\/--	«--	1
|	|	|
|	|	|
|	|	|
|	|	|
|	|	|
|	|	|
|	|	|
\/	|	|
30	/\---	«--

Figure 1

21	20	1
22	19	2
23	18	3
24	17	4
25	16	5
26	15	6
27	14	7
28	13	8
29	12	9
30	11	10

Figure 2

Senet is a game for two players. Each player gets five playing pieces, black or white. The player attempts to beat his/her opponent by racing around the board and bearing off his/her playing pieces first. The playing pieces move around the board as indicated in Figure 1. To begin the game, the pieces are placed on squares 1 through 10 with the white pieces on the odd numbered squares, and the black pieces on the even numbered squares. See Figure 2 for the numbering of the squares. (The numbering is done so that you can understand the game rules.) The movements of the pieces are determined by the throws of the dice. Count the moves as follows:

One = 1 space

Two = 2 spaces

Three = 3 spaces

Four = 4 spaces

Five = not used, turn passes to opponent

Six = 6 spaces

In order to decide which player has the darker pieces, players alternate throwing the dice until one player throws a one. This player has the darker pieces and moves the piece from square ten to eleven. After that, the same player continues to throw. If he/she throws a one, four, or six, the player then moves any of the pieces the correct number of squares along the board and throws again. If a two or three is thrown, then the player moves the piece the right number of squares, and the opponent's turn begins. The second player must make the first move from square 9, but during the next throws he/she may move any of his/her playing pieces. The turn ends with the throwing of a 2 or 3. Therefore, each player's turn always ends when a two or three is thrown. If a piece lands on a square which is occupied by an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece is considered to be "under attack", and the piece is moved back to the square left empty by the piece in play. Two pieces of the same color cannot stay in the same square, but two pieces which occupy consecutive squares, such as 18 and 19, prevent each other from being attacked by the opponent's pieces. Three pieces of the same color in a row form a block, and cannot be attacked or even passed by the opponent's pieces, although they do not block the play of pieces of the same color. Any dice throw, which cannot be used to make a forward movement, must be used to move a piece in the reverse direction. If the move backward lands a piece on a square occupied by an opponent's piece, then the opponent's piece is moved forward to the square just emptied by the piece in play. In other words, they exchange places. If no move is possible in either direction, or if a five is thrown, then the turn of the player is over.

The square 27, marked by (water) is a trap. Any player's piece landing on this square must return to square 15 marked with . If square 15 is occupied, then the piece must return to the start of the game.

Safe Squares

Squares 26 , 28 , and 29 are safe squares. These squares are protected and cannot be attacked by the opponent's playing pieces. A player can choose if he/she wants to move off the square or not.

Bearing Off

Any player may not begin to move pieces off the board until all of his/her pieces are off the first row. It is not necessary to land exactly on square 30 before bearing off. If you throw a number higher than is needed, you may use the rest of the amount on another piece and move that piece. If any of the player's pieces are attacked and moved back to row one, then pieces of that player, which stay on the board in the third row, cannot bear off the board until all of the player's pieces are once again out of the first row. The first player to bear off all of his/her pieces wins the game. If the players want to keep the score, then the winning player is awarded one point for each opponent's pieces left in row three and three points for each piece left in rows one or two.

 

Click on the picture to get the game board for Senet

You may print out the game board. Make sure you have dice and something to use for playing pieces, such as white beans and black beans.