.
2. PHASE 1 - PLACING: Players alternate turns. On each turn, place one of your unplaced pieces onto any empty point on the board.
3. Whenever you complete a mill, three of your own pieces in a straight line along a marked row, you immediately remove one of your opponent's pieces from the board. The removed piece is out of the game.
4. You may not remove a piece that is part of a mill unless no other piece is available to take.
5. Continue alternating placement turns until both players have placed all nine of their pieces.
6. PHASE 2 - MOVING: Players alternate turns. On each turn, slide one of your pieces along a line to an adjacent empty point. Diagonal moves are not permitted; pieces travel only along the printed lines to a directly connected neighbour.
7. If a move completes a mill, remove one of the opponent's pieces by the same rule as Phase 1.
8. A mill that is broken and then re-formed counts as a new mill, entitling you to another capture.
9. If a player cannot make any legal move on their turn, they lose the game immediately.
10. PHASE 3 - FLYING: When a player is reduced to exactly three pieces, that player may, on each of their turns, move any one of their three pieces to any empty point on the board, not just an adjacent one. This is sometimes called 'flying' or 'hopping'. The player with more pieces retains normal movement rules.
11. The Flying rule is optional; agree before the game starts whether it is in play.

Winning and scoring

A player wins when their opponent is reduced to fewer than three pieces and therefore cannot form any further mills, or when the opponent has three or more pieces but no legal move available on their turn. There is no points scoring system; each game produces a single winner. Games that reach a position that is repeated three times in succession are declared a draw by most standard rulings.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns closing and re-opening a mill. If you slide a piece out of a mill on one turn and back into it on the next, the mill is considered newly formed and you are entitled to a capture. Some players find this counterintuitive, but it is the standard ruling and allows for a legitimate 'mill toggle' tactic that experienced players use deliberately. The rule that a piece inside a mill cannot be taken while other pieces are available is also frequently forgotten in play; if your opponent takes a milled piece when another was available, the standard remedy is to return the piece and replay the capture correctly.

The Flying phase sometimes prompts the question of whether a flying player can form a mill and capture even when down to three pieces. The answer is yes: the phase change does not remove the right to capture. Additionally, if the non-flying player is reduced to three pieces during play, that player also acquires the flying ability from their next turn onward, provided the Flying rule is being used.

How to win more often

• In the placing phase, prioritise points that belong to more than one potential mill. The four midpoint positions on the outer square are each shared by two possible mills and are the most flexible spots on the board.
• Aim to create a 'double mill', a configuration where a single piece slides between two mills alternately, letting you capture a piece on every turn.
• Block your opponent's mills early. A well-placed piece that sits at the junction of two of their planned rows is worth more than advancing your own less-developed formation.
• Avoid placing all your pieces in one square; pieces spread across the inner and outer squares give you more movement options in Phase 2.
• When your opponent is down to four pieces, think ahead to whether you can corner those pieces so they cannot move, as immobility is a win condition even if they still have enough pieces to stay in the game.

Variations

Three Men's Morris

A simpler version played on a smaller board: just the outer square with its four corners and four midpoints, giving nine intersections in a three-by-three grid. Each player has three pieces and the aim is the same, forming a row of three. There is no placing and moving separation; once pieces are placed, players slide to adjacent points. It is a useful introduction for younger children before moving to the full nine-piece game.

Six Men's Morris

Played on two nested squares rather than three, giving 16 points in total. Each player has six pieces. The rules mirror the nine-piece game but the reduced board creates a faster, sharper game with less room to manoeuvre. It was historically popular in medieval Europe and serves as a good stepping stone between Three Men's Morris and the full game.

Twelve Men's Morris

An extended version using the standard three-square board but with diagonal lines added at the corners, connecting the inner and outer squares through the corner points. Each player has twelve pieces. The additional lines create far more possible mills and substantially increase the complexity of both the placing and moving phases. This variant is common in parts of Africa and is sometimes called Morabaraba.

No-Flying Rule

Many players and some competition formats omit the Flying phase entirely. Under this rule, a player reduced to three pieces continues to move by normal adjacency rules. Because moving three pieces on a connected board is very restrictive, the game tends to end more quickly once one player falls to three pieces. Agree this rule before play begins, as it has a significant effect on late-game strategy.

Nine Men's Morris: frequently asked questions