Fidhchell

The Irish tafl game variously spelled Fidhchell or fitchneal or fithcheall is the subject of much debate. The variance of spelling simply reflects the non-standardization of Old Irish [Gaelic] pronunciation and therefore spelling. When pronouncing these names, one should realize that a e or i which occurs in combination with another vowel is generally not pronounced separately but indicates only that the adjacent consonant is slender, which is to say palatalized. The h is used as a mark of lenition (a kind of consonant mutation that appears in many languages) or aspiration and hence th becomes roughly pronounced like the same letters in English "think" and the ch as in Scottish "loch". Just to add to the confusion of names, the name in modern Irish Gaelic means Chess.

Some scholars say the name referred not to any tafl game but in fact to a form of Latrunculorum. Others say that the name was used for the diceless form of Tawl-Bwrdd, a Welsh game believed by some to have included dice.

If this name does refer to a separate game, it would be a game played on 9x9 not 7x7 grid. The basic rules are described at http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~leif/games/Hnefetafl/fitchneal.h... but this site leaves out several details. Namely, if the king is by the center square so that an opposing piece cannot be placed on that side of the king, the the king can be captured by being surrounded on only three sides rather than four and similarly, if the king is beside a defender, the attacker can do same thing, i.e., simply place pieces on three sides in order to capture the king. The site does mention that only the king can either land on or pass through the center square but not that attackers move first. There is also a stub article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitchneal on wikipedia which concurs on the initial placement of pieces. Notably the corners are occupied which emphasizes that the king need only reach an edge of the board, not necessarily a corner, for the player playing the defenders to win.