Fox and Geese is a very ancient game, popular in Europe since the time of Saint Renard. It was played mainly in France and Germany. Many worthy foxes, and according to rumors, the ancestors of the respected reineke_fox and honed their tactical skills.

To this day, the rules of the game have changed little since it reached the people.
the field is a square cross. In the sense of a cross divided into squares. Four side and central. Each of the squares is divided inside by horizontal vertical and diagonal lines into parts. The places where the lines intersect are the fields for placing chips. Wooden boards for playing Fox and Geese are now rare. So for those of you who want to play the game (which is a lot of fun), the field will have to be drawn on paper. Smooth. paw.

It is easy to calculate that there will be thirty-three cells for chips inside the cross (a sacred number for most keepers of our traditions). The lower left corner of the cross field will be field number 1, and the upper right corner will be field 33.
To play, you need seventeen white chips. These are geese. They play with white and occupy all nine squares of the lower square and both lower halves of each of the side squares, except for those squares that are simultaneously adjacent to the central square. In total, therefore, seventeen cells.

The central place in the game is occupied by the FOX (a slight bow, a fleeting carnivorous smile, more honest eyes, a curtsy with the right front paw set aside, do not click your teeth ahead of time - which you were only taught in the school of noble foxes! Well, that's nice).
We have ONE fox in this game. It occupies the central field in the middle of the cross. Traditionally, this field is numbered as field number 17. However, by agreement, the fox can occupy any field if the geese agree.
The entire upper cross, the entire central square and the upper halves of the side ones remain free. Just in case. To have somewhere to run.
Ready? Started!

Geese go one cell, only horizontally and vertically. They go one by one!
Geese don't eat foxes! (What more?!).

The fox chip also moves one cell, but not only horizontally or vertically, but also diagonally. Such a feature. She also EATS GEESE. One at a time or several at once, as in checkers. To do this, you need to jump over the goose in any direction, if there is a free field behind it. Moving the fox twice per turn is against the rules. This is unfair!

The goal of the fox is to eat as many geese as possible. The goal of the geese is to move in close formation, to push the fox into a corner or to the edge, or to surround it so that it cannot make a single move more and does not eat a single goose.
The game is played until the seven remaining geese. It is believed that less than eight geese will not be able to win a game against a fox. But you don't believe. True masters of the game courageously eat everything to the end!

It seems that the fox has quite a few chances, and pushing it to the edge of the field is a couple of trifles. But it was not there. The game has a lot of tricks and intricacies that I won’t tell you right away to make it more interesting to play. Chances are equal! It's really fun to play, but it's not worth playing too much. Professional players, and especially young ambitious fox cubs, often have gaming nightmares in which a close formation of well-fed white geese systematically attacks them, stretching their necks disgustingly, vulgarly cackling and pinching painfully. Delicious such, but it hurts a lot of them. And getting closer... Hmmm.

And finally, a little about ethics. European foxes love to play this game away and at home. Moreover, who plays whom often depends on the age and experience of the opponents, as well as their behavior. For beginners and young foxes, it is better to play with geese first. The masters, on the offer to play geese, mysteriously lick their lips and shake their heads. The owner of the house often plays with the fox, and the guest with the geese. At the same time, if a guest behaves inappropriately, it is a real pleasure for an experienced player to offer
to play such a subchik as a fox, and then begin to systematically DRIVE AND CATCH him, so that it would be discourteous. And vice versa, if you were poorly received at a party and did not show proper respect, then instead of writing angry letters in the style: "Your boorish behavior and meager treats cause surprise and disgust, from under which tree you crawled out", if you are confident feel in the game, bring a board and chips to the asshole and offer to play honorably for the fox. With the same result.
And finally, this ancient game serves as a wonderful symbol of friendship between different animals and people. After all, everyone loves to play interesting games, right? And it also dulls excess bloodthirstiness, develops the mind and tactical flair, and of course helps to comply with the laws of hospitality.

So if geese accidentally wandered into your house, do not invite them to play a game of badminton on the lawn. On this they can be mortally offended!
It is better to invite them to play an ancient board game. And may the best man win!

Try to play, and if you like it, then in a year you can arrange a championship for prizes

One of the oldest European games. Although similar games were found in Asia, they were still slightly different from European ones.

This game is also called "Fox and chickens" - Fuchs im Huhnerhof (Germany), Schaap en wolf (Holland), Lupo e pecore (Italy).

RULES OF THE GAME

To play, you will need a game board or field, 13 (15, 17) light-colored checkers - geese, and one dark - fox. One player plays for the geese, the second for the fox.

The initial arrangement of checkers on the playing field looks like this: the geese occupy the bottom position, the fields on the board are marked in green. The fox checker occupies any free field.

The moves in the game are made according to the same principle as in checkers. The first move belongs to the geese. Moves are performed in turn, the fox and geese move their checkers to free squares. Moreover, geese have the right to walk only horizontally and vertically, and the fox can also move diagonally.

During the game, players pursue different goals. The fox player aims to "eat" as many geese as possible by jumping over them to an empty cell. Killed geese are removed from the board. In one move, the fox can kill several geese, as in checkers, by removing them from the board.

The geese win when the fox has nowhere to go. Geese cannot jump over a fox, so the player playing as geese tries to set a trap for the fox by cornering it. If the fox cannot make a move, then it loses the game, but if the fox manages to reduce the number of geese in the flock to the number that is not able to catch it (6 or less) or simply eats all the geese, then it wins. With the right game of geese, the fox loses.

(variant of folk game)

Features of the game and its educational value. This game contributes to the education of organization in children, the ability to manage their behavior in a team. But its main goal is to arouse the desire to help others. The task of the child is not only to avoid the danger himself, but also to help out the one who caught the catcher (the fox). Thus, the game is important for the moral education of children, as it instills in them the conviction that no one should be left in trouble, that one should not laugh at someone's awkwardness, because it can happen to anyone.

The game has a plot-role-playing character, which helps to successfully solve the game problem.

Description of the game and methods of conducting it. The whole group takes part in the game. A child is chosen to play the role of a fox that will catch geese. The rest of the children depict geese, the owner of which is the teacher.

An adult draws two lines on the ground at a distance of 25-30 steps. Behind one of them is the house of the owner and geese, and behind the other is a meadow where geese graze. The circle represents the fox hole. The game starts.

The owner accompanies the geese to the meadow. For some time, the birds roam freely, nibbling grass. At the call of the owner, who is in the house, the geese line up at the line (the border of the meadow), and the following dialogue takes place between them:

Master. Geese-geese!

Geese. Ha-ha-ha.

Master. Do you want to eat?

Geese. Yes Yes Yes!

Master. Well, fly!

The last phrase is a signal: the geese run to the owner, and the fox catches them.

When the fox touches the two-sin geese (touches them with his hand), she takes them to her hole. The owner counts the geese, notes who is missing, and asks the children to help out the goslings in trouble. All participants in the game, together with the teacher, approach the fox hole.

All. Fox-fox, give back our goslings!

Fox. Will not give it back!

All. Then we will take them away from you!

The teacher invites the children to stand behind him "in single file" and firmly grab each other by the waist. "Cling to me!" - says the owner. He approaches the fox, takes her by the hands and says, addressing the geese: "Hold on tight. Pull - pull. Wow!" All participants in the game, resting their feet and holding on to each other, make a movement with their bodies back to the words of the teacher "po-t-it!" (two or three times).

As soon as the fox, under the pressure of this chain, takes the first step forward, the captured geese run out of the hole and return home.

Then a new fox is chosen and the game starts over.

Rules of the game.

1. Geese run home, and the fox is allowed to catch them only after the words of the owner "Well, fly."

2. The fox should not grab the geese, it is enough just to touch the running child. The captured goose stays where it is, and the fox takes it to its hole.

3. All participants in the game go to the rescue of the caught geese.

4. As soon as the rescuers pull the fox (she takes a step forward), the caught geese are considered free and return to the owner.

Tips for an educator. Your behavior in this game will serve as an example for children. Try to play the game in a dynamic, fun way, arouse in children the desire to help goslings in trouble, reveal to them the moral meaning of their actions.

When the children line up in a chain to stretch the fox, you need to show them how to maintain balance during the pull (spread your legs wide, put one leg slightly forward, put your hands on the partner in front, on the waist).

If the first child holds on tightly to the teacher, the chain will not fall apart. In order for the efforts of all children to be simultaneous, the teacher pronounces the signal word: "Po-ty-nem!"

At the end of the game, when the fox is defeated, you need to sum up. Explain to the kids that they helped their friends out because they acted together, all together.

The game is intended for home use only. Copying and duplicating the playing field on the Internet is prohibited!

Rules. Fox and geese (Fox and chickens)

This game was very popular in the Middle Ages in Europe. Although similar games were found in Asia, they were still slightly different from European ones.

For the game you need 13 (17) checkers of light color (geese) and one dark one (fox). One player plays for the geese, the second for the fox.

• Checkers on the game board are placed in a certain way. Geese occupy the bottom position, the fields on the board are marked in green. The fox checker occupies any free field.

• Geese start walking first. The fox and the geese take turns moving their checkers to the free squares.

• During the game, players pursue different goals. The fox player aims to "eat" as many geese as possible, and the geese player tries to set a trap for the fox so that she has nowhere to go. Moreover, geese have the right to walk only horizontally and vertically, and the fox can also move diagonally. The fox eats geese by jumping over them to a free field, and in one move she can eat several geese, as in checkers, removing them from the board.

• The geese win when the fox has nowhere to go, or the fox when there are six or fewer geese left on the game board, since it is problematic to lock the fox in such a number.

This game can be played with 13, 15 and 17 geese checkers. In this case, goose checkers are located below and on the sides. There is a variant of the game with two foxes.

In modern sports, an athlete who managed not to get caught on doping is called clean. Yes, and in the time of the knights, the ideals of a fair duel were not held in high esteem. The Fox and the Geese, the most popular game of medieval Europe, has never placed rivals on an equal footing.

May 19, 2013, Orkskik, Lancashire, UK. A girl plays hnefatafl at the historical reenactment festival

In the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm there are lines: “Once a fox got hungry and decided to eat. She went to a clearing in the forest. He sees that a herd of fat geese is grazing in the clearing. The red-haired cheat was delighted and said to the geese: “Well, I found you well, now I’ll eat everyone, one by one.” And it is not clear whether the tale describes a board game loved in the Middle Ages, or whether the game was created based on it. In a fairy tale, the geese deceived the fox. They also have a chance in the game.

"Fox Chess"- a milestone in the history of board games. Firstly, two players compete in them, which are initially placed in unequal conditions. One gets a single, but very strong piece, the other gets a lot of weak pieces. Secondly, it was in this game that the jumping capture appeared, which is well known to everyone in checkers.

When creating war games (the forerunners of today's checkers and chess), the Hellenes and Romans were of the opinion that all warriors are equal on the board, so they cannot defeat each other in a one-on-one fight. To capture, it was necessary to clamp the enemy checker in pincers between two of your own. The Scandinavians (it was they who came up with the “fox and geese”) went the other way. In Game hnefatafl a detachment of bodyguards tried to take the king (commander) off the board, and a group of invaders tried to catch him. The king left alone should have been able to defend himself, and you can’t make pincers out of one chip. Apparently, therefore, the Scandinavians had to come up with a jump capture.

In another game called Refscook there were no bodyguards left. A fox has appeared that can walk in any direction and chop enemy chips, and harmless geese that only go forward and sideways. The task of the fox is to eat the geese, the goal of the geese is to lock up the fox.

Refskauk and hnefatafl are first mentioned in the Icelandic sagas of the 12th century. Over the next century and a half, fox chess became the most popular game in Europe. Their symbolism was close and understandable to everyone: the fox personified the feudal lord, who takes his own by right of the strong, and the geese - small landowners. In the shopping list of the English king Edward IV (1461-1483) "two foxes and twenty-six geese of silver" are mentioned, that is, two sets of games. In the 16th century, the game was already in France: Francois Rabelais was one of the first to mention it in the novel Gargantua and Pantagruel.

"Fox and Geese", "Fox and Chickens", "Fox and Dogs", "Fox and Sheep" - such a variety of related games is not accidental. The fact is that the classic version with one fox and thirteen geese is not balanced, the advantage in it is always on the side of the geese. In an effort to make the game fair, the Europeans came up with many options for boards and rules. Two foxes, compulsory captures, fields with additional crosshairs and fortresses - none of this helped to completely equalize the chances of the parties to win. Therefore, “fox games” train not only tactical thinking, but also stress resistance.

"Fox and Geese"

Rules of the game

The game involves 13 geese and one fox. The fox player places his pawn wherever he wants.

The geese make the first move. The goose piece moves one step in any direction vertically or horizontally and cannot harm the fox. Geese do not go obliquely. To avoid confusion, it is customary to draw diagonals with a dotted line or another color (usually red, to match fox fur).

The fox moves to any adjacent field, along all marking lines, in any direction. If the goose piece is close, and the field behind it is free, the fox can jump over it and eat it. In one move, the fox has the right to eat several geese at once, as in checkers. At the same time, it is optional.

The fox wins if there are 4 geese or less left on the board - it is considered that with this number they cannot lock the fox. The geese win if the fox has nowhere to move. Usually two rounds are played with sides exchanged.

Handicap

You can add geese or foxes to the game to even the odds.

OPTIONS

asalto

At the end of the 18th century, hnefatafl reminded of itself in the most unexpected way: the element of strategy returned to the game. One wing of the board has turned into a fort that is being stormed by enemies. According to one version, the game originated in France and was associated with the capture of Sevastopol in 1855, but they call it in Spanish - asalto("attack").

Two guards defend the fort, while 24 invaders try to occupy all of its nine fields. The invaders make the first move.

Invaders do not cut and move forward, sideways, or forward diagonally. Inside the fort, they only move forward or sideways.

The guards move in any direction along the marking lines and are obliged to cut down the invader if there is an empty field behind him. When the position allows, the guard can and should take down several enemies at once.

The game ends when the invaders have occupied all nine fields in the fort, or when the guards have cut down 15 invaders.

Tapeworm

Solitaire sets are usually portable. Chips are collected in a box, and the lid serves as a field

Legend has it that a certain French count, imprisoned in the Bastille, invented a game on the board for "fox and geese" in order not to go crazy from loneliness. Entertainment is known as a solitaire (from the French solitaire- "lonely"). In the 17th century, the solitaire was very popular in France at the court of the "Sun King" Louis XIV.

All fields are filled with chips, leaving one free, after which the chips eat each other. Ideally, she should be left alone, but this is not so easy to achieve - moves without cutting are prohibited. In the Soviet Union, such a puzzle was released under the name "yoga", and the older generation may still remember these round boxes that look like powder boxes.

The Scandinavians played hnefatafl on square boards of 5x5 or 5x9 cells. The chip was placed in a cage, as in checkers or chess.

Later, the game absorbed elements of the "mill" popular in Europe. Chips began to be placed on the crosshairs of the lines. Classic board for "fox and geese" cruciform with 33 points. But there are a lot of field options.

Fragment of a Viking Age runestone found in Ockelbu, Sweden depicting men playing a board game

Figurines of a king and guards for playing hnefatafl. Found in northern Iceland, kept in the National Museum in Reykjavik

Playing field with images of foxes and geese. Refers to 1879. Stored in Bodleian Library, Oxford University

Board for "fox games" from medieval Spain. White stones symbolize geese, and black - a predator

A stone figurine of a king for playing hnefatafl depicts a Viking warrior in full uniform. Scandinavia, Middle Ages

Among game developers, the Scandinavian hnefatafl turned out to be more popular than the pan-European “fox and geese”. It can be found under the names Hnefatafl And Viking Chess- "Viking chess"

Photo: Alamy / Legion-media (x3), Diomedia, iStock (x2), Berig (CC-BY), Digital Bodleian (cc-by)