How to Play Chess With Cards

This page contains some of the most popular ways to play Chess With Cards.

Remember, Chess With Cards is a complete game that stands alone, but you can use the Cards in whatever way works best for you. Share your ideas with us, and we’ll publish them here for the whole community!

  • The Original Game Rules

Purpose of the Game

  • The goal is to win the actual chess game on the board. The only difference from traditional chess rules is that you can use pattern-recognition cards to help you find the right plan of action and, optionally, to undo moves and/or restore captured pieces.

The First Time You Use the Cards...

Every Time You Play Someone Who Is New to the Cards

  • If your opponent is much stronger than you, you may start by saying: "You usually crush me. Do you mind if we use the cards to balance the game? Also, I'm sure I can learn a lot from how you see the board."
  • If your opponent knows only a few patterns (beginner chess player), you may start by saying: "If you want, we can train together with the cards, so that I can show you some cool patterns as they come out in the game. At least the ones that I know!"
  • If you and your opponent are equally skilled, you may propose something like: "Do you want to try playing a game with the cards? It helps me find the right plans, and I'm also curious to see how you think."
  • Regardless of skill imbalances, you may continue along these lines:
    "It works like this: we play normal chess, but we can use these cards."
    "They are like 'strategic' glasses that help see patterns about pawns, squares, pieces, tactics, and checkmates."
    "After every move, if I want, I can pick up a pair of glasses, and browse through its cards."
    "If I see a pattern that applies to the position, I name it, and take its card".
    "That's it. As we start playing you'll immediately grasp it."

Every Time You Start a New Game

  • Place the 5 big decks near the chessboard. Ensure the 5 decks are properly composed (see "The First Time You Use the Cards") and then place them as in the figure above.
  • Decide with your opponent whether you will use the Take-Back Rule and or the Extra-Life rule (see below).

When you Spot a Pattern

  • When you see a relevant pattern on the board, look for the corresponding card in the corresponding deck. Get the card and read aloud the phrase on its face. Notice that all cards can be applied to both your pieces and your opponent's. Simply adapt the wording to the actual situation on the board. For instance:
    || "Your pawn on [c6] is a backward pawn" may become:
    || "My pawn on d4 is a backward pawn"
    || "If it were my turn, I could skewer your [Queen and Rook]" may become:
    || "If it were my turn, I could skewer your Rook and King"
    || "If it were my turn, I could sacrifice my Queen on [h8] and gain an advantage" may become:
    || "You could sacrifice your Queen on f6 and gain an advantage"
  • When you name a pattern, your opponent can contest it and tell you that the pattern you mentioned is irrelevant, far from clear, or plainly wrong (see below).
  • If your opponent did not contest the pattern, put the card face down on your side. You earned it, and if you are using one of the optional rules, you can spend it at any time during the game (even right away).

When Your Opponent Contests the Pattern You Just Spotted

  • Pause the clock and take your time to discuss it. This is the exact moment when playing Chess With Cards helps the players learn the most from each other!
  • Basically, you can earn a card if the position on the board allows you to say aloud the words that are on the face of the card (see above for adaptations). In case of doubts, consider scanning the QR code and watching the linked content.
  • In some cases, the wording on the card may indeed fit the position on the board, but the pattern is irrelevant, i.e. it does not influence the next moves or overall strategies. E.g. On move 1: "Your king is still in the center"... On move 2: "Your a1-rook is undefended"... In the middle of a sequence of piece trades: "I am up material"... In these cases, the card cannot be kept.
  • If no consensus is reached, put the card back in its mini-deck. Don't worry if this happens several times: reaching shared objectivity in the evaluation of a position is no easy feat!

When You Don't Like the Move You Made... The Optional "Take-Back Rule"

  • At the start of the game you can agree with your opponent to play with the "Take-Back Rule" which allows one or both players to take back bad moves.
  • Here's the detailed rule: At any moment of the game, when it's your turn to move, you can use your earned cards to take back one or more moves you made.
  • Flip one, two, three or more cards (to signal they have been used) and tell your opponent that you wish to to go back one, two, three or more moves (you decide how many, only your moves count).
  • Pause the clock, and together with your opponent, move the pieces on the board back to the position where it's your turn to move again. After you make your new move, the game continues normally.

When You Want To Ramp Up the Fun... The Optional "Extra-Life Rule"

  • At the start of the game you can agree with your opponent to play with the "Extra-Life Rule" which allows one or both players to recover some of their captured pieces.
  • This additional rule might be a great idea in these scenarios:
    1) You are playing against a much stronger player and even with the take-backs, the game would be one-sided. Ask the opponent to apply the rule just to your cards to allow you to eventually get back in the game.
    2) You are playing against a much weaker player, and both of you want to keep the game enjoyable and competitive. Propose to your opponent to apply the "Extra-Life" rule only to their cards.
    3) You are playing against a similarly skilled player, and you want to go for a variation that pushes hard the players to spot patterns and that continuously creates extremely fun and challenging come-backs.
  • Here's the detailed rule: At any moment of the game, when it is your turn to move, you can use your cards to recover one of your captured pieces. You decide which piece you want back, the opponent decides where to put it (choosing among one of its possible starting squares).
  • Flip some of your cards (to signal they have been used) and tell your opponent that you wish to spend your cards to get back a piece (Pawn: 2 cards, Knight: 3, light-squared Bishop: 4, dark-squared Bishop: 4, Rook: 5, Queen: 9).
  • The opponent places the piece you requested on one of its original starting squares (e.g. if they are returning a light-squared White Bishop, they will place it on f1, if they are returning a Black Rook, they will place it on a8 or h8, a White Pawn, in any square of the second rank, etc.).
  • If all possible starting squares are occupied, the piece is not recovered and the cards being used are lost.
  • It could happen that your opponent returns a piece in a way that allows them to gain an immediate advantage, e.g. they return a Knight in a way that locks in your Rook, or in way that allows them to capture a now-undefended piece. In such cases, you should have waited a better moment or chosen another type of piece to recover.
  • After the opponent has placed the piece back on the board, the game continues normally and you can make your move.

That's all for the rules. Have fun!

  • Variant #1
    Focused In-Game Training

How to Play

  • This variant simplifies the game by concentrating on a select few patterns, removing from the unique deck being used (Focus Deck) all remaining cards.
  • Players follow the original rules with one major difference: when a card is spent, it is not discarded but returned to the Focus Deck, so that it can be re-used during the game.

Why Play Chess With Cards in this Way

This variant allows players to focus on a particular skill at a time. It is ideal for when the players want to train on a specific aspect of the game. Some examples:

  • Example 1. Two friends want to focus on spotting tactics. In this case the Focus Deck (see figure above) might include the "D2", "E1", "E2", and "E3" cards (Signals and Clues, Tactical Patterns)
  • Example 2. A trainer wants to help a beginner learn to avoid blunders by continuously looking for tactical "signals" (undefended pieces, overloaded defenders, alignments, etc). In this case, the Focus Deck might include just the "D2" cards (Signals and Clues)
  • Example 3. A parent wants to teach his kid how to identify the most common types of pawns and how to build plans around them. In this case the Focus Deck might include just the "A2", "A3", and "A4" cards.

  • Variant #2
    The Two Spotters

How to Play

  • This way of playing the game is a variant of the original game rules.
  • The game is played in teams of two versus two.
  • Each team consists of a "player" and a "spotter."
  • The player plays the normal chess game on the board.
  • The spotter observes the position and follows the original rules, with one major difference: they are responsible for identifying patterns and commenting on them.

Why Play Chess With Cards in this Way

If you have four players, and two are stronger, let them act as the spotters. They can discuss the position and provide insights, allowing the two weaker players to learn and improve their game in real time.

Variant #3| [...]

Waiting for Your Suggestions!

Remember: send your ideas to us. We'll publish them in here for the whole community!