What is the best first move in hnefatafl?

There is no single best first move. For the attackers in Copenhagen, any move that puts a soldier on a guard square, like a4-a3 or f2-b2, does useful work. The defenders’ first move is a reply, so it should go in the quadrant the attackers’ first move did least to guard.

Who moves first in Copenhagen hnefatafl?

The attackers. The defenders reply, and play alternates from there. The who goes first page covers how other variants handle it.

How many moves do the attackers need to guard all four corners?

At least twelve: three per corner, and each guard square can be reached in one move from the starting position. The defense moves between each of those, which is why the opening is a race.

Are there named hnefatafl openings?

Some tafl players have named particular opening sequences, but there is no standard opening book that every player learns, the way there is in chess. Knowing what each side is building in the opening matters more than memorizing moves.

Do these openings work in other tafl variants?

The corner guards only apply to corner-escape games like Copenhagen. In edge-escape variants like Tablut the king wins on any edge square, so the attackers have to build a full ring instead. The defender’s principles carry over: pick a direction, free the king’s lines, and aim for two threats at once.

Hnefatafl Openings: First Moves for Attackers and Defenders

The best hnefatafl openings follow each side’s win condition. The attackers, who move first in Copenhagen, should spend their early moves building a diagonal line of three soldiers in front of each corner, such as a3, b2 and c1, before they chase anything. The defenders should pick one quadrant, move their outer soldiers there to free the king’s lines, and try to open a lane toward a corner before those guards are finished.

This page doesn’t teach memorized lines. It gives concrete first moves for the 11×11 Copenhagen board and the reasons behind them, so you can find good moves in positions no list covers. The wider principles of Viking chess strategy, tempo and the two-threat rule, live on the hnefatafl strategy page.

How the squares are named

Squares here use the same names as the move list in the game on the homepage. Files run a to k from left to right, and ranks run 1 to 11 from bottom to top. The corners are a1, a11, k1 and k11. The king starts on the throne at f6.

In the starting position each attacker camp is five soldiers on the edge plus one in front. The bottom camp is d1 to h1 with a soldier on f2, the top camp is d11 to h11 with one on f10, the left camp is a4 to a8 with one on b6, and the right camp is k4 to k8 with one on j6. The twelve defenders form a diamond around the king, from f8 at the top to f4 at the bottom and d6 to h6 across. The setup guide shows the full diagram.

Attacker openings

The goal: a three-piece guard on every corner

A diagonal line of three attackers in front of a corner seals it. For the a1 corner, that line is a3, b2 and c1. The king can only reach a1 through a2 or b1, and the guard blocks every route to both squares.

The guard also can’t be captured. To take any of the three, a defender would need to stand on a2 or b1, and the guard cuts both squares off from the rest of the board. Once all three pieces are in place, that corner is closed for the rest of the game unless you move them.

The four guards are:

a1 corner: a3, b2, c1
a11 corner: a9, b10, c11
k11 corner: k9, j10, i11
k1 corner: k3, j2, i1

First moves that build the guards

Every guard square is one move away from the starting position. For the a1 corner:

a4-a3 moves the end of the left camp one square down.
d1-c1 moves the end of the bottom camp one square left.
f2-b2 slides the lone bottom soldier along rank 2, or b6-b2 drops the lone left soldier down the b-file.

The other corners mirror this. The edge squares come from the camp ends (a8-a9, d11-c11, h11-i11, k8-k9, k4-k3, h1-i1). The diagonal squares come from the four lone soldiers, one each: for example f2-b2, b6-b10, f10-j10 and j6-j2.

That makes twelve moves for all four guards, and the defense moves between every one of them. You won’t get all twelve for free, so order matters. Build first in the quadrant where the defenders are moving soldiers. Keep the other corners covered by pieces that can still reach their guard square in one move, so you can answer a threat there in time.

Each lone soldier also blocks a line in front of its camp. Before you move f2, b6, f10 or j6, check which file or rank it was closing and whether a defender can use it next turn.

What attackers should avoid early

Don’t advance toward the center. Pieces near the defenders’ diamond get captured and do nothing for the guards. Every inward move is a guard move you didn’t make.

Don’t stop on squares beside a corner, like a2 or b1, before the guard is done. Corners are hostile squares, so one defender landing on the far side captures a soldier there. The capturing guide explains why.

Don’t take a soldier just because you can. A capture that pulls a piece away from a half-built guard often gives the defense the tempo it needs. The attacker strategy guide covers when trades are worth it.

Defender openings

The goal: one quadrant, open before the guards close

The attackers need at least twelve moves to guard every corner. Your job is to make one corner cost them more than that. You can’t fight in all four quadrants, so choose one and spend your early moves there.

A good choice is the quadrant the attackers have done the least work in. Their first moves show which corners they plan to guard first, so steer toward the others.

Which defenders can move first

At the start the king can’t move at all. The four soldiers touching him (f7, e6, g6, f5) are boxed in by the rest of the diamond. Only the outer eight can move: the four tips (f8, d6, h6, f4) and the four diagonal soldiers (e7, g7, e5, g5).

Moving a diagonal soldier frees the inner soldiers next to it. If e5 leaves, e6 can move down the e-file and f5 can move left along rank 5. Once f5 moves as well, the king can finally step off the throne. So the first two or three defender moves decide which way the king can eventually go. Make them in your chosen quadrant.

Keep the king on the throne for now. He is safest there, and the threat of him moving forces the attackers to keep pieces back. The defender strategy guide covers when he should leave.

Moves that lose time

Don’t drop soldiers into the gaps beside a camp. After e7-b7, for example, the attackers play a8-b8 and the soldier on b7 is trapped between b6 and b8 and captured. You lose a piece and a tempo for nothing.

Don’t line soldiers up along the edge. In Copenhagen the shieldwall capture can take a whole edge row at once if both ends are closed and each soldier has an attacker in front of it. A gap in the row stops it.

Don’t trade evenly. You start with 12 soldiers against 24 attackers, so even trades leave you with fewer pieces to break the guards later.

Hnefatafl tactics in the opening

A few tactics come up in almost every opening. Watch for them from both sides.

Count the guard moves. Before each move, count how many moves each corner’s guard still needs. Attackers should keep that number low where the defenders are working. Defenders should aim at the corner with the highest count.

One threat versus two. A single threat by the defense just tells the attackers which guard square to fill next. Two threats on the same turn, toward two corners, can’t both be answered. Defenders build toward that double threat; attackers should never let the king reach a square that makes it.

Moving between two enemies is safe. A piece that moves into the gap between two enemy pieces is not captured. Captures only happen when the moving side closes the sandwich. Both sides can use this to block a lane early.

Corners are capture partners. A soldier next to a corner can be taken by a single enemy piece. Attackers building guards should go straight to the guard squares, which sit one square further out, not beside the corner.

A guard piece that leaves reopens the corner. Attackers sometimes pull a guard piece away to make a capture. Defenders should watch for that and have a soldier or the king ready to use the gap the same turn.