Fidchell | Ancient Irish game played to the death! | Rules | History | Strategy

Description provided by The Gaming Bench on YouTube:

Fidchell is an ancient board game that is mentioned in the sagas of Cú Chulainn and other Celtic heroes. It was enjoyed by kings and nobles — but the actual rules are shrouded in mystery. I cover the proposed rules and strategy, along with the fascinating history of this ancient game. Fidchell build video: https://youtu.be/kuzVA5jCYR8 Ludus Latrunculorum video: https://youtu.be/7rL4E-FXgME www.thegamingbench.com Want to support the channel? Drop me a couple bucks at https://buymeacoffee.com/thegamingbench. Thanks! PHOTO CREDITS Ockelbo Church detail CC BY 2.5 Berig https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Berig Tablut CC BY 2.0 NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet https://www.flickr.com/people/38254448@N05 Tartan Sempills OGL v1.0 Unknown author https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=3765 Tablut CC BY 3.0 Muzeum Archeologiczno-Historyczne w Elblągu https://www.youtube.com/c/muzeumelbl%C4%85g Bobby Fischer CC BY-SA 3.0 Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-76052-0335,_Schacholympiade,_Tal_(UdSSR)_gegen_Fischer_(USA).jpg: Kohls, Ulrich Celtic cross CC BY-SA 2.0 Albert Bridge https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/5835 REFERENCES Publications * Harding, Timothy. ’A Fenian pastime'? Early Irish board games and their identification with chess Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 37, No. 145 (May 2010), pp. 1-22 (22 pages) Knight, Hugh T. Jr. Pastimes with Good Company: European Games from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Lulu.com, 2022 Murray, H.J.R. A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1952 Salamallah the Corpulent. Medieval Games, Raymond’s Quiet Press, 1982 Parlett, David. Parlett’s History of Board Games. Echo Point Books & Media, 2018 Websites https://www.unicorngarden.com/fidchell/origins.htm https://www.unicorngarden.com/fidchell/gameone.htm https://www.unicorngarden.com/eigse/eigse01.htm#:~:text=Both%20fidchell%20and%20brandub%20are,literal%20or%20etymological%20meanings%20%5B5%5D https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/13655/blogpost/167761/a-short-history-of-gaelic-games http://tafl.cyningstan.com/page/171/brandub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eoin_MacWhite https://www.unicorngarden.com/biog.htm https://archive.org/details/revueceltiqu24pari/page/131/mode/1up?view=theater Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtzPqHQoPWQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y59fUHxrMog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32xivd3jn0E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBK7bIexzU8 Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - Board & pieces 01:23 - Rules 05:39 - History 11:06 - Rabbit hole 15:21 - Where do round boards come from? 16:44 - Strategy 19:41 - Wrap-up #boardgames #ancientgames, #Irishgames, #fidchell, #gaming, #history STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional game scholar. At best, I am an enthusiastic amateur. This means my work may be incomplete, biased and, (I hope only rarely) outright wrong. I work hard to use reliable sources, double-check for accuracy, and draw reasonable conclusions. However, the scholarship surrounding ancient games is constantly growing and evolving; as a part-time game researcher and YouTube content creator, I am not always up to date on the most recent findings. If I present anything that is demonstrably incorrect, please call me out so I may increase my personal knowledge and understanding of this fascinating subject. Reach me at heygamingbench@gmail.com.