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Nehemiah!

It’s the latest craze sweeping campus

Nic Tall guides you around the biblical word game of bizarre proportions

The origins of the game known as Nehemiah! are unknown, but it is believed to have been first played as early as the late sixteenth century or even as late as the early seventeenth century. Early records of Nehemiah! tournaments survive from the 1850’s, but the game did not start to achieve popular appeal until Christopher Lyon formed the International Board of Nehemiah! in 1902. Since then the game has come to be officially recognised in over 70 countries and in many languages, with an international Nehemiah! conference once every nine years, three months and seventeen days. Enough of this historical interlude and on with the rules of the game.

All of the players sit around in a circle (though any enclosed shape such as a heptagon or an oblong will do) and one person is appointed to ‘serve’. The ‘serve’ is made by the leader saying the name of a book of the Bible. Then the next person in the circle says another, different book of the Bible. Then another book from the next person and so on. This continues until someone says the name of the book Nehemiah, at which point they win the game.

Now, at first glance it could be seen that merely coming out with the book of Nehemiah on your first move is a good move, and in the sense that it would win you the game you would be right. However, Nehemiah! is about more than just winning but is a subtle game of bluff, counter-bluff and deception. Although it takes just minutes to learn it can take a lifetime to master, so to show just a few of the tricks employed by Nehemiah! Grand masters, we have included the transcript of a game from the 1977 Vienna convention. The following is Kosynsky vs. Jarvis, a classic Nehemiah! head-to-head which took Jarvis from obscurity to fame in the Nehemiah! world. Please note that it is a game of advanced Nehemiah! and as such books of the Apocrypha such as the letter of Barnabas and 2 Maccabees may be included.

Jarvis is in the blue corner, Kosynsky to serve:

Kosynsky: Luke
(Kosynsky here testing the waters with an orthodox opening move of a Gospel)

Jarvis: 2 Timothy
(Jarvis keeps his cards close to his chest and keeps things hidden with a pastoral letter)

Kosynsky: Numbers
(A sudden move by the wily old Russian into the Old Testament, Jarvis had better be on guard)

Jarvis: Proverbs
(Taking up the O. T. challenge, Jarvis presses on into the books of wisdom)

Kosynsky: 1 Chronicles
(An inspired move from Kosynsky, Jarvis is left reeling and takes a good few minutes before his next move)

Jarvis: Malachi
(Using the tried and tested maxim of “If in doubt, use a minor prophet”, Jarvis plumps for safety)

Kosynsky: Acts
(Clearly a mistake here, but can Jarvis make the most of it?)

Jarvis: Bel and the Dragon
(A master stroke from the Apocrypha, there’s nowhere to hide for Kosynsky now)

Kosynsky: Exodus
(Trying to patch things up with something from the Pentateuch, but will it be enough to stop the rampaging Jarvis?)

Jarvis: Nehemiah!
(Clearly not, Jarvis presses in with Nehemiah and wins the game)

Nic Tall

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Last modified: 25th November 2005