Nine Men’s Morris rewards planning more than speed. Beginners tend to chase mills as early as possible and then lose because their pieces get stuck. This tutorial plays through a first game step by step, then gives you the strategy ideas that win games: strong placing, blocking, mobility, running mills and the flying endgame. You can try every idea right away on the Nine Men’s Morris board.
What you will learn
- Where to put your first pieces, and why corners are weak.
- How to block a threat without wasting a move.
- How to set up a double threat that your opponent can’t stop.
- What a running mill is and how to build one.
- Which piece to remove after a mill.
- How to play the endgame when one side can fly.
If you still need the basics, read the Nine Men’s Morris rules first. The examples use the usual point names: columns a to g from the left, rows 1 to 7 from the bottom.
Your first game, step by step
Start a game against the computer on Easy and play White. Follow these steps; the exact moves will vary, but the habits are what matter.
- Take a crossroad. Place your first piece on d6, the top middle point of the middle square. It connects to four points (d7, b6, f6 and d5), more than any corner or outer point.
- Answer, don’t copy. When the computer places its first piece, take a second flexible point such as b4 or f4. Spread your pieces over different lines rather than piling them on one side.
- Check for threats before every placement. Look along every line for two of your opponent’s pieces with the third point empty. If you see one, block it now; next turn it becomes a mill.
- Block with purpose. When you have a choice of blocking moves, prefer the one that also puts your piece on a line where you already have a piece. A block that builds your own open mill gains a tempo.
- Create a threat of your own. Place a second piece on a line that already holds one of yours, with the third point empty. Your opponent has to spend a turn blocking it.
- Look for a double threat. The strongest placing move puts a piece where it makes two open mills at once, for example a piece that has a friend on its row and another on its column. Your opponent can block only one of them.
- Choose the removal carefully. When you form a mill, the board highlights the pieces you may take. Take the one that breaks your opponent’s open mill, or the one that is blocking your pieces in.
- Watch your mobility near the end of placing. With two or three pieces left in hand, count how many of your pieces have an empty neighbor. A player who cannot move when the moving phase starts loses on the spot.
- Open and close a mill. In the moving phase, look for a mill you can open by stepping one piece out and closing again next turn, when your opponent can’t step into the gap.
- Finish the game. Keep removing pieces until your opponent has two left, or squeeze their pieces until none of them can move. If they drop to three, switch to the flying endgame plan described below.
After the game, use Undo to go back to any turn where you lost a piece and look for the threat you missed. That habit improves your play faster than anything else.
Strategy tips
1. Prefer the middle square
The four midpoints of the middle square, d6, b4, f4 and d2, each connect to four points. Pieces there can join more lines and are hard to block. Outer and inner midpoints connect to three, and corners to only two. Early in the placing phase, crossroads are worth more than a quick mill.
2. Don’t rush the first mill
A mill in the placing phase removes one piece, but it also tells your opponent exactly where your pieces are. Many experienced players spend the placing phase building flexible pieces and blocking, and only close mills when it doesn’t cost them mobility. A position with fewer pieces but more room to move is often winning once the moving phase starts.
3. Block early, and with a useful piece
Every open mill of your opponent’s has to be blocked before they complete it. Block on the turn the threat appears, and when there are two ways to block, choose the point that also helps one of your own lines.
4. Set up forks
A fork is a placement that creates two open mills at the same time. Look for an empty point where one line already holds one of your pieces and the crossing line holds another, both with no opposing pieces. Placing there leaves your opponent able to block only one of the two.
5. Keep your pieces mobile
In the moving phase, a piece with no empty neighbor is useless, and a side with no moves loses. Before your last few placements, leave gaps next to your pieces. In the moving phase, avoid moves that let your opponent close the last exit of one of your groups.
6. Build a running mill
A running mill, sometimes called a double mill, is one of the strongest structures in the game. One piece sits between two mills and swings back and forth, completing a mill every single turn.
To build one, aim for two lines that meet at neighboring points, like the top side of the outer square and the top side of the middle square. Your opponent’s only defense is to put a piece into the gap the moment it opens, so make sure none of their pieces is next to it.
7. Remove the right piece
After a mill, the best piece to remove is usually, in this order: a piece that is part of an open mill of your opponent’s; a piece that blocks your running mill or one of your stuck pieces; a piece that is about to escape into open space. Removing a random piece wastes most of the value of the mill.
8. Play the flying endgame with two threats
When your opponent is down to three pieces and flying is on, they can reach any empty point, so a single threat never works: they simply fly into the gap. You need two open mills at once. When you are the side with three pieces, do the opposite: block their most dangerous line every turn and look for your own fork, because one mill from you might bring them down to three as well.
9. Win by blocking
Capturing isn’t the only way to win. If your opponent’s pieces are bunched together, especially in corners and on the outer square, you can sometimes take away their last free moves. A player who can’t move loses, even with eight pieces on the board.
Common beginner mistakes
- Racing for mills in the placing phase and ending up with pieces that can’t move.
- Filling the corners. Corner pieces have only two exits and are easy to trap.
- Missing the opponent’s open mill. Check every line for two in a row before each turn.
- Removing the wrong piece. Take the piece that breaks a threat, not the nearest one.
- Opening a mill carelessly when an opposing piece can step into the gap and block it for good.
- Forgetting flying. Against three pieces, a single threat is no threat at all.
Practice plan
- Play three games on Easy. Focus only on spotting and blocking open mills. Use Undo to replay any turn where you lost a piece.
- Move up to Medium. It takes free mills and blocks simple threats, so you will need forks and better placing to win.
- Practise the endgame. Play a game with flying switched off, then one with it on, and notice how the endgame changes.
- Try Hard. It searches much deeper and punishes loose pieces. Aim to reach the moving phase without being behind, then build a running mill.
- Play a friend on one device. Explain each removal out loud; teaching the ideas is a quick way to make them stick.
Want to double-check a rule while you practise? The rules guide covers protected pieces, double mills and the draw rules. Then head back to the Nine Men’s Morris game and put these plans to work.