How to Play Three Musketeers
Three Musketeers, invented by Haar Hoolim in 1968, is a tense little chase: three powerful pieces that are forced to keep eating, and a crowd that wins by steering them into a line.
The board
A 5×5 board. The three musketeers start on a diagonal (top-right, centre, bottom-left); the Cardinal's twenty-two men fill every other square.
Moving
- The musketeers move first. A musketeer must capture: it moves onto an orthogonally adjacent enemy piece and removes it. It never moves to an empty square.
- A Cardinal's man moves one square up, down, left or right into an empty square. The men never capture.
- The sides alternate one move at a time.
Winning
- The Cardinal's men win the moment all three musketeers stand in the same row or the same column.
- The musketeers win when it is their turn and none of them can capture, as long as they are not lined up.
Playing on kawu
Tap a piece, then a highlighted square. Hint shows the hard computer's move. Play either side against three levels, or two players on one device.
Next: Three Musketeers strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Can a musketeer choose not to capture?
No. On their turn the musketeers must make a capture; if none is possible they have already won. Captures are always onto an orthogonally adjacent enemy piece.
Can the Cardinal's men capture a musketeer?
Never. They only move one square into an empty space. Their only way to win is to arrange for the three musketeers to end up in one row or one column.
Who has the advantage?
With perfect play the Cardinal's men win, but it takes precise herding. In practice the musketeers do well against careless play, so try both sides.
Last updated 2026-10-21