Hnefatafl World Championship 2022

The 2022 Hnefatafl World Championship took place, on-line, from September 15 to December 31, 2022. This time there were three tournaments happening side-by-side: 'modern' hnefatafl, played by the Copenhagen rules; 'historical' hnefatafl (9 x 9 tablut in round 1, and 11 x 11 tawlbyrdd  in subsequent rounds); and sea battle hnefatafl (9 x 9 in round 1, and 11 x 11 in subsequent rounds). A total of 30 players participated in or or more of these three tournaments. 

The winner of all three tournaments is Mario Aluizo, who can most definitely call himself the undisputed hnefatafl world champion; congratulations!

All information on the 2022 world championships, including the moves of all the games, is here.

Widlo Games hnefatafl

Saw this hnefatafl set, marketed by Widlo Games, on eBay, for very little, and I snapped it up because the pieces are very different from anything else in my collection. 

Board itself is pretty standard: fold-up cardboard board, showing an 11 x 11 play area. 

But it's the pieces that are so unlike anything I've seen before. 

They're made from thick heavy paper, folded and glued to create 3-dimensional shapes. The pieces are quite heavy, much heavier than you would expect, and that's because they contain something inside that rattles as you shake them. I didn't want to open any piece and damage it to see what's inside, but my guess is rice or something very similar.

And that's not the only thing that makes these pieces unique. They also all show a face, and all faces are different from each other ...

A really unique addition to the collection!