Background.

Fox and geese is a very old game. One source mentions a game that may have been Fox and Geese just after 1300. It is also known that the Royal Household ordered two silver gilted sets during the reign of King Edward IV (1461 - 1483).

     Rules

• The board is laid out as shown above, with 1 fox and 13 geese.

• The fox makes the first move. All pieces move from one point to a point next to it along a line (see fig 1).

fig. 1 - Movement of Pieces

• The geese do not make captures - their aim is to surround the fox and make it unable to move.

• The fox can jump over a goose next to it, when the goose is removed from play (see fig. 2). A fox can make a series of captures on its turn. The fox wins if not enough geese remain to capture it.    

fig. 2 - Capture by the Fox

Download Files

The board can be downloaded from below. It should be printed out at 110dpi, which will give a board about 19cm square - this should fit on a piece of A4 paper.

 Right click the link below, then choose "Save As..." to download the file to your computer

Board Download