******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* ***** *************************************** ***************** ***** ****** ************************************** ***************** ***** ******* ************** ***** ******** ***************** ***** ******* ************** ***** ******** ***************** ***** *** **** ***** ******** **** ***** ***** ******* ** *** ** * ****** **** **** ***** ***** ******* *** ***** **** ***** ******** **** *** ****** ***** **** ***** *** **** ***** ******** **** ** ******* ***** * ******** * **** ***** ******** **** * ******** ***** ************ **** ***** ******** **** **** ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* ******* *** ************************************************** ***** ************* ************************************************** **** ************** ************************************************** *** *************** ** ***** ***** ***** ** *** *************** ** **** **** ****** ********** ******** **** *************** ****** *** *** ******* ********** ******** **** ************** ****** *** ** ******** ***** *** ****** ************* ****** *** * *************** ********** *** ******* *********** ****** *** **************** ********** *** ******** ********* ****** *** *********** ***** *** ********* *** ****** *** *** ***** *** ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* Thanks to me for the art (not top notch, I know, but it'll do.) Would you like me to take the art off? E-Mail me saying yes or no. *** BATTLE CHESS FAQ for PC By: GaminGGuY E-Mail: BaxterBrandoBoy@aol.com Latest Update: December 20, 2001 *** ==TABLE OF CONTENTS== -Legal/Copyright Notice -Updates and Revisions -How to play chess -Special (but necessary) Moves -Battle Animations for Battle Chess -Thanks *** -Legal/Copyright Notice This FAQ is fully copyright of GaminGGuY. No site except GameFAQs may use this FAQ unless I give them permission by E-Mail. E-Mail me for more details. *** -Updates and Revisions 1.6 (12-20-01)-A new FAQ is here! I changed a lot around away, mostly deleting stuff. I deleted What you will know, my killer strategy (which turned out to be easily avoided) and some other stuff. I fixed the grid (thanks, wraithcommander!!) and have played in a few tournaments recently. I won one. My USCF (United States Chess Federation) rating is in the high 1100s. I hope to get it higher soon. Thank you, and keep reading. Expect a large update soon. 1.5 (4-22-01)-Added some queen animations. 1.4 (4-16-01)- Sorry for not updating for so long. Added rook animations. 1.3 (4-12-01)- Couldn't wait, so I added a few more battle animations. Will probably update tomorrow, but not for sure. 1.2 (4-12-01)-Wow. I need to fix this up. First of all, I have got my graph reversed. Fixed that. Some of my words had no spaces between them. Fixed that mostly also. And some more smaller details. Tomorrow, I'll add more on the castling and battle animations. 1.1 (4-11-01)-Did art and most of FAQ. More battle animations coming soon. I may add a strategies section later... *** -How to play chess The typical chess board is made of 8x8 squares. It's like this: _________________________________ 8 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 7 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 6 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 5 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 4 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 3 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 2 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 1 | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| a b c d e f g h Sort of like a graph, which is why I put the numbers and letters in. For example, d2 would be 2 squares above d, and 4 squares to the right of 2. Get it? Good. Now the pieces and their movements. There are six pieces. They are the pawn, the knight, the bishop, the rook, the queen, and the king. The object of chess is to capture the opposing team's king by moving your pieces, taking turns with your opponent and trying to capture the opponent's pieces. When a piece is captured, it is removed from the board. If you capture your opponent's king, you win, regardless of any other pieces they may still have. To "capture" a piece, your piece must move to the space that the piece that is to be captured is on. See near the end of this section for a grid of where everyone goes. Pawn- The pawn is the least useful piece in chess. That's why there are eight of them when you start. If you start on the bottom of the board near ranks (1-8)1 and 2, then all eight of them are arranged in a straight row on each of the squares in the 2 rank. If you are on the top part (where black starts) then your eight pawns are on the eight squares in the 7 rank. A pawn's movements are very limited. He may only move forward one space each turn he is moved. However, there are two exceptions. On his very first move, he can move forward two spaces or one space. That is the first exception. The second is that he can move diagonally forward (for example, if he started in the lower part, f4 to e5) but ONLY when capturing a piece. Note: On the first move, a pawn may move diagonally one space to capture a piece, but he may not move two diagonal spaces to capture a piece. Knight- The knight is fairly useful (he's certainly more useful than the pawn). You have two of them when you start. If you start on the lower side around the 1 and 2 ranks (where white starts)then your knights start on squares b1 and g1. The knight can move in an L shape, that means he can move two spaces in one direction and one in another. For example, if the knight is on d4, then he can move to any one of these spaces: e2, c2, f3, f5, e6, c6, b3, or b5. All of those are in an L shape with d4; see it? Also, a knight can move over other pieces, unlike any other piece. For example, if a knight is on b6, and he wants to move to c4, but there is an obstructing pawn on b5, he may move over it. So, to sum up, a knight can move in this pattern: _____ | |< knight is here |___| | | |___|___ | | | |___|___|< knight moves here or any other L shape that is still two spaces in one direction and one space in another. Bishop- The bishop is very useful, with one large weakness, which I'll get to later. You get two bishops when you start, which, if you are on the bottom side (1 and 2) start on c1 and f1, next to the knights. A bishop can move diagonally in any direction as many spaces as he likes, but, unlike the knight, he can not move over other pieces (if they are in his way, he should capture them!!) Now to the major weakness. Since the two bishops start on opposite colors, and they can only move diagonally, then they must stay on that color! This weakness becomed apparent later in the game if one of the bishops is captured. Then the other bishop has no ability whatsoever to control the other color squares. That's the weakness. However, in the hands of a skilled player, a bishop is dominant. Rook- The rook is useful, in my opinion more versatile than the bishop. On the lower side, he starts on a1 and h1. He can move as many spaces as he wants in any straight direction (up, down, left, or right). He can not move over other pieces, but he can capture them. The rook has no large weakness. Queen- The most versatile piece. You only get one, unless you get a pawn promotion (see special moves section). The queen can move in any direction as many spaces as she likes. She's like a bishop and rook mixed. She can not move over pieces, but instead she should capture them. Your queen starts on d1 if you're on the lower part. King- The most important (but not the best) piece. If you lose your king, you lose the game. The king can only move one space in any direction, but he can not move into Check (see lower in this section). Those are all the pieces and their movements. These are where the pieces start: Blue Side _________________________________ | R | Kn| B | K | Q | B | Kn| R | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | | | | | | | | | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| | R | Kn| B | Q | K | B | Kn| R | |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| Red Side P=Pawn Kn=Knight B=Bishop R=Rook Q=Queen K=King Note: In battle chess, white is red, and blue is black. Generally, there are white and black pieces in a set, not red and blue. Now, what is Check, you ask? Well, Check is when the king is in danger by an opposing piece and if one of three things does not happen, he will be captured. What are those three things? 1. The king is moved into a safe position. 2. A piece of the same color as the king being checked is moved to block the path of the checking piece to the king. 3. The checking piece is captured. If none of these can occur, then the checking piece captures the king and the checking piece's team wins. This is called checkmate. Remember, though, that the king may not move into check. That's all there is to playing chess. After some practice, you'll hopefully love it!! *** -Special (but necessary) rules There are three special but necessary rules in chess. 1. Castling- Castling is done to protect your king. To do this move, neither your rook or king must have been previously moved. This is the basic layout for castling: _________________ | | | | | |___|___|___|___| ^ ^ king rook starts starts here here as shown in the map above. Well, you do castling, and it turns to this: _________________ | | | | | |___|___|___|___| ^ ^ rook is king is here here Remember, no pieces can be between the rook and king when castling occurs. Also, castling counts as only one move, although you are moving two pieces. Castling can also be done onto the queenside (the side where the queen starts). The rook and king, on a1 and e1 respectively, switch to c1 (king) and d1 (rook). Again, this is only counted as one move. It is generally not a good idea to castle onto a side where your pawn structure is weak and not protecting your king. 2. Pawn Promotion- Pawn Promotion is when a pawn gets to the opposite of the board (i.e. a pawn that started on rank 2 and made it to rank 8, or started on 7 and made it to 1). When this happens, the pawn turns into a Queen, Bishop, Rook or Knight (the player's choice). Then play continues as normal. 3. En Passant- This is a commonly overlooked rule in games. Say a red pawn is on b2. A blue pawn lies on a4. If the red pawn moved to b4, the a4 blue pawn could capture it as if it had only moved one space (to b3). This rule must be done on the turn immediately following the two space pawn move. This can be done on all files a to h. *** -Battle Animations What I mean when I say battle animations is what the pieces do in Battle Chess when they encounter each other on the playfield. Here are the descriptions of what happens in the battles: Pawn capturing Pawn- The defending pawn teases the attacking pawn. The defending pawn blocks high, but the attacking pawn stabs low and kills him. Pawn capturing Knight- The pawn stabs the knight's stomach, and the knight falls over and dies in defeat. Pawn capturing Bishop- A hole in the board appears, and the Bishop falls but manages to hang on. The pawn breaks the bishop's staff and sends him sprawling into the hole. Pawn capturing Rook- The pawn repeatedly hits the Rook on the head with his spear, and the Rook crumbles to a pile of rocks. Pawn capturing Queen- The queen shoots a fireball at the pawn, but the pawn ducks. The queen tries to walk asay, but the pawn stops her. She shoots another fireball, but the pawn rebounds it on her and kills her. Pawn capturing King- The pawn knocks the King's crown off his head, and he disgracefully fades away. Knight capturing Pawn- They battle for a moment, and then the knight uses his sword to break the pawn's spear. The knight then kicks the pawn over. Knight capturing Knight- the attacking knight cuts off the other knight's arms and legs. Then he hits him over to the floor. Knight capturing Bishop- The knight cuts off the bishop's head, but the bishop's ghost attacks the knight. The knight cuts the ghost. Knight capturing Rook- The knight does a strong sword swipe to the rook, crumbling him. Knight capturing Queen- The queen shoots a fireball at the knight, but he reflects it back at her, turning her to a bird and then to nothingness. Knight capturing King- The knight cuts off the king's clothes and laughs at him. Bishop capturing Pawn- The bishop raises his arms and makes the pawn hover. Then he uses his rod to spin the pawn around in the air until he falls to the ground in a heap. Bishop capturing Knight- The bishop hits the knight on the head and knocks him senseless. Then he stabs him with the end of his rod. Bishop capturing Bishop- The defending bishop drops his spear and picks it up. They try to hit each other, and then the attacking bishop incinerates the defending with a lightning bolt. Bishop capturing Rook- The bishop raises his rod and hits the rook with another lightning bolt. The rook, as usual, crumbles. Bishop capturing Queen- The bishop hands the queen some flowers. She smells them, and a ghost comes out of them and attacks her. She falls rigidly to the ground. Bishop capturing King- The bishop's rod suddenly turns to a spear, and he twirls it around. The king then is dizzy and splits into three parts. Rook capturing Pawn- The pawn drops his spear and starts to whistle. The rook gets ticked off and smashes the pawn. Rook capturing Knight- The knight throws a few sword swings which the rook avoids. Then the rook smashes the knight and laughs. Rook capturing Bishop- The bishop ineffectively hits the rook with his spear. The third time, the rook catches it, and swings the bishop around to the ground. Rook capturing Rook- The attacking rook hits the defending rook. The defending rook returns the blow. Then the attacking rook hits the defending one twice, crumbling him. Rook capturing Queen- The rook eats the queen, spits out her crown, and steps on it. Rook capturing King- The rook smashes the king so hard he turns to paper. He picks him up and throws him down. Queen capturing Pawn- The queen lights her hands up. She shoots the pawn's spear, shoots his legs, and it sucks him to a dot. Queen capturing Knight- The queen makes a spell appear above the knight's head. It comes over his body and makes him disappear. Queen capturing Bishop- The queen shoots the bishop with a spell. His flesh disappears, leaving his bones, which fall to the floor. Queen capturing Rook- The queen lifts her hands. The rook is shocked for a second, then crumbles. Queen capturing Queen- Both queens raise their hands, but the attacking queen is quicker and shoots a fireball at the defending queen. It kills her. Queen capturing King- The queen lifts her hands. The king suddenly turns into a donkey, a toad, and then pops out of his clothes to nothingness. More coming soon! *** -Thanks Thanks to my dad for helping me play chess. Thanks to CJayC for posting this on his fantastic site. Thanks to you for reading this. Thanks to me for writing this. Thanks to wraithcommander for helping me on this. *** -end of document-