Purpose of the Game

• When you play Chess With Cards, your purpose is to win the actual chess game. You win a Chess With Cards game if you win it on the chessboard. You lose or draw it if you lose or draw it on the chessboard.
• The main difference when playing with cards is that you also do some things outside of the chessboard: you use various Pattern Cards to build additional attacks against your opponent.
• When you successfully complete an attack with a Pattern Card, your opponent has to put back on the board one of your captured pieces. This changes the balance of the actual chess game, possibly putting you closer to a final win.

Before You Start a New Game

• Discard the Pattern Cards with the chess concepts that neither you nor your opponent know. As a general guidance you may look at the three little dots at the bottom right of each card, they represent the three groupings: Cards for Beginners, Intermediates, and Experts. Now, shuffle the cards that you have decided to play with.
• Place the deck of cards face down near the chessboard, so that both of you can easily draw the cards during the game.
• Agree on the number of cards each of you can draw from the deck at every turn. Two cards each is a good number for a balanced match-up. Players of varying strengths may settle on different quantities. For instance, the stronger player might draw only one card at a time, while the weaker player may draw 3, granting the latter more chances of having the proper cards when the patterns appear on the board.

Every Time You Make a Move

• As soon as you play a move on the chessboard, pick up from the deck the number of cards you previously agreed upon.
• Keep the cards that you draw as organized as possible. We suggest dividing them in four little decks in front of you (see figure):
  1) "Maybe Now" Cards: patterns that may become relevant to the position anytime soon, e.g. material imbalances in the middlegame, king techniques in the endgame, etc.
  2) "Maybe Later" Cards: patterns that cannot arise right now, but may be relevant if the position veers in a certain direction, e.g. patterns about material imbalances when you are in the opening, patterns about passed pawns when you are in the late middlegame, etc.
  3) "Maybe Much Later" Cards: use this deck for patterns very far from the current position, e.g. endgame patterns when you are in the opening or middlegame, checkmate patterns, patterns involving pieces very unlikely to make a comeback, etc.
  4) "Not Anymore" Cards: throw in here, face-up, the cards that you used for the attacks, and the ones with patterns that will certainly not appear in the current game anymore, e.g. patterns about the opening when you are in the endgame, patterns regarding pawns when there are no more pawns on the board, etc.

When you Spot a Pattern on the Board

• When you see a pattern on the board, check if you have the corresponding card. If so, play the card against your opponent by reading aloud the phrase on the face of the card. 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"
• Remember that you can launch your attacks
  - only during your opponent's turn,
  - only if your opponent is not behind in material,
  - only if your opponent is not in time trouble (i.e. they have more than 20 seconds on the clock).
  This ensures that the game remains balanced and enjoyable.
  Also, obviously, it would be pointless to attack if your opponent has no pieces to give you back.
• When you play a Pattern Card, your opponent can contest the attack and tell you that the pattern you mentioned is incorrect or is far from clear.

When Your Opponent Contests the Card You Just Played

• 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, your attack is successful if the position on the board allows you to say aloud what's on the face of the card (see above for what can be adapted). In case of doubts, consider scanning the QR code and watching the linked content.
• If no consensus is reached, the card is lost. Place it face up in the "Not Anymore" deck and continue playing. Don't worry if this happens several times: reaching shared objectivity in the evaluation of a position is no easy feat!

When Your Attack is Successful

• Your Pattern Attack is successful when both players recognize that the pattern is indeed present on the board and can be expressed aloud in the way you just did. At that point, ask your opponent to place back on the board one of the pieces he captured before.
• After your opponent has returned the piece to the board, discard the Pattern Card you just played. It won't be used until the next game. If you wish, you may immediately continue attacking with other cards.

When You are Asked to Return a Piece

• You are free to choose which of your opponent's pieces to return. Pawns are not returnable.
• Once you have decided which piece to return, place it on one of its original starting squares (e.g. if you are returning a light-squares White Bishop, place it on f1, if you are returning a Black Rook, place it on a8 or h8).
• If all original starting squares are occupied, choose the closest empty square (for Bishops, maintain the proper square color).
• It could happen that you return an opponent's piece in a way that allows you to gain an immediate advantage, e.g. you return a Knight in a way that locks in the opponent's Rook, or in way that allows you to capture a now-undefended piece. Good for you! In such cases, your opponent should have waited to attack you with the cards.
• After you have 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!