Board gamesProtect your king, outthink your opponent and finish with checkmate.
Getting a board
Section titled “Getting a board”Craft a Chess board and fit it into a Small Game Table. Place matching Game Chairs facing the table, then take a seat.
- 1 ×Black wool
- 7 ×Any planks
- 1 ×White wool
How to play
Section titled “How to play”Open the fitted board to make your moves. How to play in the side tray gives you the same lessons with illustrations inside the game.
Start here
Section titled “Start here”
Pick a piece. Green dots show where it can go.
Meet the pieces
Section titled “Meet the pieces”
The horse jumps over pieces. It makes an L shape.
The queen slides in any straight line.
More pieces
Section titled “More pieces”
The rook slides up, down, left, or right.
The bishop slides along diagonals.
King and pawn
Section titled “King and pawn”
The king takes one small step in any direction.
A pawn walks forward and captures diagonally.
Pawn moves
Section titled “Pawn moves”
A pawn normally moves one space forward.
From its starting row, a pawn may move two spaces.
Take a piece
Section titled “Take a piece”
Move onto the enemy piece to capture it.
The captured piece is gone. Keep playing.
Castle the king and rook
Section titled “Castle the king and rook”
Clear the path. Your king cannot be in check or cross an attacked square.
Move your king two squares. The rook hops across beside it.
Reach the end
Section titled “Reach the end”
A pawn reaching the far edge becomes a new piece.
Check and mate
Section titled “Check and mate”
Your king is in danger. Move it, block, or take the attacker.
No safe move means checkmate. The game is over.
A draw
Section titled “A draw”
No move, but no check: nobody wins. That is a draw.
Rules in more detail
Section titled “Rules in more detail”Catch a pawn passing by
Section titled “Catch a pawn passing by”
The enemy pawn landed beside yours. You have ONE turn to catch it this way.
Move diagonally behind it. The pawn you passed is removed. This is en passant.
Draw rules used here
Section titled “Draw rules used here”Stalemate, the fifty-move rule and the supported dead positions end the game as draws. Threefold repetition is not detected.
Castling and underpromotion
Section titled “Castling and underpromotion”The king and chosen rook must retain their castling rights, and the squares between them must be empty. The king cannot start in check, cross an attacked square or finish in check. Moving a rook away and back does not restore its right. A pawn reaching the far rank can become a queen, rook, bishop or knight, including after a capture. The choice is part of completing that move.
Keep playing
Section titled “Keep playing”Use Rematch after the result to play again. To pause an unfinished match, the table owner can remove and keep its board.
See seats and solo play for multiplayer and Play alone, or item stakes if you want to agree on a pot.