https://people.howstuffworks.com/early-scottish-monks-were-gamers.htm#mkcpgnrssnws1

BY STELL SIMONTON SEP 7, 2018

They were looking for a lost monastery, where the serious work of religious writing went on in the Middle Ages. What they found instead were the remnants of a bit of monk-style fun.

Archaeologists digging 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, uncovered a stone gaming board that 7th- or 8th-century monks may have used in their down time to play Hnefatafl. In this Norse game, also known as King's Table, pieces representing a king and his men face off against pieces representing two dozen attackers.

Squares incised on the disc-shaped board would have held the fighting men, while the king would have been stationed on a central throne area. The game was won when the king was captured or when he successfully made it to sanctuary in one of the four corners of the board.

Sound a little like chess? You bet.

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