Rules of the game Ard Ri

Ard Ri is played on a board that is 7x7 squares. The white player directs the king and his eight defenders, and the black player directs an army of sixteen attackers.
At the beginning of play, the king is placed on the center square of the board (the throne) and his defenders are located at the four sides around the king.
The opposing attackers reside around the perimeter squares in four phalanx formations.
Start position :

The object of the white player is to get the king to occupy any square on the edge of the board. The black player tries to capture the white king.

Movement of pieces :

Each player can move only one piece per move. All pieces move the same way - one square horizontally or vertically with these conditions:
Only one piece can stand on each square.
After the king leaves the throne, no piece can move to the throne. However, the king may return to the throne if desired.

How to capture opponent's pieces :

Each player can capture the opponent’s pieces by “sandwiching” or “flanking” an opposing piece either vertically or horizontally between two of the capturing pieces.
If a player moves a piece between two opponent's pieces, the piece is not captured.
The king CAN take part in capturing his adversaries (whether he is the moving piece OR not), this attribute is only for defenders and attackers. Captured pieces are removed from the board.
The image below shows how black perfor a dubblmer capture by moving b5 to c5, capturing the white pieces in c4 and c6:

How to finish the game :

The game ends under one of the following circumstances:
The king reaches any square on the edge of the board. The white player wins.
Attackers surround the king from all four sides (the four cardinal points) and capture him. The king may not be captured against the throne (since he can move onto it). The black player wins the game.
A player cannot make a legal move. This player loses the game.