Chess Titans: rules and basics

This guide is designed to get you started. More in-depth insight on this complex game can be found online or in your local library.

The object
Chess Titans is a game for two players, dubbed White and Black. The goal is to capture your opponent's king. In the game, this is known as a checkmate.

The board
Chess is played on a board with 64 squares. Each player begins with 16 pieces, lined up in two rows. The first row is occupied by pieces called pawns. The next row contains: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, and two knights.

How to play
White goes first, then players alternate turns. Click a piece and then click the square where you want to move it. When you select a piece, Chess Titans shows you where it can move by highlighting the square in blue; squares with enemy pieces available for capture are shown in red. How it moves One square in any directionforward, backward, sideways, or diagonally. The king is King the game's weakest piece, and its most important. An unlimited number of unoccupied squares in any direction. The queen is the game's Queen most powerful piece. Rook An unlimited number of unoccupied squares, but only forward, backward, or sideways. Bishop An unlimited number of unoccupied squares, but only diagonally. In the shape of an "L"two squares in any direction, a 90-degree turn, and then one Knight more square. The knight is the oddball of the game. Knights are also the only pieces that are allowed to jump other pieces. Two squares forward on its first move, one square forward thereafter. Exception: pawns Pawn capture enemy pieces by moving diagonally. It's illegal to move into a square occupied by one of your own pieces. If you enter a square held by your opponent, the occupying piece is deemed captured and removed from the board. A checkmate occurs when the king is trapped by an enemy piece with no available escape route. When this happens, the king's square will glow red. Name

Maneuvers

In additions to the moves allowed for each piece, the game of chess also has strategic maneuvers. Here are a few that you can try: Castling This defensive maneuverdesigned to protect your kinginvolves moving two pieces at once. It's the only time in chess that this is legal. In a castle, the king moves two spaces sideways, while the rook moves to the space the king skipped over. You're only allowed to castle if your king and rook are both in their original positions, the king isn't in check, and there are no pieces blocking the maneuver. If castling is possible, Chess Titans shows where the king should go by turning the square purple. To make the move, click the square. En passant This rare but useful offensive movefrom the French for "in passing"is legal only under certain circumstances. It occurs when one of your pawns is stationed in the fifth row, and an enemy pawn in an adjacent column attempts to advance two squares on its first move. Normally the enemy pawn would evade capture (remember, pawns attack on the diagonal). By employing an en passant, you can move your piece diagonally to the empty square behind the enemy pawn to capture it. This is legal only if executed immediately following the enemy pawn's first move. Pawn promotion Advance a pawn clear across the board, and you can promote it to rook, knight, bishop, or queen. This increases the number of powerful pieces in your army. Upgrading to queen is typically the best strategy.