Nine Men's Morris Rules
Nine Men's Morris is a classic mill board game for two players. Each side has nine pieces. Form mills (three in a line) to remove opponent pieces. MorrisLive uses these standard online rules with Ebony and Maple sides and server-validated actions.
Quick facts
- Each side starts with nine pieces.
- The board has 24 points connected by lines.
- A mill is three of your pieces on a straight line of adjacent points.
- When a side has exactly three pieces left after placement, that side may fly to any empty point.
- You win if the opponent has two or fewer pieces after placement, or has no legal place, move, or fly.
Board and sides
Players sit opposite each other on a triple-square mill board. On MorrisLive the sides are Ebony and Maple. Pieces are placed on the intersections (points), not inside the squares.
Place
Players take turns placing one unplaced piece on an empty point until both have placed all nine.
Mill
A mill is three of your pieces on a straight line of adjacent points. Forming a mill lets you remove one opponent piece (see Remove).
Move
After placement, slide a piece along a line to an adjacent empty point.
Fly
When a side has exactly three pieces on the board (and placement is finished), that side may fly a piece to any empty point.
Remove
After you form one or more mills on your action, remove one opponent piece that is not in a mill — unless every opponent piece is in a mill.
Win
You win if the opponent has two or fewer pieces on the board after placement is over for both, or if the opponent has no legal place/move/fly on their turn. Draws are by mutual agreement; resign and timeout also end the game.
How MorrisLive applies these rules
Actions and clocks are enforced on the server. You can play via private invite links, open public tables, or against a bot (Easy / Medium / Hard). Spectators use a separate watch link. Resign, draw offers, and timeout follow the same win/end conditions.
New to the site? See how to create a room and invite a friend.