Bear games

hunt games from roman antiquity?

1. Probable Bear game inscribed on a sandstone plate (3rd century Roman)
(Repr. approved by Augusta Raurica, photograph by Ursi Schild.)

implemented by Mats Winther May 2008

See also my homepage.

In this traditional form of hunt game three hunters are following a bear, trying to enclose it. Pieces can move to an adjacent intersection following the lines. The three white pieces must try to stalemate the black piece. The hunter party can always win, but it is a sophisticated game which often can take as many moves as a chess game. Neither side can capture.

The Bear game (Bear hunt), is still known among elderly people in Piemonte, Italy, where it is found among rock carvings. U. Schädler has proposed that bear games could have their origin in the Roman era. This idea builds on the rectangular diagrams (see figures) that have been found in Augst, Switzerland, and which date back to the third century. These are likely to be Bear game boards, especially since they function so finely when tested. I hypothesize that the Romans viewed the board as an arena with three Bestiarii gladiators fighting a bear, a common spectacle in the Roman era.

The difficulty of the game makes it a challenge to survive as long as possible with the bear. One can set a limit and say that at move forty, for instance, the hunter party must have won, otherwise the bear wins. Presumably this was how it was played, perhaps also involving betting. In this implementation white (the hunter party) only loses if position is repeated three times.


Bear board variants

  2. Bear game (round), with pieces
     in a standard initial position.
     Alternatively, the white pieces
     are initially placed on the
     positions surrounding the black
     piece.

  3. Bear game (rectangular 1). It takes
     Zillions very many moves to win in this
     particular variant. But it's easier for
     the strategical human mind.


  4. Bear game (rectangular 2). A good
     and interesting game.

  5. Roman wheel pattern. This is a common
     typical wheel pattern found in roman
     archaelogical sites. As a game it
     is almost trivial.

  6.This diagram derives from Didyma,
    Turkey, where it is clumsily depicted in
    the temple of Apollo.


  7. Jeux des gendarmes et du voleur.
     This good game derives from Sologne,
     France, where it still played.

  8. Chase the hare.
     A bear board from Greece
     (ref. P. Michaelsen/M. Argyriadis).

References

Schädler, Ulrich (2002). 'Bärenjagd in Augusta Raurica?' in the Hauszeitschrift 1. Halbjahr 2002.
http://www.augustaraurica.ch/publ/hauszeitschrift.htm

Depaulis, Thierry & Gavazzi, Carlo (1999). 'L'orso e i suoi fratelli', Rivista Biellese, no.4, Oct.1999, p.46-50.

To play you must have installed "Zillions of Games". Either double-click on Bear_games.zrf or
1. Run "Zillions of Games"
2. Choose "Open Game Rules..." from the File menu
3. Select "Bear_games.zrf" in the Open dialog and click "Open"
Bear_games.zrf is a rules file used by the Windows program "Zillions of Games". Zillions of Games allows you to play any number of games against the computer or over the Internet. Zillions of Games can be purchased online. For more information please visit the Zillions of Games website www.zillions-of-games.com