Raven Siege

How to play

2 players on a square of 9 by 9. The ravens, 16 birds in four groups at the middle of the sides, besiege the owls: 8 guards round their king, who starts on the throne, the middle square. The ravens move first.

A turn

• Move one of your birds any number of free squares in a straight line, along a row or a column, like a rook in chess.
• Only the king may stop on the throne or a corner. The others may fly over the empty throne, never stop on it.
• A bird is caught when you close it in between two of your birds along a row or a column, or between one of your birds and a corner or the empty throne. The king helps the owls catch. A bird moving in between two others is safe.
• The king is caught the same way, between two ravens or a raven and a corner, even at the edge of the square. Only on the throne or next to it must the ravens close him in on all four sides; there the empty throne may stand for one of them.

The end

The owls win when their king reaches a corner; the ravens win when they catch the king. A player who cannot move loses. After 200 moves in all, or when the same position comes back a third time with the same player to move, the game is a draw.