Chess Race
Chess Race Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 Board, 1 chess die, 12 player pieces (three pieces in four colors), 1 block tile, two mud tiles, 8 promotion tiles (4 full circles)
Set-Up
Place the board in the middle of the table, with the chess die, mud tiles, block tile and promotion tiles close by. (The printed text reads "mud ties"; corrected to "mud tiles" here.) Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding player pieces.
The youngest player places one of their pieces on one of the starting ribbon spaces printed on the board. The remaining players, in clockwise order, place one of their pieces on a starting ribbon space as well.
Play!
In Chess Race, the pieces move in a counter-clockwise fashion. The first player to reach the end with all three of their pieces is the winner. The youngest player takes the first turn with play continuing clockwise.
1. Roll the Die and Move
The player rolls the die and moves their piece according to the symbol appearing on the die result. Pieces may only move on the checkered spaces. Pieces may not move onto the stone background elements nor the pool, and may never move behind the starting point. The icons on the dice are as follows:
- Pawn (die symbol ①)
- Rook (die symbol ②)
- Bishop (die symbol ③)
- Knight (die symbol ④)
- Queen (die symbol ⑤)
- King (die symbol ⑥)
① Pawn
- Move forward one space. You may only move onto a space that does not contain the piece of another player. You may move past another player's pieces, the block tile and the mud tiles.
- When first moving from the starting space, you may move forward two spaces. You may only move onto a space that does not contain the piece of another player.
[Example: The pawn may move forward two spaces in this example, but since there is another player's piece in the second space, it would not be able to enter the second space.]
- Pawns may not move diagonally, but if there is another marker in front of the pawn, one square diagonally away, you can 'capture' that piece. For the rules of 'capture', please refer to the relevant section.
[Example: Another player's piece is in a diagonally forward position, your piece may be moved forward one space to overtake that piece.]
- Pawns may never be moved left, right and backwards. There is only one way to move forward on straightaway segments, but for curve segments there may be two directions that could be considered "forward." Both directions are considered forward for the purpose of this diagonal movement. (Curve segments are denoted with yellow flowers at the edges of these segments.)
[Diagram legend: Curve segments are marked with dashed red lines; forward direction is marked with solid blue lines.]
- After making a pawn movement, take a promotion tile (half piece) from the pile.
② Rook
- Move your piece as many spaces as desired in a single orthogonal direction. You may not move past another player's piece, mud tiles or the block tile.
③ Bishop
- Move as many spaces as desired in a single diagonal direction. You may not move past another player's piece, mud tiles or the block tile.
④ Knight
- Move once orthogonally then once diagonally. You may jump over others' pieces, blocks, and mud tiles, but you may not move beyond the play area (the winner's circle, the outside of the board).
⑤ Queen
- Move any number spaces as desired in a single direction. You may not move past another player's piece, mud tiles or the block tile.
⑥ King
- Move one space in any direction. You may not move past another player's piece, mud tiles or the block tile.
- After taking a king move, you may place, remove or relocate the block or a mud tile.
2. Entering a New Piece
After rolling the die, instead of moving a currently existing piece, you may choose for a new piece to enter the race. Choose any of the four starting ribbon spaces to place your piece and move it according to your die result.
3. Capture
When one of your moving pieces reaches the space of another player, place your piece on top of that piece and roll again to move. Continue this process until this piece is no longer on another piece's space. The moving piece may be a new piece that has not yet departed. A captured piece cannot move until the piece on top of the piece is gone (except the case the promotion tiles are used). Pieces can be stacked two, three or more stories above them. You may not capture the tower that includes your pieces.
If the king's move results in another player's piece being placed on the space, rearrange the blocks and mud tiles and roll the dice one more time.
[Example: The yellow player moves into a mud tile during its rook movement. It ends its movement on the space after the end of the arrow.]
4. Block and Mud tiles
The block tile and mud tiles may be placed and moved when the die result shows a king. The player moves their piece before using a tile.
- Block tiles prevent movement of most pieces.
- Mud tiles force the pieces to slide in the direction of the arrow. If a piece were to pass through or land on a mud tile, it moves instead along the path of the arrow and ends its movement on the next space connected to the mud tile. If the piece ends its movement on another piece, the current player rolls again and moves again.
- Tiles must align with the spaces on the board.
- Unlike other horses, a knight movement can jump over tiles. However, the knight movement cannot stand still on the tile as same as other movements.
- Tiles may not be placed adjacent to each other.
- You may not place a tile in a way that forces affected pieces to be put in a movement loop or removed from the board.
- Tiles cannot be placed at the starting point.
[Example: Instead of rolling the die, the yellow player returns their two promotion tiles to move their piece as if they had rolled a queen result on the die.]
5. Promotion Tiles
After taking a pawn movement, the player takes a promotion tile (a half circle). After you have gained two promotion tiles, (1) you may have any movements in place of your normal die roll, at the beginning of any future turn. At this moment, (2) you can pull out a captured piece and move it. The two used promotion tiles are returned to the supply. A player may never have more than two promotion tiles.
6. Goal In!
When a piece reaches or crosses a starting position, place that piece in the winner's circle in the center of the board. The first player to place all three of their pieces in the winner's circle wins the game!