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How to Play
You can play Battle Chess right now, all you need is a chess board, a deck of playing cards, and someone to play with!
Introduction
Battle Chess is an extension to the classic board game Chess, using a deck of cards to provide enhanced gameplay.
This guide assumes you are familiar with the rules of Chess - click here to learn how to play chess on chess.com.
The Rules
As in regular chess, players take alternating turns moving pieces one at a time, but players no longer have to move on each turn, players now can choose to do one of three things:
- Move a piece
- Draw a card
- Play a card
As in regular chess, the goal of the game is to checkmate your opponent’s king. However, unlike in chess, a checkmate achieved on the board is not necessarily game-ending, as your opponent may possess cards which they can play with abilities to get themselves out of checkmate.
Setup
- Players sit on either end of the chessboard, ensuring the bottom-right corner square is light-coloured (i.e. white) for both players.
- All 54 cards of a standard deck, including 2 jokers, are shuffled and placed in the middle of the two players, beside the chessboard to the right of whoever is playing as white. The space on the left (i.e. other side of the board, opposite the deck) is reserved for the discard pile.
- Each player begins the game with 1 King and 3 Pawns. Starting with white, each player arranges this starting army of 4 pieces within their first two rows however they wish, and receives 7 cards as their starting hand upon finalising placement
- After black has finalised placement and received their cards, the game begins with white’s first turn.
Gameplay
- Each turn, the player can choose to do one of the following;
- Moving 1 piece (according to traditional chess movement rules)
- Playing 1 card from their hand into the discard pile
- Drawing 1 card from the deck
- Discarding 3 cards from their hand to draw 2 cards from the deck
- Check & Checkmate: As in regular chess, players may not move their king into check, and if their king is threatened they cannot draw a card and must either move a piece or play a card to protect their king. If there is no way to protect the king, this is Checkmate.
- Zone of Control: Once the initial position is set-up and the game has begun, your zone of control is defined as every row from your back row to the row of your furthest-forward pawn. Pieces spawned by cards may only be placed on an unoccupied square within your zone of control. If your furthest-forward pawn is captured, your zone of control falls back to your next furthest-forward pawn. If you have no pawns left, your zone of control is limited to just the back row
- Encirclement: If your opponent has 1 or more pawns on your back row, your zone of control is reduced to just your back row, regardless of how far-forward your pawns are. If your opponent has 2 or more pawns on your back row, you can no longer draw cards.
- Stalemate: Unlike in regular chess, players are not required to move a piece on their turn, but they are required to perform an action, which means either moving a piece, playing a card, drawing a card, or discarding 3 to draw 2. If at any point a player cannot make any of these actions on their turn, but they are not in check, this is Stalemate and the game ends in a draw.
The Cards
| Card | Ability |
|---|---|
| Joker | Nope - reverses the action of the previous card played by your opponent; this must be played directly after the opponent’s card and cannot be played after piece cards, i.e. only works on: Joker, A, 2, 7, 8, K |
| A | Assassinate - remove 1 enemy piece from the board; cannot target the enemy king |
| 2 | Chicken - transform 1 enemy piece into a pawn; cannot target enemy pawns or the enemy king, cannot be played if the enemy already has 8 pawns on the board |
| 3 | Pawn - place 1 friendly pawn onto an unoccupied square within your zone of control; cannot be played if you already have 8 pawns on the board, or if no valid squares are available |
| 4 | Pawn |
| 5 | Pawn |
| 6 | Pawn |
| 7 | Friendly Chicken - transform 1 enemy piece into a friendly pawn; cannot target enemy pawns or the enemy king, cannot be played if you already have 8 pawns on the board |
| 8 | Killshot - you may capture an enemy piece according to the rules of piece movement without actually moving your piece |
| 9 | Knight - place 1 friendly knight onto an unoccupied square within your zone of control; cannot be played if you already have 2 knights on the board, or if no valid squares are available |
| 10 | Bishop - place 1 friendly bishop onto an unoccupied square within your zone of control; cannot be played if you already have 2 bishops on the board, or if no valid squares are available |
| J | Rook - place 1 friendly rook onto an unoccupied square within your zone of control; cannot be played if you already have 2 rooks on the board, or if no valid squares are available |
| Q | Queen - place 1 friendly queen onto an unoccupied square within your zone of control; cannot be played if you already have a queen on the board, or if no valid squares are available |
| K | Teleport - teleport any one of your pieces to an unoccupied square within your zone of control. You may teleport yourself out of check, but you may not teleport yourself into check. |
Additional Information
If the deck is empty and a player needs to draw a card, the discard pile must be shuffled and this becomes the new deck. If both the deck and discard pile are empty, drawing a card is no longer possible and the active player must either play a card or move a piece.
Pawns can move 2 squares if they are in either the first or second rank. The pawn's previous moves do not matter. En Passant is applicable when a pawn moves 2 squares, but it can only be taken by an adjacent enemy pawn, and this must be on the very next move.
Castling and pawn promotion are not applicable.