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chess

Discworld furniture help

chess

Name

chess - a game of strategy

Syntax

join game as {white|black} on <object>
start [new] [game] on <object>
move [from] <from> [to] <to> on <object>
move [from] <from> [to] <to> and swap to {knight|bishop|rook|queen} on <object>
resign [from] [game] on <object>

General Rules

The ultimate aim in the game of chess is to win by trapping your opponent's king. This is called checkmate. White is always first to move, and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time. Movement is required. Each type of piece has its own method of movement. A piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent's piece. This is done by landing on the appropriate square with the moving piece and removing the defending piece from play. With the exception of the knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other pieces.

The Pawn

There are eight pawns situated on each side of the board. They are the least powerful piece on the chess board, but have the potential to become equal to the most powerful. Pawns cannot move backward or sideways, but must move straight ahead unless they are taking another piece. Generally pawns move only one square at a time. The exception is the first time a pawn is moved, it may move forward two squares as long as there are no obstructing pieces. A pawn cannot take a piece directly in front of him, but only one at a forward angle. Should a pawn get all the way across the board to reach the opponent's edge of the table, it will be promoted. The pawn may now become any piece that the moving player desires (except a king or pawn). Thus a player may end up having more than one queen on the board. Under normal circumstances a player will want to promote his pawn to be a queen since that piece is the most powerful and flexible. The new piece is placed where the pawn ended its movement. To specify which piece you want your pawn promoted to, use the swap syntax. Else queen is used by default. There is a separate rule regarding pawns called en passant, which will be described separately.

The Rook

The rook, shaped like a castle, is one of the more powerful pieces on the board. The rook can move any number of squares in a straight line along any column or row. They cannot move diagonally. The rook may also make a move in conjunction with the king. This maneuver will be explained in the section called Castling.

The Knight

The knight is the only piece on the board that may jump over other pieces. This gives it a degree of flexibility that makes it a powerful piece. The knight can be thought of as moving two squares ahead, and then one square to the side, in any direction, giving it a maximum of eight choices from any square. For example, from D3 on the board, a knight can move to any of C1, E1, F2, F4, E5, C5, B4 or B2.

The Bishop

The bishop may move any number of squares in a diagonal direction until it is prevented from continuing by another piece, or by the edge of the board. Each player begins with two bishops, one originally situated on a light square, the other on a dark square. Because of the nature of their movement, the bishops always remain on the same coloured squares.

The Queen

The queen is, without doubt, the most powerful piece on the chessboard. She can move as many squares as she desires and in any direction (barring any obstructions). She captures in the same way that she moves, replacing the unlucky opposing piece that got in her way. (She must, of course, stop in the square of the piece she has captured.)

The King

Though not the most powerful piece on the board, the king is the most vital, for once he is lost the game is lost (more about this in the end game section). The king can only move one square at a time, but in any direction. There is only one restriction on his movement - he may not move into a position where he may be captured by an opposing piece. Because of this rule, two kings may never stand next to each other or capture each other.

Castling

Castling is a special defensive maneuver. It is the only time in the game when more than one piece may be moved during a turn. The castling move has some fairly rigid caveats, in that it can only occur if there are no pieces standing between the king and the rook, that neither king nor rook may have moved from its original position and that there can be no opposing piece that could possibly capture the king in his original square, the square he moves through or the square that he ends the turn. The king moves two squares towards the rook he intends to castle with (this may be either rook). The rook then moves to the square through which the king passed. To make a castling, move the king to the square he would end up at. The rook will then be moved automatically for you.

En Passant

The most obscure move in chess is called en passant. This can be used after the opponent has moved one of its pawns two squares at once (as is allowed the first time a pawn is moved). Then a pawn of your colour can capture the opponent's pawn by doing an ordinary pawn capture move (ahead at an angle) to the square through which the opponent's pawn moved. For example, if your opponent just moved a pawn from F7 to F5, and you have a pawn standing at E5, the opponent's pawn can be captured by moving from E5 to F6.

End Game

The game ends when one of the players captures his opponent's king, when one of the players resigns or there is a stalemate or a draw. When a player's king is threatened by an opposing piece, it is said to be "in check". The object of a player is not merely to place his opponent's king in check but to make certain that every square where the king has a possibility of movement is also covered, and that the opponent can do nothing to stop this, such as capturing the opposing piece, or placing a piece in the path to the king. This is called checkmate. The king is considered captured. Stalemate is considered a tie. A stalemate occurs when a player's only move is to place his own king in check, but its current square is not threatened. As long as he can move another piece or the king can move to an open square, stalemate may not occur. A draw also results when the only two pieces on the board are Kings, regardless of their position. If the pieces remaining on the board make check mate impossible, a draw would also result. Furthermore, a draw happens if fifty moves (on both sides) pass without any piece getting captured, or when the same board position occurs for the third time.

Colours

The colour scheme for this game can be altered with the options under 'options colour special'.

See also

reversi, connect_four, lost_cities, battleslugs, scrabble, liars_dice, mensa_regis