How to Play Ur
Ur looks easy right up to the moment the position stops being obvious. Do you bring out a second piece, fight for a rosette, or pass on a capture to keep your bear-off count clean? This version lets you play through those choices against multiple AI levels, then review them with hints, undo, and replay.
Where It Comes From
The Royal Game of Ur was played in ancient Mesopotamia, but no complete rulebook survived to tell us exactly how every turn worked. The version most people know today is a modern reconstruction built from excavated boards, later written evidence, and the British Museum work associated with Irving Finkel. That is the ruleset this site follows. Instead of leaving those ideas on a separate rules page, we put them directly into play: the shared middle alley, the safe center rosette, captures that send a piece back to start, and bear-offs that have to land exactly. The AI levels, hints, undo, and replay are here to help you learn that reconstruction by playing it.
Why a Second Piece Matters
Ur looks much simpler when you only have one active piece. With a single runner on the board, a lot of rolls more or less play themselves. The moment a second piece enters, the same number can mean a capture, a rosette, cover, or cleaner timing for an exact bear-off. Unless the front piece already has a forcing move, getting a second piece into play usually gives you more than a few extra squares ever would.
The Center Rosette Matters
Most of the danger in Ur lives in the shared middle alley, where one capture sends a piece all the way back to the start. The center rosette sits right in that traffic and changes the usual math: a piece there is safe, and landing there gives you another roll. In real games, that often matters more than a move that simply gains distance.
What Each Level Punishes
Beginner Opponent: Gives you room to learn move flow without much pressure. Good for getting comfortable with entry, captures, and exact bear-off.
Gentle Practice: Starts taking rosettes and obvious captures, so sloppy play stops feeling free.
Advanced Practice: Punishes weak timing much more often. Return captures, extra rolls, and crowded alley positions get harder to survive.
Strong AI: Exposes bad piece distribution and short-sighted captures. If you only planned for one roll, you usually feel it right away.
Play as White or Black. Hints use the same evaluation level as the AI you picked, while undo and replay help you study the turns where tempo flipped, a rosette changed the race, or an exact bear-off showed up one move too late.
20squares on the reconstructed board
7pieces per side
0–4from four binary sticks
Offall seven must bear off