Havannah
Havannah Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
The board is a hexagon-shaped grid of hexagonal cells, with six sides and six corner cells. The original Ravensburger edition used a board of 8 cells per side; expert players commonly prefer the larger 10-cells-per-side board. Each player has a supply of stones in one color — one player plays Black, the other plays White.
How to Play
The game starts on an empty board. Players move in turn to place one stone on an empty cell. White moves first. The second player is entitled to a swap (also known as the pie rule).
Stones are never moved, captured, or otherwise changed.
Winning the Game
The game is won by the first player to complete a ring, a bridge, or a fork. All of these are "chains": closed connections of one color.
- A ring is a chain around at least one cell.
- A bridge is a chain linking two corners.
- A fork is a chain linking three sides. Corners do not belong to either side.
That's it.
Note on Rings
In New Rules for Classic Games, Wayne Schmittberger states that a ring should surround at least one vacant cell. This is not the case: the encircled cell may be occupied by either player.