Sources page biographical material

5.R.5. FOX AND GEESE, ETC.
There are a number of similar games on different boards -- too many to describe completely here, so I will generally just cite extensive descriptions. See any of the main books on games mentioned at the beginning of 4.B, such as Bell or Falkener. The key feature is that one side has more, but weaker, pieces. These are sometimes called hunt games. The standard Fox and Geese is played on a 33 hole Solitaire board, with diagonal moves allowed. I have recently acquired but not yet read Murray's History of Board Games other than Chess which should have lots of material.
Gretti's Saga, late 12C. Mention of Fox and Geese. Also in Edward IV's accounts. ??NYS -- cited by Botermans et al, below.

Shackerley (or Schackerley or Shakerley) Marmion. A Fine Companion (a play). 1633. IN: The Dramatic Works of Shackerley Marmion; William Paterson, Edinburgh & H. Sotheran & Co., London, 1875. II, v, pp. 140-141. "..., let him sit in the shop ..., and play at fox and geese with the foreman, ....." Earliest English occurrence of fox-and-geese. Quoted by OED and cited by Fiske, below.

Richard Lovelace. To His Honoured Friend On His Game of Chesse-Play or To Dr. F. B. on his Book of Chesse. 1656?, published in his Posthume Poems, 1659. Lines 1-4. My edition of Lovelace notes that F. B. was Francis Beale, author of 'Royall Game of Chesse Play,' 1656. Lovelace died in 1658.

Sir, now unravell'd is the Golden Fleece,

Men that could onely fool at Fox and Geese,

Are new-made Polititians by the Book,

And can both judge and conquer with a look.

Henry Brooke. Fool of Quality. [A novel.] 1766-1768. Vol. I, p. 367. ??NYS -- quoted by Fiske, below. "Can you play at no kind of game, Master Harry?" "A little at fox and geese, madam."

Catel. Kunst-Cabinet. 1790.

Das Fuchs- und Hühnerspiel, pp. 51-52 & fig. 168 on plate VI. 11 chickens against one fox on a 4 x 4 board with all diagonals drawn, giving 16 + 9 playing points.

Das Schaaf- und Wolfspiel, p. 52 & fig. 169 on plate VI, is the same game on the 33-hole solitaire board with 11 sheep and one wolf, no diagonals

Bestelmeier. 1801.

Item 83: Das Schaaf- und Wolfspiel. Same diagram and game as Catel, p. 52.

Item 833: Ein Belagerungspiel. 33 hole board with a fortress on one arm, with diagonals drawn.

Strutt. Op. cit. in 4.B.1. Fox and Geese. 1833: Book IV, chap. II, art. XIV, pp. 318 319. = Strutt-Cox, p. 258 & plate opp. p. 246. Fig. 107 (= plate opp. p. 246) shows the 33 hole board with its diagonals drawn.

Gomme. Op. cit. in 4.B.1. I 141 142 refers to Strutt and Micklethwaite.

Illustrated Boy's Own Treasury. 1860. Fox and Geese, pp. 406 407. 33 hole Solitaire board with diagonals drawn.

Leske. Illustriertes Spielbuch für Mädchen. 1864? Prob. 320, p. 152: Fuchs und Gänse. Shows 33 hole solitaire board with diagonals drawn.

Stewart Culin. Chinese Games with Dice and Dominoes. From the Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1893, pp. 489 537. Pp. 874-877 describes: the Japanese game of Juroku Musashi (Sixteen Soldiers) with 16 men versus a general; the Chinese game of Shap luk kon tséung kwan (The sixteen pursue the commander); another Chinese game of Yeung luk sz' kon tséung kwan with 27 men against a commander (described by Hyde -- ?? I didn't see this); the Malayan game of Dam Hariman (Tiger Game), identical to the Hindu game of Mogol Putt'han (= Mogul Pathan (Mogul against Pathan)), similar to a Peruvian game of Solitario and the Mexican game of Coyote; the Siamese game of Sua ghin gnua (Tiger and Oxen) and the similar Burmese game of Lay gwet kyah, with three big tigers versus 11 or 12 little tigers; the Samoan game of Moo; the Hawaiian game of Konane; a similar Madagascarian game; the Hindu game of Pulijudam (Tiger Game) with three tigers versus 15 lambs.

Fiske. Op. cit. in 4.B.1. 1905. Fox-and-Geese, pp. 146-156 & 359, discusses the history of the game, especially as to whether it is identical to the old Norse game of Hnefatafl. On p. 359, he says that John of Salisbury (c1150) used 'vulpes' as the name of a game, but there is no indication of what it was. He says "the fox-and-geese board, in comparatively modern times, has begun to be used for games more or less different in their nature, especially for one called in England solitaire and in France "English solitaire", and for another, known in Spain and Italy as asalto (assalto), in French as assaut, in Danish as belejringsspel." He then surveys the various sources that he treated under Mérelles -- see 4.B.1 and 4.B.5 for details. He is not sure that Brunet is really describing the game in the Alfonso MS (op. cit. in 4.B.5 and below). He cites an 1855 Italian usage as Jeu de Renard or Giuoco della Volpe. In Come Posso Divertirmi? (Milan, 1901, pp. 231-233), it is said that the game is usually played with 17 geese rather than 13 -- Fiske notes that this assertion is of "some historical value, if it be true." Moulidars calls it Marelle Quintuple, quotes Maison des Jeux Académiques (Paris, 1668) for a story that it was invented by the Lydians and gives the game with 13 or 17 geese. Asalto has 2 men against 24. Fiske quotes Shackley Marmion, above, for the oldest English occurrence of fox-and-geese and then Henry Brooke, above. Fiske follows with German, Swedish and Icelandic (with 13 geese) references.

H. Parker. Ancient Ceylon. Op. cit. in 4.B.1, 1909. Pp. 580-583 & 585 describe four forms of The Leopards Game, with one tiger against seven leopards, three leopards against 15 dogs, two leopards against 24 cattle and one leopard against six cattle on a 12 x 12 board. The first two are played on a triangular board.

Robert Kanigel. The Man Who Knew Infinity. A Life of the Genius Ramanujan. (Scribner's, NY, 1991); Abacus (Little, Brown & Co. (UK)), London, 1992. Pp. 18 & 377: Ramanujan and his mother used to play the game with three tigers and fifteen goats on a kind of triangular board.

The Spanish Treatise on Chess-Play written by order of King Alfonso the Sage in the year 1283. [= Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas of Alfonso El Sabio, generally known as the Alfonso MS.] MS in Royal Library of the Escorial (j.T.6. fol). Complete reproduction in 194 Phototypic Plates. 2 vols., Karl W. Hirsemann, Leipzig, 1913. See 4.B.5 for more details of this work. See below.

Botermans et al. The World of Games. Op. cit. in 4.B.5. 1989. P. 147 says De Cercar La Liebre (Catch the Hare) occurs in the Alfonso MS and is the earliest example of a hunt game in European literature, but undoubtedly derived from an Arabic game of the Alquerque type -- I didn't see this when I briefly looked at the facsimile -- ??NYS. They say Murray has noted that hunt games are popular in Asia, but not in Africa, leading to the conjecture that they originated in Asia. They describe it on a 5 x 5 array of points with verticals and horizontals and some diagonals drawn, with one hare against 12 hunters.

Botermans et al. continue on pp. 148-155 to describe the following.

Shap Luk Kon Tseung Kwan (Sixteen Pursue the General) played on a 5 x 5 board like Catch the Hare with an extra triangle on one side and capturing by interception.

Yeung Luk Sz'Kon Tseung Kwan, seen in Nanking by Hyde and described by him in 1694, somewhat similar to the above, but with 26 rebels against a general. (??NYS)

Fox and Geese, mentioned in Gretti's Saga of late 12C and in Edward IV's accounts. They give a version called Lupo e Pecore from a 16C Venetian book, using a Solitaire board extended by three points on each arm, giving 45 points. They give a 1664 engraving showing Le Jeu du Roi which they say is a rather complex form of fox and geese, but looks like a four-handed game on a cross-shaped board with 7 x 5 arms on a 7 x 7 central square and 4 groups of 7 x 4 men.

Leopard games, from Southeast Asia, with a kind of triangular board. Len Choa, from Thailand, has a tiger against six leopards. Hat Diviyan Keliya, from Sri Lanka, has a tiger against seven leopards.

Tiger games, also from Southeast Asia, are similar to leopard games, but use an extended Alquerque board (as in Catch the Hare). Rimau (Tiger), from Malaysia, has 24 men versus a tiger and Rimau-Rimau (Tigers) is a version with two tigers versus 22 men.

Murray. 1913.

P. 347 cites a 1901 Indian book for 2 lions against 32 goats on a chessboard.

P. 371 cites a Soyat (North Asia) example (19C?) of Bouge Shodra (Boar's Chess) with 2 boars against 24 calves on a chessboard.

Pp. 569 & 616 617 cite the Alfonso MS of 1283 for 'De cercar la liebre', played on a 5 x 5 board with 10, 11 or 12 men against a hare.

P. 585 shows Cott. 6 (c1275) of 8 pawns against a king on a chessboard.

Pp. 587 & 590 give Cott. 11 = K6: Le Guy de Alfins with king and 4 bishops against a king on a chessboard.

Pp. 589-590 shows K4 = CB249: Le Guy de Dames and No. 5 = K5: Le Guy de Damoyselles, which have 16 pawns against a king on a chessboard.

P. 617 discusses Fox and Geese, with 13, 15 or 17 geese against a fox on the solitaire board. Edward IV, c1470, bought "two foxis and 46 hounds". Murray says more elaborate forms exist and refers to Hyde and Fiske (see 4.B.1 and 5.F.1 for more on these), ??NYS.

Pp. 675 & 692 show CB258: Partitum regis Francorum with king and four pawns against king on the chessboard. It says the first side wins.

P. 758 describes a 16C Venetian board (then) at South Kensington (V&A??) with the Solitaire board for Fox and Geese and an enlarged board for Fox and Geese.

P. 857 mentions Fox and Geese in Iceland.

Family Friend 2 (1850) 59. Fox and geese. 4 geese against 1 fox on a chess board.

The Sociable. 1858. Fox and geese, p. 281. 17 geese against a fox on the solitaire board. Four men versus a king on the draughts board, saying the first side wins even allowing the king to be placed anywhere against the men who start on one side.

Stewart Culin. Korean Games, op. cit. in 4.B.5, 1895. Pp. 76-77 describes some games of this type, in particular a Japanese game called Yasasukari Musashi with 16 soldiers versus a general on a 5 x 5 board, taken from a 1714 (or 1712) Japanese book: Wa Kan san sai dzu e "Japanese, Chinese, Three Powers picture collection", published in Osaka.

Anonymous. Enquire Within upon Everything. 66th ed., 862nd thousand, Houlston and Sons, London, 1883, HB. Section 2593: Fox and Geese, p. 364. 33 hole Solitaire board with 17 geese against a fox. 4 geese against a fox on the chessboard. Says the geese should win in both cases.

Slocum. Compendium. Shows Solitaire and Solitaire & Tactic Board from Gamage's 1913 catalogue. Like Bestelmeier's 833, but without diagonals.

Bell & Cornelius. Board Games Round the World. Op. cit. in 4.B.1. 1988. Games involving unequal forces, pp. 43-52. Discusses the following.

The Maharajah and the Sepoys. 1 against 16 on a chessboard.

Fox and Geese. Cites an Icelandic work of c1300 (probably Gretti's Saga?). 1 against 13 or 17 on a Solitaire board.

Lambs and Tigers, from India. 3 against 15.

Cows and Leopards, from SE Asia. 2 against 24.

Vultures and Crows, also called Kaooa, from India. 1 against 7 on a pentagram board.

The New Military Game of German Tactics, c1870. 2 against 24 on a Solitaire Board with a fortress, as in Bestelmeier.

Yuri I. Averbakh. Board games and real events. IN: Alexander J. de Voogt, ed.; New Approaches to Board Games Research: Asian Origins and Future Perspectives; International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden, 1995; pp. 17-23. Notes that Murray believes hunt games evolved from war games, but he feels the opposite is true. He describes a Nepalese game of Baghachal with four tigers versus 20 goats -- this is Murray's 5.6.22. He corrects some of Murray's assertions about Boar Chess and describes other Tuvinian hunt games: Bull's Chess and Calves' Chess, probably borrowed from the Mongols. The latter has a three-in-a-row pattern and he wonders if there is some connection with morris or noughts and crosses (which he says is "played everywhere"). He mentions Cercar la Liebre from the Alfonso MS. Fox and Geese type games are mentioned in the Icelandic sagas as 'the fox game'. He describes several forms.